Newtown High School’s boys’ golfers and their coach, Bill Flood, never doubted their chances of dethroning Pomperaug of Southbury when the South-West Conference championship rolls around in late May — not even after an 11-stroke loss to the Panthers this year, and a pair of defeats to Masuk of Monroe.

On May 7, the Nighthawks gave themselves plenty of reason for a little added confidence and, in the process, may have won over some doubters by tying Pomperaug to earn the distinction of co-champions of the Woodland Invitational at Oxford Greens.

“That’s a big tournament for us because it gives us some momentum going into the SWC tournament,” said Flood, whose team still has some unfinished regular-season business to take care of. The Hawks, beginning with a May 11 date with Brookfield, have five matches to go before the SWC tourney, set for May 29, at Ridgewood Country Club in Danbury.

A year ago, the Hawks came up just one stroke short of defeating the Panthers in the conference tourney. There was lots of optimism about getting over the hump this spring. Then came the regular-season setback, on April 27. “We have not had a lot of fortune against Pomperaug over the last two or three years,” Flood notes.

Newtown still has plenty to prove. They’ll have to overcome two Panther squads — the Masuk Panthers are the only other rival to defeat NHS, which carried a 6-3 overall mark into the Brookfield match. But Newtown did match Pomperaug and defeat Masuk in the 17-team Woodland Invitational. The Hawks also made things very close in their second match against Masuk, falling by just two strokes, at their home course, Rock Ridge Country Club, on May 4; Masuk won by 11 strokes on its home course earlier in the campaign.

In the Woodland Invitational, the Nighthawks and Pomperaug Panthers both shot a 319; New Milford was next with a 336, followed by Masuk with a 337.

Newtown’s Josh Houle tied Woodland’s Mike Erickson with a 76, to finish second behind Pomperaug’s Micheal VanDerLaan (70), and Newtown’s Colin Patrick was next with a 78. The tourney featured 68 golfers as teams from a wide area, including Joel Barlow of Redding, Weston, Torrington, Naugatuck, Litchfield, and Watertown.

Not only did Newtown share top honors, but Flood came away from the tournament thinking there’s still plenty of room for improvement. “I thought we had a very average day,” he said.

When Houle, Graham Hubbert, and Colin Patrick are on their games, they’re tough golfers, who help the Nighthawks collectively put up a score that is tough to beat, the coach points out.

Early on in the campaign, the Hawks have rotated players in the fourth and fifth spots. Jacob Burden has stepped up and emerged as a steady player in the four position, and Ryan Patrick has come on strong, along with Curtis Williamson, who is now vying for the fifth spot.

“We’re searching for an identity right now,” said Flood, adding that things seem to be falling into place as the truncated regular season — only a month old and less than a few weeks away from completion — heads toward the stretch run.

The Hawks can’t be considered a favorite to win the SWC championship, but after the success at the Woodland tourney, they’ve got to be considered among the top contenders.

“I wouldn’t count us out just yet,” Flood said. “If we play our best golf I don’t know if there’s a team as good as us.”