Right off the bat, the pressure was on. To even have a chance at placing, players had to stay consistently near par on all holes. The Wildcats teed off with mixed emotions.

“On the first hole, I hit [into] the woods, but I bounced back. I think I got a bogey on that hole,” sophomore Aidan Folan said.

While his younger brother battled through an early setback, senior Sean Folan found his rhythm right away.

“I shot even on the front nine… I shot at 35. I’ve never done that in my life before. I feel like just today was just, I was just locked in. I was like, ready. I warmed up like an hour beforehand,” Sean Folan said.

As the Wildcats progressed through the front nine, some players felt good, while others did not. Senior Sam Zalak did not feel great about his performance but still managed a birdie on a par 3. Despite the shakiness, they continued to fight forward—some even on track for a new personal best at the St. Andrews course.

“[I played], very good! Came back from quite the devastating start,” senior Andrew Ruszczak said.

Ruszczak’s teammates, however, argued that a rough game for him would be a good game for most. As the evening wore on, the competition spread out too, with some boys even reaching scores as low as 75. It was a long day, and players walked nearly 10 miles, leaving everyone exhausted and grateful for rest after 18 holes. After the match, there was an awards ceremony where Ruszczak and Sean Folan both placed on the leaderboard. Ruszczak finished 4th with a score of 77, and S. Folan placed 5th with a score of 76.

“Andrew and Sean qualifying in the top 10. I thought both of their ball striking lately has been amazing, and it definitely showed off and paid off today. I hope we can get as many guys playing well at conference as possible, and for some of our players to qualify – or all of them to qualify – for sectionals,” head coach Joe McCollum said.