Ashland Golf, Small but Promising

Over the last three years, the Ashland golf team has not had all that much success on the golf course, but despite the lack of wins, the Clockers golfers enjoying teeing off for their school.
“Golf is not a big sport in Ashland. Our numbers are low, we have no middle school team like other towns, and the Tri Valley League is very strong,” Ashland Coach Rick LeBlanc said. “At one point, we had a middle school team, which acted as a feeder program, but somehow, we lost it.”
This fall, 11 golfers came out for the team; eight will play each match, with the top six counting for the matches score. Ashland has four athletes that take to the links each and every match, while the other seven team members rotate for the other four vacancies.
Senior Jordan Silverman is the one who would usually tee off first or second for the Clockers, and according to his coach, he has had some really good rounds of golf, with a low of 40. He is Ashland’s most solid golfer. Rachel Greenberg, a four-year starter for the Clockers, is the only other senior on the squad.
With only two seniors, the majority of the team is relatively young and should provide the Clockers with a strong foundation for the future. Sophomore female Laasya Thatavarty is an up and coming golfer who shows a lot potential.
“She is a very promising up and coming player who plays a lot of Junior New England Tournaments,” LeBlanc said. “She’s shooting around 43-48, but is the most serious golfer on our team.”
Another sophomore who will see action at either the second or third spot is Brett Erwin, who has plenty of potential, but has yet to really tap into it and golf at a consistent pace. Rounding out the top four golfers will be freshman Nick Simpson. The freshman has already posted a low round of 40 and has shown a high upside.
“Nick has shown a lot of potential so far, but he isn’t all that consistent,” the coach said. “He’s a freshman, and you see the nerves kicking in, especially when we’re playing bigger schools, but he does have an overall good golf game.”
As the young golfers get accustomed to the play in the Tri Valley League, LeBlanc is hoping that he and the other TVL Coaches can convince the school’s AD in changing the rules.
“We’re looking to get only the top five scores to count instead of the current six. We would really like to go with the same formant that the States follows (counting only four scores),” he said. “Cutting out that one score could make a lot of difference, especially for a school like ours with no depth.”
While the schools continue to have discussions about the possible scoring change, Ashland will just have to go about playing golf the way they have in the past; knowing there will be no team tournament play, but striving for the individual golfers to have success.
“I’m sure it’s (losing) is in the back of their minds when they take to the course,” LeBlanc said. “But it’s hard to push a player to become better when there is no one pushing them; that’s where the depth would play an important role.”
Currently Silverman and Thatavarty have a possible shot at making the Individual State Tournament, but they will have to put forth a strong effort over the last four matches of the season.