Staples teammates Harrison Browne and Sawyer Dalzell were co-medalists who led the Wreckers to the team title by one stroke at the 2023 FCIAC Boys Golf Championship and there were many more achievements and turned in by golfers and conference golf teams in a few more invitational tournaments and postseason state tournaments to highlight the season.
Browne and Dalzell each shot a 1-over-par 73 at Tashua Knolls Golf Course in Trumbull to win medalist honors by one stroke over Liam Blanc, who led Fairfield Warde to second place.
Staples won with the lowest team score of 307. Fairfield Warde’s score of 308 gave the Mustangs the runner-up spot by 15 strokes over defending champion Greenwich (323).
The next four teams were just two strokes apart. Ridgefield placed fourth with a 333, one stroke better than fifth-place Wilton (334). New Canaan and St. Joseph each had a 335, and Darien placed eighth with a 339.
All eight teams had five players and the best four scores from each team were added up to calculate team scores. The same format was utilized in state tournaments.
Dalzell and Browne both excelled on the back nine and that was pivotal toward the Wreckers winning their first FCIAC team championship since 2010. Dalzell fired a 2-under-par 34 on the back nine and Browne had a 35. Gus Palmer shot a 79 and Philip Sullivan carded an 82 to contribute to Staples’ championship.
AJ Enslein finished in fourth place with a 75 and Emmett Graham placed 10th with a 78 to lead Greenwich.
St. Joseph’s Colin Firda shot a 76 to complete the top five.
Solid rounds by John Casella and Zach Magner contributed to Fairfield Warde’s runner-up finish as they both carded a 77 to finish in a four-way tie for sixth place with Ridgefield’s Ryan Morrice and Wilton’s Hudson Hagmann.
Brooks Thompson and Patrick Saxe led New Canaan as they both shot a 79 to finish in a three-way tie for 11th place with Palmer of Staples.
Lucas Schachter of Fairfield Warde and St. Joseph’s Michael Jones tied for 14th place with an 80.
There were several more solid rounds by FCIAC golfers in two of the longtime traditional invitational tournaments earlier in October.
The Michael Chappa Memorial Tournament, always a fun tourney for two-man teams from all over the state, took place on Oct. 5 at Longshore Golf Club in Westport. The Greenwich pair of Owen Duda and Graham fired a 61 on the par-69 course to win the Chappa by one stroke.
Gautam and Yuvi Kapoor of Trumbull and the Westhill team of Angad Manaise and Samir Muslim each had a 62 to tie for the runner-up spot.
Six FCIAC teams placed among the top six among the field of 47 two-man teams.
Thomas Rogozinski and Hagmann of Wilton teamed up to place fourth with a 63. Fairfield Warde’s Blanc and Casella were fifth with a 64. Browne and Dalzell of Staples tied for sixth place with a 65.
The two-man, best-ball tournament honors the memory of Michael Chappa, the longtime successful golf coach and history teacher at Staples High School. Chappa’s undefeated 1968 Wreckers (15-0) won the state championship and the following year he suffered a fatal heart attack at Longshore shortly after sinking his putt on the 16th green according to Chappa’s successor, Joe Folino, who initiated Chappa Memorial tourney in 1969 at the start of Folino’s own successful coaching career at Staples.
A dozen days later, Aryan Gautam of Trumbull shot an even-par 71 on Oct. 17 at Woodway Country Club in Darien to win the Hap Holahan golf tournament by one stroke over New Canaan’s Saxe. Browne of Staples and Warde’s Casella tied for third place with a 73, and New Canaan’s Thompson had a 74 to finish in the top five.
There were a combined four FCIAC teams who placed among the top six in their respective divisional state tournaments in late October.
St. Joseph was runner-up and just one stroke behind team champion Pomperaug at the 2023 Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference Division II Fall Boys Golf Tournament.
Jones tied for 11th place with an 82 at Chipanee Country Club in Bristol on Oct. 23 to lead the Cadets and his teammates Firda (83) and Alex Kurowski (84) also placed among the top 20.
Pomperaug won with a 334 and Berlin (337) was two strokes behind St. Joseph in third place.
Jake Schlack tied for 14th place with an 83 to lead Wilton to sixth place in team scoring with a 343.
Defending champion Greenwich and Westhill placed fourth and fifth, respectively, in the Division I state tournament on Oct. 24 at Stanley Golf Course in New Britain.
Caden Piselli and Robby Rosati of Fairfield Prep each carded a 68 to share medalist honors with Conard’s Will Gregware and lead Prep’s Jesuits to the team title.
The FCIAC had five schools place among the top nine.
Fairfield Prep won with a 287, eight strokes lower than runner-up Glastonbury (295). Conard finished third with a 306 and was followed by Greenwich (308) and Westhill (311).
New Canaan had a 313 to finish in a tie for sixth place with Simsbury. Trumbull (314) placed eighth and Fairfield Warde (316) tied for ninth with Farmington. Darien (320) placed 11th as the sixth FCIAC team in the top 11.
Browne of Staples and Greenwich’s Enslein had the best scores among conference golfers as they tied for seventh place with a 72.
Also from the FCIAC: Thomas Barnett of Darien, New Canaan’s Patrick Saxe and Brooks Thompson, Fairfield Warde’s Liam Blanc, Westhill’s Angad Manaise, and Trumbull’s Yuvi Kapoor all tied for 13th place with a 75, while Darien’s Porter Barnett, Greenwich’s Jack Hopper, and Westhill’s John Ferris all carded a 76 to tie for 20th place out of the 82 golfer who registered scores.