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First-time state champion crowned at Division 3 state finals in boys golf

First-time state champion crowned at Division 3 state finals in boys golf

FOXBORO — Reid Ohanesian missed the state championship two years ago due to COVID-19. Last year he placed 21st individually, accelerating his team’s fourth-place finish.

So how do “First Place Individual”, “First Place Team” and “First Place” sound?

The Ayer Shirley Regional High junior led his golf team to the top finish as the game’s lowest medalist at 3-over (75) in the Division 3 state finals at Foxboro Country Club on Monday. Ohanesian won the singles match by three shots.

With his first golf state title in school history, Ayer ended Shirley Weston’s championship hopes by three goals.

“This is what we wanted,” Ayer Shirley head coach Peter Gubellini said. “We did it today. They’ve worked hard all year.”

In last year’s state final, Ohanesian ended his sophomore season with a 13-over (84) win on a dreary, rainy day at Sterling National Country Club. Gubellini said he started coaching Ohanesian in seventh grade: “He was small. Very small,” said the coach with a smile. “But he always had this nice swing.”

“I just knew he wasn’t far away at that point, but when he grows up he’s going to be very special,” he added. “It turns out that’s exactly what he is. … “I’ve always said that I won’t retire until Reid leaves, so I’ll be here at the school for at least another year.” He and I are very close. All the players on the team are close.”

Ohanesian attributed the year-to-year jump in the leaderboard to “working really hard and trying to get better every day,” he said. “Going to the range, playing after school and focusing on my game.”

Ohanesian was joined by teammates Tommy Bergin (83, tied for seventh) and Aadi Patel (85, tied for 17th) in securing the title ahead of a field of 80 golfers.

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After an 11-3 regular season, Ayer Shirley captured its second straight Division 3 Central Sectional title in the final round at Kettle Brook Golf Club in Paxton. Bergin (2 over par 74) and Ohanesian (4 over par) took the top two spots and secured the lead by two shots over second-place finisher Maynard – a much more comfortable lead than last year, when the team trailed Hopedale by one let’s play cards.

It was all about dethroning the repeat champions.

Weston, which finished third as a team (two strokes behind Monomoy and 10 strokes behind Ayer Shirley), was led in the three-peat attempt by William Goldstein (6 over, 78).

“It’s great,” Ohanesian said of winning the state championship. “We knew they (Weston) would still be pretty good this year. We wanted to beat them this year. We made it.”

Career years of Carver golfers

When Kyle Hoffman and Finn Manning joined the Carver High golf team as eighth-graders, the program was unrecognizable compared to its current state.

The team had a senior in 2020 and nearly failed the following year due to low participation: “It was a baseball farm system,” joked Hoffman, who then recruited freshmen from his spring sport.

On Monday, the senior tandem became the school’s first two golfers in the last five years to advance to states after the team posted its best campaigns in recent memory – 11 wins and four losses, narrowly missing out on an invite to the full team for the state finals on Monday at Foxboro Country Club.

“It’s definitely been a journey,” Manning said.

“It’s the culmination of their hard work,” second-year coach Craig Lochiatto said. “They started in eighth grade and I think they maybe only won one game and then there was progress. “I’m happy they’re getting to this point thanks to all the time they’ve put in. … They are really responsible for building the program.”

At the state finals, Hoffman placed 33rd among a field of 80 golfers with an 18-over-par 72. Manning finished tied for 40th in 20-over.

At last week’s Division 3 South Sectional, Manning placed fifth (10 over par 71) and Hoffman placed sixth (11 over), putting the Crusaders in fourth place behind finalists Sandwich (first) and St. John Paul II and Monomoy at the Ridge Club in Sandwich.

“It has always been a goal to create states. You never realize how hard it is,” Hoffman said. “This year I’m glad I made it here. I don’t really care what I shot. I’m just glad I proved my ability to get here.”

Both Hoffman and Manning reached the milestone of 1,000 career Stableford points this season.

“This year, I think they had the attitude of ‘Why not us?'” Why don’t we make it to the next step? Lochiatto said.

Carver will return a South Shore League MVP candidate in freshman Landon Soliwoda, who sank a hole-in-one in practice earlier this season, as well as first-year golfers Kellen Cutting and Dax Russell to the 2025 team.

“We know what they’re capable of,” Manning said of the future group. “They will definitely continue to push the team forward.”