VOORHEESVILLE — It was a season of surprises for Voorheesville golf coach Tom Gladd and his returning players.

What looked to be a rebuilding year with a young team has turned into a successful season with green players going above and beyond expectations.
"It’s been an extremely good year," Gladd said last Tuesday. "The thing of it was we thought it was going to be a rebuilding year. We had only five out of 10 returning varsity players. We had two kids that moved out of the district. That left us with only two players from last year. At tryout time, I didn’t know what I had."
"I thought we would have a mediocre team," said junior John Malfetano, one of the few returning players. "But we came out and got some good wins. Some surprising wins."

Gladd, a teacher in the high school, said that 30 players came out for tryouts, but he could only keep 10 players on the varsity roster.
"After tryouts, I picked a varsity team with no seniors, two juniors, one 10th-grader, four freshmen, and three seventh-graders including one young lady," Gladd said.

It might sound like a motley crew of players, but they have responded beyond what Gladd could even expect from such a young group.

It helps that he has two juniors who are not only talented players, but also have been leaders this early fall.
"John Malfetano is our number one," Gladd said of the junior. "He has already qualified to be in the sectionals. He got the berth at Ravena on the 28th of August, two weeks before classes even started.
"It was a league match we won, 176-183," Gladd added. "Malfetano and R.J. Cave [a freshman] had sectional qualifying scores. Everybody played well. Our seventh-grade girl won an exhibition match as well."

Through matches last Tuesday, the Blackbirds have an 8-6 overall record and are 7-4 in Colonial Council matches.
"We might have a seventh-grader going to sectionals," Malfetano said. "A couple of seventh-graders have stepped up their game."
"I didn’t think we would be as good as we turned out to be," said Landon Church, a junior.

"Great to go for team sectionals"

Last week, the Blackbirds finished fourth in the Colonial Council championship tournament.

Malfetano finished fourth in the tournament with a final score of 79. The medalist at the meet shot a 75.

Cave shot an 81 for another good performance at the sectional meet.

Malfetano automatically makes the first team on the Colonial Council all-stars. Cave with his score at the tournament is a second-team all-star.
"Malfetano as a junior is one of the best in the Capital District," Gladd said. "Albany Academy has great players, and he is head-to-head with them. He went out and lost by two strokes. Academy is an experienced, successful team.
"The same with Cave," Gladd added. "During the course of the year, he has won 67 percent of his matches. He has handled pressure and played very well. He needed five qualifying scores for sectionals. He got them the first five times he was on the course. I’ve had good golfers since I’ve coached here. But I’ve never had anyone do that."

Junior Landon Church didn’t do so well at the league meet, but last Tuesday he qualified for the sectional meet. Micheal Young, a seventh-grader, also qualified for the Section II meet that will be held at Ravena’s home course Sycamore in October.
"That will help us," Gladd said. "We know how to play the course. It would be great for us for sectional play. That’s why it would be great to go for the team sectionals."

A team needs four players to be able to compete for the team title at sectionals. Late last Tuesday afternoon, Church and Young qualified to give the Blackbirds a shot at the team title.

Young and Church moved up slots after Kyle Russell was lost to an injury.
"He broke his wrist after the first six matches," Gladd said. "His loss has had a big impact on the team. We had some kids step up and they have done a nice job. For the first time in several years, we’re going to sectionals with four players. We have a chance to compete for the Section II team title."

Young has solidified his spot as the number-three player behind Malfetano and Cave. Church is the team’s fourth top scorer.

Also on the team are David Malfetano, John’s brother; Grace Ziamandanis; Willie Smith; Mickey McDonald; and Marty Hesselbacher.

David Malfetano and Ziamandanis are seventh-graders.
"They are doing a super job in matches," Gladd said. "Grace has held her own and done a great job."

Smith and McDonald are freshmen while Hesselbacher is a sophomore.
"He just joined us this year," Gladd said of Hesselbacher. "He has done quite well and will continue to improve. We’ll have a solid squad next year. The future looks good for us."

Junior varsity

Gladd had so much interest in the sport for the past couple of years that, for the second year in a row, there has been a junior varsity team.

The junior varsity team earned its first-ever win, by beating Berne-Knox-Westerlo on Tuesday night. The team is coached by Kyle Tirski.
"We had a lot of players last year so we had the beginnings of a junior varsity team," Gladd said. "They had two matches last year. Both against Columbia, home and away. Again this year, we had so many kids come out. We filled up a JV and they are up and running."

There are 13 players on the junior varsity team. And the team had seven matches scheduled this season.
"We want them to get more experience competing," Gladd said, "so we can add them to the varsity and be good in the future. We want to get them playing on the golf course."
"Good things"

The golf program also now has a booster club to support it. Gladd said that the club has been a big help to him and the teams.
"I want to thank Lisa Cave and Kathy Russell for leading the booster club," Gladd said. "They are working hard to set it up and run it and it benefits the kids."

Gladd was also grateful to the Albany Country Club for allowing Voorheesville to use its course as its home course. Gladd also was grateful of the help he’s gotten from the club’s golf professional, Glenn Davis.

Gladd said that his team will only get better this year and next year.
"The kids have gelled and done good things," Gladd said. "All of them are planning on returning next year. Some of the kids will take part in the Junior PGA tour during the summer and work on their games. For the next few years, we should be quite solid."

But there are things that the players want to accomplish this year.
"We want to take a team to sectionals," Church said. "We want to finish in the top three at sectionals. And we are capable of it."