On Saturday at the 14th annual Andover Invitational held at the Newport Country Club, the varsity golf team recorded the lowest score (303) in the eight-team tournament to capture the Newport Cup for the first time since 2014.
Since in the inception of the invitational in 2005, Deerfield has won the Cup six times, the first time the Cup was brought back to the Pioneer Valley was in 2008. The Big Green owned the trophy from 2011-2014, when they enjoyed a four-year winning streak. In addition, last weekend the team returned the Cup to Albany Road for the sixth time in its history.
On Saturday, senior captain Lowell Weil led the way for the Big Green scoring a 74. There was a three-way tie for the tournament’s medalist that goes to the player(s) with the lowest score. Weil shared the medalist honor with Hotchkiss’ Michael Gillis ’18 and Salisbury’s Eric Ash ’19, who also shot a 74 at Newport.
Rounding out the Deerfield team score was Kimberly Stafford ’19 (77), Ben Hirsch ’18 (83), Garrett Moe ‘19 (76), and James Whiteley ’20 (76). Collectively, the team posted a 303, which was eleven strokes ahead of second place finisher Taft (312).
This season, the Big Green golf squad remains undefeated and their season record sits at 9-0 as they march into the final quarter of their regular season matches. Next up, is a head-to-head match-up with neighboring NMH, scheduled for a 2:30pm tee time tomorrow at Crumpin Fox.
Invitational Team Rankings:
- Deerfield – 303
- Taft – 312
- Salisbury – 315
- Hotchkiss – 318
- Exeter – 323
- Loomis – 325
- Andover – 329
- Tabor – 359
Individual Scores:
- Lowell Weil – 74
- Kimberly Stafford – 77
- Ben Hirsch – 83
- Garrett Moe – 76
- James Whiteley – 76
Andover Invitational History:
2005: Andover – 513.3
2006: Choate – 490
2007: Taft – 319
2008: Deerfield – 303
2009: Taft – 325
2010: Exeter – 314
2011: Deerfield – 310
2012: Deerfield – 331
2013: Deerfield – 299
2014: Deerfield – 299
2015: Exeter – 313
2016: Exeter – 298
2017: Loomis & Taft – 306
2018: Deerfield – 303