St. Ed’s hosted the District 13-1A boys golf tournament this week at Bent Pine Golf Club featuring a field of 10 teams and up to 50 golfers vying for an opportunity to break through and advance in the postseason.
The Pirates entered as the fifth seed following a remarkable display of consistency by the top four golfers during the regular season. This year also saw a significant upsurge in participation on the girls team. The St. Ed’s program prospered with great assistance from a golf-loving community and a dedicated husband and wife coaching tandem.
“We are just really blessed by how many in our town support youth golf,” fifth-year boys head coach Scott Mohr said. “Golf has really been a family endeavor for us. My wife Jaclyn coached the girls team (for the fourth straight year), so to have us do this together again was really fantastic.
“Riomar Country Club was the perfect place for us to have as a home course. It was the home base for the girls team this year, and that made it easier for all of us on a daily basis. We also had a boys JV team, so to have 25 young golfers at one time at the same facility serves to show the growth of this sport at our school. It’s been great.”
Even though the numbers were healthy across the board, the boys varsity team was limited to five players. The girls team ballooned to 11 this year.
“The best part for the boys is that we’ve been on a direct upward incline since the beginning of the season,” Scott Mohr said. “We only had a five-man team. We chose not to have a sixth and that put a little more pressure on the guys in some ways. We really topped out on Senior Night with a score of 156. Some parents were able to share in that moment. Posting those scores in that match turned it into a really great day.”
Ryan Niederpruem topped the 2019 leader board with a nine-hole average of 39 in regular-season matches. Fellow senior GP Battista averaged 42. Sophomores Aidan Heaney with 40 and Adam Rogers with 41 gave the Pirates a formidable, highly competitive foursome throughout. Junior Jack Kincus finished with 46 for his best score in a victory over Sebastian River High School.
The boys teed off against some tough competition this week, most notably tourney favorite Benjamin and always pesky Pine School. The coach remained optimistic based on the steady performances of his team since the opener was pushed back a week by the Hurricane Dorian scare.
“All of our players are returning veterans and hopefully we are going to peak at the right time. We had strong senior leadership led by Ryan Niederpruem. He was our best scorer in most of the matches. He worked his tail off and it really paid off for him, and for us. It’s really a pleasure as a coach to see that come to fruition for a young athlete.
“Our other senior, GP Battista, had a really nice season in his fifth year with the team. He had a fantastic Senior Night with an even par score. That was certainly a highlight for him. Our two sophomores, Aidan Heaney and Adam Rogers, were really solid and that gave us a lot of stability.
“We had great team chemistry. The players rallied around each other. … It also made for a great season overall.”
The approach with the girls team was vastly different. The very short season concluded two weeks ago and it will be curious to see how many girls take up the sport next year at St. Ed’s, or on a casual, recreational basis. This year was essentially an introductory course for most of them.
“I think what encouraged a large number of girls to come out was a few things,” Jaclyn Mohr told us. “First was the atmosphere that a lot of people would be starting at the same place, just learning the game. The other would be my husband talking up the program. I am an off-campus coach which makes it harder to connect with students during the day. The final reason was the location. Riomar is a beautiful golf course and it is extremely close to the school.
“We were very blessed. The girls really got along well and were extremely supportive of each other. Junior Katie Croom and sophomore Charlotte Yates really stood out. They were our only returning players. They became our leaders during practices and matches.”
