Newtown High Golfers Win Two Straight

By Andy Hutchison

Newtown High School’s boys’ golf team has won two straight matches and four out of five overall. Most importantly for the Nighthawks (4-2 overall) is that they are 2-0 in South-West Conference action. The Hawks went unbeaten in SWC play a year ago after losing their season opener by four strokes to rival Pomperaug in a nonconference match. This year started out similarly with a six-stroke defeat to Pomperaug (the Hawks shot a 151 and Pomperaug shot a 145) on April 3. The Nighthawks evened their record with a 156-166 win over Joel Barlow on April 8 and beat Bunnell 174-187 the next day.

The Hawks dropped back to .500 overall with a tough 232-228 defeat to Masuk on April 10. The match was tied after the top four golfers’ scores were counted so the fifth golfers decided the outcome. After a long break, the Hawks won back-to-back matches early this week. They defeated Notre Dame-Fairfield 159-205 on Monday and knocked off Stratford 169-206 Tuesday.

Given the recent success, there is optimism for another strong season at Newtown. Head Coach Jennifer Huettner is confident the team will once again come out among the top three in the SWC this spring.

Senior Steve Oberstadt and sophomore Chris McCann have been the top two golfers thus far. McCann had the top Newtown scores in the season opener and in Monday’s win over Notre Dame. He was the medalist when he shot a 36 against Notre Dame. Oberstadt earned medalist honors in three straight matches, shooting a 34 against Barlow, a 39 against Bunnell (at Oronoque Country Club in Stratford) and 37 against Masuk (at Whitney Farms Golf Course in Shelton). He won top honors with another 37 in Tuesday’s triumph over Stratford.

Other NHS highlights this season include senior newcomer Matt Gastonguay’s 38 against Pomperaug, senior Kevin Troy’s 36 against Barlow, and the emergence of newcomers Chris Caufield, Tony Vacaro, Paul Michaud, and Zach Dlouhy — all sophomores. Caufield and Dlouhy were among the top four in the win over Stratford. Seniors Kevin Schneider and Bobby Devenport, and sophomores Scott Kim and Kevin O’Connell round out the lineup, which is improving with each match, Huettner said.

The Nighthawks’ biggest tests of the season should be on May 6 and 13 against Weston and Masuk, respectively, Huettner said. The good news is that both of those matches are to be played at the par 33 Newtown Country Club.