A year ago, veterans dominated the Rye Country Day golf team, with senior co-captains Theo Humphrey and Daniel Tricarico leading the way.

A year ago, veterans dominated the Rye Country Day golf team, with senior co-captains Theo Humphrey and Daniel Tricarico leading the way.

A year ago, veterans dominated the Rye Country Day golf team, with senior co-captains Theo Humphrey and Daniel Tricarico leading the way. Along with the captains, Gabe Regan, Reed Hammer, Andrew Starker, Chase Jaeger, and Jack Zenkel all graduated, leaving Coach Joe Isola this spring with the youngest team in the league.

Not surprisingly, the Wildcats have taken their lumps early on, losing to Masters 3-6 and perennial powerhouse Brunswick 2-7. Now for the good news: one of Country Day’s two wins against the Bruins on the Apawamis Club course was the low score of the day, a 35 posted by sophomore Eddie Massaro. (No stranger to big sticks, Massaro is a goalkeeper on the Wildcats hockey team, and it looks like his transition from ice to turf is ahead of schedule.)

Coach Isola was quick to mention two other strong performances. “Our co-captains, senior Kris Scarfone and junior Grant Wagman, both shot 39s. They’re big hitters, and I see them dominating off the tee in the matches to come.”

In their opening match at Sunningdale April 6, juniors David Hauben and Jeremy Regan and freshman Nick Jindal all came away with wins. Their coach took it as a positive sign.

“Since the weather this spring has not been kind to the area golf courses, we played on temporary greens and had to play lift, clean, and place. Even so, all of the boys played well. Our aggregate score was only eight strokes behind Masters. I think our consistency from 1-6 among our boys is going to win us some matches down the road.”

As the Irish blessing has it, ‘the road’ quickly rose up to greet the Wildcats. They played two more matches — against Hamden Hall and St. Luke’s — this week post-press time. Next week it’s off to The King School on Tuesday and back home on Thursday to face Hackley. So, a week from now, the Grandview Avenue team will have six matches under their belts. And, happily, they’ll all be veterans.