Madison Golf Looks Forward After Stellar 2010 Season

The Madison golf team put together a highly successful season, ending the 2010 campaign with a winning percentage of .882 and a division co-championship. But, as is always the case on the links, the Dodgers feel they have a ton of room for improvement.

"We just had a solid group of nine guys who rotated in and out," said letterwinner Matt Gilbert. "Everyone did their part, and if someone struggled one day, someone else would step up."

Madison, which featured eight varsity players this season, put together an impressive won-loss record (15-2), including 7-1 in its Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference division.

The Dodgers' team highlight came May 6, when they upended rival Chatham by seven strokes, handing the Cougars their first league loss and earning a share of the division title.

That day, Madison improved by 20 strokes from the teams' first meeting (April 15), when the Cougars - third place at the NJAC team championships - eased past Madison by a score of 160-177.

"Before the season, I would have been happy with second place in the division," Millichap said. "Chatham was very much the favorite. We lost to them, we beat everyone else, they lost to us, they beat everyone else. But the second time against them we just had some guys hitting the ball very well, and they shot a 150 at Pinch Brook. It was great to see."

All year long, Millichap said, the Dodgers were paced by a balanced, young lineup. Andrew Wells and Gilbert, both sophomores, regularly finished with the lowest scores.

Gilbert keyed the win over Chatham by shooting one over par, while Wells had perhaps Madison's best individual effort in the 2010 season, shooting a 78 at the 18-hole Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference championships at Berkshire Valley Golf Club in Oak Ridge May 11. Wells' performance helped Madison finish fifth in the 12-team tournament.

"I was just making putts that day," Wells said. "I was going up and down when I needed to. I could've been even a few strokes better, but I was very happy with my score."

But a team can't win 15 out of its 17 stroke-play matches without depth. That was provided by juniors Mike Coviello and Conor Stark, as well as senior Forrest Bennfors. Coviello shot a 39 in a tight, three-stroke win over Parsippany Hills on April 20, and Bennfors tied for the team-low with 45 in a three-way meet April 4.

Meanwhile, Stark, Millichap said, that showed great improvement all season, and the coach expects big things from Stark in 2011.

"He had a real high score in our first match of the season," Millichap said. "He was a little lost out there. He'd only been playing courses on the weekends by himself, not in competitions with the pressure on like that. But one day it just clicked for him, and he was a top-four contributor the rest of the way."

The Dodgers didn't end the season quite how they wanted - with county or state titles either individually or as a team - but the future is bright. Just two of the eight players graduate, with four of the top five slated to return to try and put Madison in contention for state and county titles to go with an NJAC repeat.

"We want to win one of the three competitions [NJAC, county, state tournaments] outright next year," Gilbert said.

"I think we can have someone make it to the Tournament of Champions," Wells said.