The North Penn golf team closed out their regular season on Wednesday afternoon with their annual NP cup. The tournament was held at Pine Crest Country club where a close match led to Team Navy defeating Team Columbia 8.5-7.5 points.
Unlike other sports’ season closers, the Golf team has a unique tradition of having their last tournament be just the North Penn athletes.
“This is a Ryder Cup style format where our team is split into two teams that compete against each other,” Coach Brick explained.
With the entirety of their season being stroke play matches and tournaments, the NP cup was a match play format to give the players an opportunity for head-to-head competition.
The 16 matches were extremely close, with three matches ending in an All-Square (tie), 7 Navy wins, and 6 for Columbia. Difference makers of the day were Ben Clark, Patrick Clayton, Matt Wrigley, and Kellan Toussaint, combining for 6 out of a possible 8 points together.
“The North Penn golf team had a very competitive season,” Brick stated. “The coaches saw improvement among all players. The team will have many returning players so the future looks promising in the coming years.”
Adding to the excitement of the NP Cup, each golfer was allowed to have a caddy whereas they typically carried their own equipment.
“Everyone got the opportunity to bring someone whether that’s someone at the highschool, their parent, sibling, friend and just have a great time,” sophomore Bailey Bart said, who brought her younger brother to the tournament. While rather small for the job, he was very excited to be a part of the day.
When reflecting on the season, junior and team captain Nate Mcclain cited that not only did the team build on their skills but also that the upperclassmen left a more positive atmosphere in its wake.
“I think we did a lot better than we did last year and had a lot more fun,” Mcclain noted.
“It’s pretty cool that I get to leave school early and just go play golf with my friends every Wednesday,” Clayton added.
After Navy’s victory was tallied up the entire team celebrated their senior night where they honored the three graduating players Justin Beck, Ben Clark, and Patrick Clayton.
For some players, yesterday’s match was their last swing of the season, but for others there is still more competition left. The Suburban One Golf Tournament for the girls took place on Tuesday, with Bailey Bart and Gigi Gratz both competing. Gratz finished towards the top of the leaderboard and will be moving on to Districts. Kellen Toussaint, James Boyle, Parker Bohn, Pat Clayton, and Nate Mcclain have all qualified for the Boys Leagues and will compete next monday.
The golf team has had an incredible season and is already looking forward to being back on the course next fall.
“I see a lot of improvement this season but there’s definitely more to come. I’m happy with how we did but we can do better I know,” Wrigley stated. “The coaching staff is great, the courses treated us well this year, and the Knights are going to be rolling next year.”