GUILDERLAND — Mason Colling has pulled off a rare feat in Section II golf.

Colling, a Guilderland High School senior, has qualified for the state golf tournament that will be held in June at Cornell University.
"It’s a good accomplishment," said Colling, who competed last year at Cornell. "I wanted to win the qualifier. Oh well, it’s great to be going again. I had a lot of fun staying in the dorms at Cornell."

Colling shot 75 on both days of the tournament and finished with a total score of 150.
"He actually finished tied for second," said Guilderland Coach Andy Ryan. "He was pretty excited. But he was kind of calm. He has confidence in his game and he expected to make it. He’s really one of the best players in Section II."

Colling won the Class A sectional tournament to reach the state qualifier.

Another Guilderland player reached the sectional tournament.

Ryan Parker lost in a playoff for the final spot for the state qualifier.
"It’s too bad Ryan missed the playoff," Coach Ryan said. "He improved quite a bit."

Tough teams

The Dutch team finished the season with an 8-6 record after facing some tough teams in the Suburban Council.
"Bethlehem was outstanding," Ryan said. "Shaker was very good and Shen is always good. But at sectionals we finished fourth and were just six strokes off of Bethlehem."

Ryan thought the Dutchmen’s record would be a little better but was impressed with the individual performances of his players.
"We lost a couple of close matches," the coach said. "We played tough against Bethlehem. They had a lot of good players returning. I’m happy with the overall season. We had players that made some good improvements."

Ben Newell dropped his average from a 43 to a 40 during the season.
"That’s pretty significant," Ryan said. "He got a lot better."

Colling, Parker, and Newell are all seniors.

The Dutch were a senior-dominated team with just one junior and one sophomore mixed in with seven seniors.

Max Sands, Zach Appio, Brian Albert, and Brian Tobin were the other seniors on the team. Jimmy Mueller was the junior and Jon Bass was the team’s sophomore.

The Dutch played their home matches and practiced at the town-owned Western Turnpike Golf Course during the season.
"It worked out very well," Ryan said. "A lot of the kids play there. We shot good scores there."

Guilderland was a much better home team than on the road.
"At home, we did well," Ryan said. "We had a couple of tough matches away. But that is to be expected. It’s hard trying to win away in golf. The kids know their own courses and we have some kids who are playing a course for the first time. The other team plays there every day."

The Dutchmen had a couple extraordinary matches this season. In one match, they shot 223 as a team, which was the lowest score in the Suburban Council. They also shot a 227 in another match.

With seven seniors graduating, Ryan will have a lot of slots to fill, but he has some younger, talented players coming through the ranks.
"The junior-varsity team was pretty good," Ryan said. "They won the Suburban Council tournament. We have some good young players. I think we’ll be all right in time. We’ll have some growing pains, but we should be fine."

Mason works

After the first day of the state qualifier, Colling was in contention to advance. He came out on the second day and put together another solid performance to clinch a spot.
"On the second day, he had six birdies," Ryan said. "He threw in a couple of bogeys and a double bogey. But the difference in his game is that he makes a lot more birdies." A bogey is one stroke over par on a hole, and a birdie is one stroke under par.

Colling has played golf since he was nine years old. He plays most of the time now at Western Turnpike.
"I probably won’t play for a couple of weeks," Colling said. "I’m kind of bored of it. I’ve been playing for six months straight. I need a break from it."

Luckily, the state tournament isn’t until the spring.
"I like that it is in the spring," Colling said. "Right now, it gets cold quickly. I am playing the best golf in my life right now, though."

Colling is thinking about playing golf in college. Whether he makes a team or not, golf will be a major part of his life.

One of the schools he’s looked at is Methodist College in North Carolina.
"It’s a Division III school," Colling said. "But I want to study professional golf management. They teach you a lot about the business side of golf. It is something I can do for the rest of my life. A lot of my friends don’t know what they want to do with their lives. It’s not like football or soccer. I can play this, well, until I die."