Despite opening the season with a pair of defeats last week, Wilton girls golf Head Coach Stuart Waack was encouraged by the team’s play.
The Warriors, in their second season as a varsity team, lost to Danbury on April 8, 185 to 205, and to Darien on April 9, 188 to 200.
“We have a good group,” said Waack. “We’re only losing by two or three strokes per player. We’re moving in the right direction. Last year we were losing by five or six strokes per player.”
He said the match against Darien might have been different had the Warriors had a full team.
“We had only four players. If we had a fifth player we probably would have beaten them.”
Returning sophomores NoraNoel Nolan and Morgan Hickey led the way in both matches. Against Danbury, Nolan shot a 43 and Hickey shot a 46. In the Darien match, Nolan came in with a 39 and Hickey shot a 40.
“Those two sophomores seem to have gotten better,” said Waack, whose team has grown from eight players last year to 11 this season, with six returners in Nolan, Hickey, senior captain Zara Saldanha, senior Kendall Keough, and sophomores Carolyn Yee and Kerry Keough.
In Thursday’s match, the scoring for Wilton was rounded out by Yee (58) and Kendall Keough (63).
The Warriors have five new players in senior Alexandra Babkowski, sophomores Beth Heffernan, Grace Ullman and Carolyn Vaum, and freshman Sophia Kammerman.
“It’s nice to see there’s interest in it,” said the coach. “I have new players who are very interested and who I think with time will improve, and who will contribute next year.”