After the Massachusetts Athletic Association (MIAA) decided to move leagues around Bay Path found themselves playing in the newly formed Central Mass. Athletic Conference (CMAC) with a bunch of teams that they had never seen before. Not only were the Minutemen going to take on teams that they had never met in competition, they also had a new coach taking over the varsity program.

Mike White, last year’s junior varsity golf coach, was tapped to take over varsity duties this fall, and he wasn’t setting his expectations all that high.

“Upon taking over, I was just hoping that I could get the players to be better than they were last year,” White said. “I really wanted them to get on the course and enjoy themselves, while having fun and they certainly did that.”

Bay Path went out, during their first year in the CMAC, and recorded an overall record of 15-4 – the best ever in school history. The Minutemen golfers would enter the CMAC Tournament at the end of the year and capture a second-place finish. Unfortunately, in the Districts where the golf team made their first ever appearance, the team didn’t do all that well and their season came to an end. 

“Next year we will definitely do better in the Districts and hopefully get to the States, now that they have seen the big boys play and are willing to work harder in the off-season to make that happen,” the coach said. “They will also be used to playing on the (district) course that they were unfamiliar with this season.”

Leading the way on the links throughout the year was sophomore Tyler Friend. The second-year golfer for Bay Path shot an average of 38.7 on the links and was a lot better than the new coach thought that he’d be. Friend moved up into the number one spot this fall after finding himself teeing off a lot lower last year. White also noted that Friend is not that big of a kid but can hit the ball a good distance from the tee. 

The number two golfer during the historic season was junior Ely Gemboski, who averaged a 40.9 on the season. While Gemboski improved his golf game this fall, the coach mentioned that he gets a little nervous on the course at times.

“We need to work on his nervousness, but we should have it solved by the time the season rolls around next year,” White said. “Ely helped us with a couple of wins this year with his scores and as a senior next year should help us more.”

Rounding out the top four players are brothers Ayden (a senior) and Owen (a junior) Kennedy. The two brothers are somewhat similar when it comes to scoring, both shoot in the 43 range, but other than that they are quite different on the course.

“The go back and forth playing three and four,” the coach said. “Once they tee off, they are both different golfers. Ayden is more serious while Owen seems to have more fun; he’s a free-spirited golfer.”

In addition to the top four, senior Luke Heller also was part of the successful season as was up and coming sophomore Andrew Lashua, who according to the coach can hit the ball some 270 yards and straight.

While Bay Path will be saying goodbye to a couple of seniors from this year’s historic season, White will have the majority of his team back next fall and he is looking forward to even more improvements.

“One of the biggest things that I want to do next year is get in more practices so that we can work on fundamentals of their swings, while getting them on the course a week earlier,” he said. “This year we had too many matches (Bay Path played in 22 games) over a five-week period – that is way too much and didn’t allow us to practice.”

With the fact that he wants to get the kids on the course earlier while cutting back on their games so they can practice more, who knows what the Bay Path golfers will be able to accomplish next fall. The team would definitely like another shot at the Districts, where they faltered this season, and are hoping to make an inaugural trip to the State Tournament, making more history for the program.