Head coach Scott Mohr is steering the six boys on his St. Ed’s varsity golf team toward the district tournament in October, and he structured the regular season knowing that some tough competitors will be waiting for them from start to finish.
“We have four returning players to the golf team this year,” Mohr said. “We have a stable of three juniors with Trey Meadows, Anthony Chiarenza and Anirudh Mysore. Our fourth returner is freshman GP Battista. So it’s really terrific to have all of that returning talent.
“We were also joined by senior KC Barry and freshman Ryan Niederpruem. We have a lot of pure talent with a wide range of different skills. It was just exciting to get back on the golf course this year.”
The guys with previous high school experience have already proven that they are capable of shooting in the high 70s to low 80s. Five are eligible to come back next year, and a few have aspirations to play beyond high school. Mohr understands that and has adjusted his mentoring accordingly.
“I’ve made a lot of changes in terms of strategy and what we are doing for the team this year,” said Mohr, now in his second season as head coach. “We are having a lot more 18-hole matches and we have scheduled a couple of invitational tournament events.
“We have taken the program up a level, in my opinion, because a lot of our guys are super competitive and want to play college golf.”
Chiarenza carded 78, 81 and 81 in three matches through last Thursday. Over the same period Meadows shot 79, 81 and 80. Mysore finished with 80, 84 and 82. Those scores were good enough to make the top three for the cumulative team score.
Battista was twice able to break into the final slot for team scoring by finishing fourth with rounds of 85 and 84. Barry did it one time at 86.
“Anthony Chiarenza has a beautiful golf swing,” Mohr told us, when describing the attributes of the golfers on his team. “He can really pound the ball. … We really have high hopes for him.
“Trey Meadows is a single-sport athlete. Golf has been his passion for a long time. … The biggest thing we see about Trey is length. He’s driving the ball over 300 yards at times. He’s not one-dimensional, though; he’s got the whole game. I really hope it comes together for him this season.
“Anirudh Mysore is more of a tactician in how he works his way around the golf course. He is a very smart golfer and uses that to his advantage.
“GP Battista is only a ninth-grader but he already has a tremendous golf resume. He has played all over the world. He has the talent to be shooting right around par. I hope that happens for him on a regular basis.
“KC Barry can do a little bit of everything and has always been passionate about golf. I’m looking forward to seeing his game come into form as a member of the team this year.
“Ryan Niederpruem is new to the team this year. He is very disciplined and extremely hard working.”
While the individual scores have been impressive, they have yet to translate into major success in team competition. The Pirates were 0-4 (including one tri-match) after a dual-match last week with Pine School. Everyone is now aware that talented young golfers don’t only reside at St. Ed’s.
“This is a more serious venture,” Mohr acknowledged. “We are playing against some really good teams. It’s exciting to play in really competitive events.”