Trudeau out-shoots some of the best; Jacks’ 7th grader shoots 36, 38 at TLCC
Dan McClelland
by Dick Sterling
Tupper Lake Head Golf Coach Hayden LaMere was confident that one of his youngest golfers could make an impact in the Northern Athletic Conference this year. Wyatt Trudeau, a seventh grader, who started to make his presence and abilities, known to Coach LaMere last year when he started hanging out around the Jacks team as a sixth grader, has put together a solid season on the Lumberjacks top six starters!
Last Friday he rose to the top in a match against some of the best golfers in Section 10, and this Friday he will attempt to repeat that performance as Tupper Lake hosts this year’s Section 10 Championship at the Tupper Lake Country Club.
Friday’s match was against Canton and Gouverneur, at the local course, and the Jacks earned a pair of victories as they finished the day with a team score of 213… one stroke better than Canton (214) and also defeating the Wildcats (235).
Trudeau was medalist for the event, shooting an outstanding round of 38.
Tupper Lake Head Coach Hayden LaMere was proud of his young golfer. “Wyatt, as a seventh grader, had the low round of the event. He beat senior Ryan Jones, of Canton, who is a Division I commit for golf, and he also beat junior Raine Rumble, of Gouverneur, who is currently leading Section 10 in scoring average, and is the front runner for Section 10 MVP,” said Coach LaMere. Both Jones and Rumble finished the day with scores of 39. Trudeau’s score was just three shots over par.
Other Lumberjack scores were: Christian Moody-Bell (42), Ashton Clark (43), Bauer Callaghan (45), Phil Lindsay (45) and Gavin Mitchell (54 – non-scoring). Shooting exhibition rounds for the Jacks were another pair of seventh graders Graedyn Ellers, (47) and Nate Ostrander (54).
Other scorers for the Golden Bears were: Matthew Tupper (40), Daniel Richardson (41), Jackson Zebedee (47) and Eliza Creurer (47), which was the low score for girls. For the Wildcats, JD Minckler scored a 44 and Trevor Moore had a 49, Caitlyn Storie finished with a 51 and William Riutta scored a 52.
Coach LaMere said the closing hole was exciting. “As the match was coming to a close, members from all three teams surrounded the ninth green to see the final group come finish. In this group was Moody-Bell, who made a clutch bogey putt to seal the win for Tupper Lake by a single stroke.” The coach added, “we were without one of our low scorers in Aiden Churco, but the guys stepped up and, in his absence, got the win as a team.”
The Jacks traveled to Potsdam on Monday to finish off the season against a very good team. The race for the team regular season championship was tight as Salmon River topped the field at 10-2; Potsdam stood at 9-2; Ogdensburg was 7-1, with some matches to complete, Malone and Massena both stood at 8-2 and the Jacks were 8-3.
Earlier in the week, Tupper played a tri-match against Clifton-Fine and Colton-Pierrepont. The Jacks finished with a team score of 207.
Coach LaMere commented on the impressive score. “This is the best round as a team in my tenure as coach. I know Tupper golf history pretty well, and I am confident this is the best round since the 2005-2010 era with Zach Meade,” said the coach. Lindsay shot a career-best 39, Aiden Churco finished with 40, Bauer Callaghan and Wyatt Trudeau each shot 42, Gavin Mitchell had a 44 and Ashton Clark a 48.
On Wednesday, Tupper Lake shot 210 while taking down Norwood-Norfolk (290). The Jacks were led by a 36 from Trudeau (+1), Callaghan with a 40, Lindsay finished with a 44. Churco and Clark both shot 45s and Mitchell had a 46.
“This week we will be getting ready to host the sectionals at the Tupper Lake Golf Course,” said Coach LaMere. “Thursday will feature a practice round. Friday is the team event and Saturday, the top third of the field will battle it out to see which golfers will represent Section 10 at the New York State Championships.”