GUILDERLAND - It was a pretty good year on the links for the Guilderland golf team this fall.

The Dutchmen were co-champions of the Gold Division of the Suburban Council.
"We were co-champions with Bethlehem," Guilderland Coach Andy Ryan said. "Shen was the best in the larger-enrollment division. They are thinking about going to two divisions. So this could be the last year with three champions."

Guilderland split its two matches with Bethlehem this season as the Dutchmen went on to finish with an 11-3 record.

The Dutchmen finished second at the Suburban Council tournament in late September. They finished behind Shenendehowa by five strokes.

Jon Bass was the medalist at the event.
"It was the highlight of the season," Ryan said.

The Dutchmen finished tied for third at the Class A Section II meet earlier this month. Shen won the competition and Albany Academy finished second.
"It was an outstanding year," Ryan said. "Finishing second in the Suburban Council and third in the section, I'm happy with that.

"Good chemistry and depth"

Eight kids qualified to compete at the sectional meet, but only six are allowed to compete from one team.

The team was led by seniors Bass and Mike Duncan. Duncan qualified for the state meet after qualifying at the A-B-C-D qualifier held at Orchard Creek Golf Course last week.

Duncan shot a 72 on the first day and a 77 on the second day for a combined score of 149 or plus-seven. He finished fifth behind winner Justin Dietz of Shen, who finished with a total score of 136.

The state meet will be held in the spring.

Junior Derek MacLoud also competed at the state qualifier but lost in a playoff to advance to the second day of the two-round tournament.

Seniors Mike Tate and Marc Spenziero were also big contributors to the team. Junior Chris Levy rounds out the six sectional competitors for the Dutchmen.

Joe Cimmino and Brian Linehan both decided to play on the golf team this year after playing other sports during the fall. Cimmino had played football and Linehan had played soccer at Guilderland.
"They were first-year players as seniors," Ryan said. "They were good to add to the team. They added depth to the team. We had good chemistry and depth."

Though the Dutch had a lot of seniors as their top players, Ryan has a couple of younger players who will contribute more next year.
"We have some players that did well toward the end of the year," Ryan said. "Tyler Warchol, a freshman, really shot well at the end of the year. It looks like he has a bright future."

The junior varsity team won the Suburban Council and will provide Ryan with some talented players next year.
"They won the Suburban Council JV tournament," Ryan said. "They are some good young players. We should be strong for the next couple of years. We'll have to rebuild a little bit because we lose such a good class. Hopefully, we'll still be very competitive."

Ryan is looking to continue the success the golf team has had over the past several years, including a Section II championship in the fall of 2003.
"We've been in the top three or four the past seven years," Ryan said. "The kids this year were great. They are a good bunch of guys. They are a talented group and played a lot together. They worked on their games and played a lot during the summer. I'm really going to miss them."