Boys' Golf Looks for its Rebound Year

In what seemed to be a season of high hopes and aspirations for Spring-Ford golf, 2010-2011 ended with a 6-6 record (5-4 PAC-10) and for the first time in five years, missed the Final Four.

Sometimes luck just doesn't roll your way, and according to 25th-year head coach Jeff Mast, the Rams were in it right until the end.

"Out of all of the losses we had, I don’t know if we lost to anyone over five strokes," Mast said. "We were in every single match. We lost a lot of matches by two and three strokes last year. I can’t remember any big wins or upsets. It was an average kind of year. We had an opportunity to do some good things, but we were never able to get it done when we need it to."

For Mast, the highlight was having four kids qualify for the district tournament as individuals. The team also said goodbye to "four tremendous players" in Mike Oczypok, Austin Galaska, Sean Larkin and Dan Stenson. Galaska and Stenson are looking to play golf at the collegiate level - Galaska at Methodist and Stenson at York. Oczypok is trying to walk on for baseball at Alabama. Larkin's current status is unknown. A few of the aforementioned were baseball stars, which may have led to the 1-3 start to last season.

"Baseball might have had an impact on our slow start last year," said Mast. "Those guys won a state championship in legion ball and didn’t have an opportunity to practice on their golf game. They’re such good athletes."

This year's squad returns four letterman including in Tyler Keim, Steven Palazzolo, Jack Corney and Andrew Zimmerman. Keim and Palazzolo aided in the season-opening against Phoenixville on Tuesday.

"I’ll be counting on them coming through," Mast said. "Andrew joined a local club, works at Turtle Creek and caddies at another club. He’s been golfing all summer long. Steven works at another local club and it gives him another opportunity to play a little bit more. I’m hoping they can offer some leadership and their experience helps us a little bit."

The boys are talented on the young side, as well, with Oczypok's younger brother Alex and Keim's younger brother Matt showing much promise in the early going.

Bennett Detweiler was a big contributor last year as a freshman starter and also in Tuesday's Phoenixville win. Mast said first-time sophomore Devin Ryan showed a lot of potential on the driving range, as well, and John Foley, who also scored in Tuesday's game, just came back from Scotland, where he represented the United States in the U.S. vs. Euro 14-and-under tournament.

"We have a good mix of older, experienced kids and some younger guys who may not have high school experience, but have experience playing the game," said Mast. We’ll see what that does."

The biggest competition in-conference will come from rivals Boyertown and Methacton, who are always in it in the PAC-10. Methacton won in the finals last year, and Boyertown is a perennial powerhouse, according to Mast. In non-league play, Conestoga and Radnor will be a challenge.

Overall, Mast is enthusiastic about this year's squad and hopes for the best.

"I think it’s going to be a good season for all of the PAC-10 teams," Mast said. "It’s nice when you have three or four teams that are all capable, and there’s probably more than that this year. It’s an exciting time here. I can’t wait to be honest."

Spring-Ford High School Boys' Golf 2011-2012 Schedule

8/23 - Home/Season Opener vs. Phoenixville (W)

8/25 - Away @ Pottsgrove S.D. (3:00 p.m.)

8/30 - Home vs. Pottstown (3:00 p.m.)

9/1 - Away @ Perkiomen Valley (3:00 p.m.)

9/7 - Home vs. Radnor (3:00 p.m.)

9/8 - Home vs. Pope John Paul II H.S. (3:00 p.m.)

9/13 - Away @ Upper Perkiomen (3:00 p.m.)

9/15 - Home vs. Owen J. Roberts (3:00 p.m.)

9/16 - Away @ Christopher Dock (3:00 p.m.)

9/19 - Home vs. Downingtown West (3:30 p.m.)

9/20 - Away @ Methacton (3:00 p.m.)

9/22 - Home vs. Boyertown (3:00 p.m.)

9/26 - PAC-10 Individual Tournament (8:00 a.m.)

9/28 - Away @ Conestoga (3:00 p.m.)

10/12 - District One Team Championship (8:00 a.m.)

10/17 - PIAA Regional Team Championship (9:00 a.m.)

10/24 - PIAA State Team Championship (9:00 a.m.)

10/25 - PIAA State Team Championship (9:00 a.m.)