By Kim J. Harmon

The Nighthawks needed just one win in their final three matches to qualify as a team for the South-West Conference playoffs and, gosh, talk about sweating it out. The ‘Hawks earned that win with a 162-167 decision over Bunnell in their final league match.

The win pushes the ‘Hawks to 7-7 on the year and helped them avoid the disappointment of missing the playoffs after tough losses to Masuk (190-197) and Immaculate (175-181) when the locals certainly did not have play their best golf.

But they are in and following a non-league visit to Staples of Westport on Wednesday and a trip down to the Michael Chappa Tournament on Thursday, the Nighthawks will be heading to the SWC Tournament on Tuesday, May 30, at Ridgewood Country Club in Danbury.

Tee-off is slated for 8 am.

The ‘Hawks hope the win over Bunnell gets them on something of a roll heading into next week. Last week, Newtown dropped a 175-181 decision to Immaculate at a tough Richter Park layout in Danbury – despite a strong 4-over-par round from Mike Rostafin, which earned the senior medalist honors.

Taylor Gunn carded a 44, Joe Ziemann added a 48, and Mark Werbeck turned in a 49.

In a 190-197 loss to Masuk at Whitney Farms last Thursday, no one shot well for the ‘Hawks. Rostafin earned medalist honors with a 45 while Mike Troy was next lowest man at 46. Gunn’s 48 and Werbeck’s 52 pushed the ‘Hawks to their highest score of the season.

But the ‘Hawks recovered from those two losses with a nice performance against Bunnell. Mike Troy earned medalist honors (which he shared with Geoff Preston of Bunnell) with a blistering round of 38. Gunn came in with a 40, Rostafin followed with a 41, and Werbeck finished with a 43.