{"id":894296,"date":"2026-10-25T16:20:15","date_gmt":"2026-10-25T16:20:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/894296\/"},"modified":"2026-10-25T16:20:15","modified_gmt":"2026-10-25T16:20:15","slug":"previewing-the-courses-and-contenders-for-miaa-golf-championships","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/894296\/","title":{"rendered":"Previewing the courses and contenders for MIAA golf championships"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wellesley Country Club<\/p>\n

Monday, 11 a.m. shotgun start<\/p>\n

The par-71, 6,338-yard course was originally designed by Donald Ross in 1910. Wayne Stiles updated it in the 1920s, and Geoffrey Cornish helped expand it to a full 18 holes by the 1960s.<\/p>\n

The most difficult hole is rated as the 435-yard par-4 sixth, featuring a sloping fairway and long green that leaves a difficult approach shot.<\/p>\n

A pair of par-5s await on the 17th and 18th, carrying 541 and 527 yards, respectively. The 18th presents a true challenge with a narrow fairway, elevated green, and false front.<\/p>\n

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Defending champ Xaverian<\/a> (294) headlines a 13-team, 19-individual field, joined by St. John\u2019s (Shrewsbury) (294), BC High (310), and Longmeadow (310) as sectional winners<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Xaverian\u2019s Chris Morrow looks to become just the fourth two-time Division 1 state medalist, and his Hawks are eyeing the first repeat in program history. Their eighth title would tie St. John\u2019s (Shrewsbury) for third most.<\/p>\n

Morrow won in dramatic fashion<\/a> last year, beating out Connor Henrey (Longmeadow) and Owen Shea (Arlington) in a playoff to become Xaverian\u2019s first state medalist since 2007.<\/p>\n

Teams: Auburn, BC High, Belmont, Chelmsford, Concord-Carlisle, Hingham, Lincoln-Sudbury, Longmeadow, St. John\u2019s (Shrewsbury), St. John\u2019s Prep, Wachusett, Wellesley, Xaverian<\/p>\n

Franklin Country Club<\/p>\n

Monday (Oct. 26), 10 a.m. shotgun start<\/p>\n

A Stiles creation with construction overseen by Ross, Franklin Country Club expanded to 18 holes in 1972 under the direction of Philip Wogan. The par-71 plays 6,139 yards.<\/p>\n

The course\u2019s signature hole is the 144-yard par-3 14th, with a tee shot over the 50-acre Uncas Pond to a hump-shaped green making for a tough par.<\/p>\n

Masconomet (294), Norton (312), Tantasqua (324), and Medfield (335), are coming off sectional titles<\/a>, headlining a 14-team field with 20 individual competitors.<\/p>\n

After last year\u2019s champion, Canton<\/a>, bowed out at the North sectional, it\u2019s anyone\u2019s contest. Nauset and South <\/a>sectional medalist Oliver Smith<\/a> are in the hunt for their first state title, earning the Cape & Islands championship last Friday and finishing a comfortable second in the South sectional.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnything can happen,\u201d Smith said. \u201cIt\u2019s one round of golf, we can get lucky, and who knows? . . . We feel great for Monday.\u201d<\/p>\n

\" Brookline, MA – 10\/16\/2024 Jack Oreal (cq) from Newburyport High School Tee’s off of the 13th hole in the Division 2 North golf championship at Brookline Golf Club\/Robert T. Lynch Municipal Course . (Jonathan Wiggs \/Globe Staff)Jonathan Wiggs\/Globe Staff<\/p>\n

Smith also believes his talented group could be a factor in his performance. He\u2019ll join Newburyport\u2019s Jack Oreal, Milton\u2019s Devin Prince, and Mt. Greylock\u2019s Jacob Hillman at the second tee.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt gives me people to go back and forth with, and I\u2019d say my group is probably one of the best in the tournament,\u201d he said. \u201cI know if I win my group, I have a great shot at winning it all.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we all just need to play our own game and see what happens. We\u2019re just as talented as any team in this tournament.\u201d<\/p>\n

Teams: Archbishop Williams, Hanover, Masconomet, Medfield, Milton, Mt. Greylock, Nauset, Newburyport, Norton, Norwood, St. Bernard\u2019s, Scituate, Tantasqua, Wakefield<\/p>\n

Stockbridge Golf Club<\/p>\n

Monday, 10 a.m. shotgun start<\/p>\n

Stockbridge will host 12 Division 3 teams and 20 individual qualifiers, with defending champion<\/a> Old Rochester<\/a>, which captured the D3 South sectional last week with a 312 team score, seeking a repeat.<\/p>\n

Triton (314), Hopedale (340), and Monty Tech (337) join ORR as sectional champs.<\/p>\n

Opening in 1895, Stockbridge was one of the first 100 golf clubs in the United States, and the par-71, 6,204-yard layout has remained almost unchanged since 1934.<\/p>\n

The par-3, 121-yard fifth hole presents a unique challenge, forcing a shot across the Housatonic River to a bunker-protected green. Despite the short yardage, there\u2019s plenty of room for error.<\/p>\n

However, the course also features another challenge: getting there.<\/p>\n

\"Uxbridge,Uxbridge, MA 10\/27\/25- Seekonk\u2019s Aidan Connell finished two over to garner the medalist award at the MIAA Division 3 golf championship at Blissful Meadows Golf Club in Uxbridge on Monday, October 27, 2025. (Ken McGagh for The Boston Globe)Ken McGagh for The Boston Globe<\/p>\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t originally going to get a practice round in, but we\u2019re going to go up Sunday morning,\u201d said Seekonk junior captain Aidan Connell, the reigning D3 medalist and co-medalist at the South sectional. \u201cJust scope the course out, decide what shots I\u2019ll hit, what clubs, stuff like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

South sectional co-medalist Jack Czerkowicz and Old Rochester have the same plan. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve never played the course before, but I know it runs on a river and it\u2019s a pretty tricky course,\u201d he said. \u201cJust keeping the ball in play is going to be a big thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Momentum is also key for bringing home hardware, especially if there\u2019s a target on your back.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt gives me a little bit of confidence, if anything,\u201d Connell said. \u201cThe thing with golf that\u2019s tough, you could show up as the best player, have a bad day, and then anybody out of the 100 could play better than you. Knowing that I can compete and I can win, that\u2019s why I play.\u201d<\/p>\n

Teams: Advanced Math & Science, Franklin County Tech, Hopedale, Ipswich, Lenox, Lynnfield, Monty Tech, Norwell, Old Rochester, Sandwich, Triton, West Bridgewater<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Wellesley Country Club Monday, 11 a.m. shotgun start The par-71, 6,338-yard course was originally designed by Donald Ross…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":894297,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[71],"tags":[427,99],"class_list":["post-894296","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-golf","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/894296","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=894296"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/894296\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/894297"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=894296"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=894296"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=894296"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}