Led by 2016 District 6 runner up Andrew Ferguson, the 2016 Tyrone Boys Golf Team had a very successful 2016 season, finishing 15-6 overall in the competitive Mountain League.

“The team this year was definitely better than last year. Everyone was more dedicated, which led to some lower scores and more wins,” said Ferguson.

Ferguson’s play was clearly the highlight of the year, but the rest of the team also performed well.

Junior Ethan Vipond had a successful season of his own, finishing 15th at Districts.

“It was a real pleasure to have this kind of competitive mentality as a whole, that has been missing for the past few years,” said Tyrone Head Coach Greg Ferguson. “The team is greatly improved over last year and they improved a great deal from the first match through the final match this season.”

Sophomore Andrew Ferguson placed second at Districts this year and had his sights set on States, but had a disappointing playoff loss at the Regional match, just missing the cut for States.

“Andrew hit the ball quite well on the round, but was well below his average around the greens. He hung in there and battled and at the end of the day found himself in a playoff. He was in great position off the tee on the playoff hole, but again was let down by his game around the green. The playoff was won with a par made from 30 feet and Andrew missed his eight footer. It was a tough way to end the year. It will eat at him for some time but he will bounce back and learn from this and hopefully will become better as a result,” said Coach Ferguson.

“I didn’t perform the way I wanted to [at Regionals]. I had a few uncharacteristic errors and some mental errors that I don’t usually make,” said Ferguson.

Despite the setback, Ferguson is only a sophomore and is still on track to become the most successful golfer in Tyrone school history.

“Andrew’s success is mostly from his desire to win and compete against quality competition at a high level,” said Coach Greg Ferguson.

As for 2017, the team is looking good. The only senior on this year’s squad is Steven Hanzir, which means they will have the majority of the team returning.

“Andrew and Ethan set the pace each match for us this season as well as last season. In most cases the duo can build us a pretty good lead at the front, making it difficult for teams to catch us. They will be together next year and with the freshman improving, I look forward to having a good season next year,” said Coach Greg Ferguson.

The four freshman are Chris Wilkins, Tyler Hamp, Trey Kyle and Ben Delbaggio. According to Coach Ferguson, all of his young players show promise as well as interest in becoming better. Juniors Andrew Lang and Ethan Vipond will also return and look to improve.

“Andrew [Lang] worked harder on his game this year than the past and late in the season made some very good improvements. Ethan is a very talented player. He has not played to his ability most of the past two seasons but still has performed very well producing better than average results. I look forward to Ethan working on his game and having a great senior season. He has the kind of game that will allow him to play at the state level,” said Coach Ferguson.