AUBURN — Schedule adjustments necessitated by the coronavirus pandemic set up Twin Cities neighbors Edward Little, Lewiston and St. Dominic Academy for a rare regular-season high school golf match at Fox Ridge Golf Club on Tuesday.
Lewiston coach Tom LeBlond doesn’t remember the three teams ever facing off in a match that counted — the three, along with nearby Poland, often get together during the preseason — so Tuesday’s tri-match at Fox Ridge Golf Club was a welcome competition.
“I think it’s good because we practice out here with St. Dom’s,” Edward Little coach Chris Merrill said. “We kind of did a little preseason thing with them, but it’s good for the kids — especially in a year like this — to see different teams, because we’ve seen Lewiston — I think this is our third time seeing them already, we’ll see them one more time. So just getting a different school, different competition, it’s been nice for the kids.”
The host Red Eddies won both of their team matches, beating rival Lewiston 6.5-2.5 (with team total a narrow 177-179 over nine holes) and defeating St. Dom’s 7-2 (177-182). Lewiston bested St. Dom’s in the other team match, 7-2.
Neil LaRochelle, a senior on Saint Dominic’s team who attends Lisbon High School, also appreciates the different matchups.
“It was awesome. We get good competition. They’re Class A, we’re Class C, obviously, and they had some good scores,” LaRochelle said. “They put up some really good scores for us, and it’s good that — a lot of teams in our class or conference can’t really play a lot of matches right now, and we’re lucky that EL plays here and they have connections with other (schools) like Lewiston around here.
“… It’s kind of convenient that we’re right here and we can play a match any time, (while) other people have been just hitting the range at practice and just playing with teammates and stuff.”
LaRochelle was the low medalist for the day, shooting a 1-under-par 35. As the Saints’ No. 1 golfer, he beat Edward Little’s Colin Merritt and Lewiston’s Bryce Dufour. Merritt (39) was EL’s low scorer, while Lewiston’s low scorer was its No. 3 player, Joey Gendron, with a 40.
LeBlond was happy that his team was able to face an opponent other than Edward Little of Oxford Hills, which Lewiston faced last week before high school sports in Oxford County were shut down last Friday due to an increase in COVID-19 cases in parts of the county.
Tuesday’s match had an air of uncertainty about it after the Lewiston-Edward Little girls soccer game was postponed, “Out of concern for the health and safety of the student-athletes,” according to a tweet from the Edward Little athletics Twitter account.
“You know, with everything that’s going on, just to be able to say that we’re coming out and playing matches has been good,” Merrill said.
Tuesday’s round started off with perfect weather, save for a little bit of a breeze, according to LaRochelle. And while the temperature dropped and the sun hid behind clouds by the time the sixth group finished up, at least the Saints, Devils and Red Eddies were out on the fairways and greens competing against each other.
“I’m just happy that we’re still out here and we’re able to get the chance to play,” said LaRochelle, who noted he has football friends at Lisbon who aren’t so lucky.
Luck might have helped LaRochelle — last year’s Class C state runner-up — a little on Tuesday, but his game was better than maybe it has ever been.
“I was confident, rolling in a lot of putts, hitting good shots, and I felt good about my game for the first time in a while, honestly,” he said.
Since the uncertainty of COVID-19 is always looming, and nothing good or normal is guaranteed, LaRochelle is forced to preemptively view Tuesday’s stellar round as a potential silver lining.
“Let’s say things go wrong right now and we are forced to cancel (the rest of the season), I finished out strong,” LaRochelle said. “I had a good match to finish. And I think it was my first match I’ve ever shot under-par in high school, and it could be my last match.
“If it was, I’d feel good about that. It’d be kind of bittersweet, to be honest.”
September 30, 2020 at 09:36AM
https://www.sunjournal.com/2020/09/29/h-s-golf-edward-little-lewiston-and-st-doms-battle-at-fox-ridge/
H.S. golf: Edward Little, Lewiston and St. Dom's battle at Fox Ridge - Lewiston Sun Journal
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