Golf Wins Again at Newport Tourney
Blue banners and flags welcomed the Exeter golf team last Saturday as they traveled to Newport, Rhode Island for the annual Newport Invitational, hosted by Andover. The pressure was high coming into the match. Exeter competed against six other teams, including Deerfield, who was on a four-year streak of winning the tournament. However, the team pulled through once again with a score 20 strokes lower than any other team, taking first place in the tournament and remaining undefeated.
According to lower Stella Woo, the team came into the match with the perfect balance of confidence and pragmatic expectations. She described the teams strong will to “up-root Deerfield’s long winning streak,” as well as their ability to stay “composed.”
“We really wanted to beat Deerfield, and came in with a lot of confidence from our previous big wins,” she said. “At the same time though, we told each other before the match that no matter where we may place to not give up and just finish strong. I think we all tried our best to follow that.”
“I think the team did a great job just focusing on our own games individually, instead of being intimidated by the other teams.”
Coach Robert Bailey agreed with Woo, claiming the team’s biggest strength this year has continuously been the player’s “mental and physical preparation.”
With tough weather conditions throughout the season, the team has been frequently forced indoors. To make up for the lack of practice outside, the team utilized specifically-designed workouts in the gym to improve their balance and strength. This helped the team overcome the 25 mile per hour winds during yesterday matches and kept them calm under pressure.
“Despite the many difficult conditions of last match, the players stayed sharp mentally and used their strength in smart ways to allow themselves to play strong golf,” Bailey explained. “As a result, the scores that they shot were much better than all of the other teams.”
However, one of the challenges of the match was the unique setting of the tournament. Playing against seven other teams, including their first meeting with Exeter’s rival, some of the players such as lower Charlie Dubiel felt the atmosphere was “more competitive” during the tournament.
In fact, Dubiel even found himself struggling during the first half of the course due to these circumstances. While his start was rough, he concentrated on staying calm and repeating the same physical routines as a typical practice. His effort paid off—he ended up balancing out his score during the second half.
“I try to keep it really simple and go out and play the best I can without worrying about everyone else,” he said. “I think the team did a great job just focusing on our own games individually, instead of being intimidated by the other teams.”
The team also found its strength in some of the newer members of the team once again. Prep Daulet Tuleubayev’s started the season strong, shooting the low round of the first and third match. He continued to show even more maturity and skill in Saturday’s match, shooting two under, the top score of all seven teams.
As the team moves forward to Holderness School and Proctor Academy next week, they look to continue their recent success. However, with two of their top players leaving to play in individual tournaments next weekend, they will need to stay in top form to keep their perfect record.
While a few players will have to be called up from JV, Dubiel feels confident in the team’s ability in these players to hit well and adjust quickly to the atmosphere of a varsity match.
“In JV matches you only play nine holes, instead of eighteen, and the opposing teams are not as competitive,” Dubiel explained. “It can be a hard task to play up, but our JV players have been playing really well this season, and I have confidence in their abilities to flourish in the upcoming matches.”