By Christopher Tremblay, Staff Sports Writer

Last fall the Hopedale golf team put together one of the best seasons in school history: the Blue Raiders not only went undefeated in the Dual Valley Conference, but also finished tied for first in the Central Mass and were able to advance into the State Championship Tournament where they finished third.

This year Hopedale will be without four starting seniors from last year’s historical performance. The 2024 team will be one without any seniors and have only two returning starters. Coming back will be co-captains sophomore Colin Haynes and junior Trevor Lachiatto; the two will be looking to keep the Blue Raiders near the top of the mountain this fall.

“I normally don’t name a sophomore as a captain,” Hopedale Coach Brett Boyd said. “But I had a talk with Colin telling him it was his time and he’s totally impressed me since.”

Last year Haynes was situated as the team’s number two golfer as a freshman and during the off-season he spent a lot of time working on his game. According to the coach, he uses his play while putting himself in a position that he can help the younger kids, although he himself is still young, but an extremely talented golfer.

Following his talk with his coach, Haynes took things seriously and although he plays a lot of golf during the off-season on a regular basis, he made an attempt to take part in a lot of junior amateur golf events in preparation of this year’s season with the high school. Boyd noted that the sophomore has a lot to look forward to as his game continues to progress and although it is still very early he can see him playing on the collegiate level. For the time being he’ll be the Blue Raiders number one golfer.

Lachiatto, who was the team’s number six golfer last season and showed he had the talent to play the game, put forth an unbelievable round of golf against powerhouse Dover-Sherborn shooting an even par 35.

A three-sport athlete who usually plays baseball during the summer, he made it a point to improve his golf over the summer knowing that there weas going to be openings come this season with Hopedale.

“He is another athlete that will do anything for the squad,” the Hopedale Coach said. “He committed to becoming a better player and leader for us. As a junior he knew that this was going to be his team and as a mentor he goes out of his way to help the younger players with their game.”

With the adjustments made during the off-season to his game Lachiatto has moved up the ranks and will be the Blue Raiders number two golfer this fall.

Two other golfers returning this year who managed to get in some action last season were junior Brady Wajda and sophomore Jacob Whyte. 

“Last year I saw snippets of signs from Brady that he would be able to help us this year,” Boyd said. “Jacob is a solid player and committed himself to grinding it out his summer so that he too could be ready to help this fall. He knew that with the absence of the seniors there was a possibility that he could move into a starting position.”

Looking to round out the starters this fall will be junior Dylan Ferris, who was in a similar situation last year and saw some limited action on the golf course for the Blue Raiders. According to Boyd, Ferris did get his feet wet last season and worked hard in the off-season hoping to be able to contribute to the team this year.

Newcomer freshman Cam Vailette, a three-sport athlete that had played soccer, basketball and baseball; came across golf this past summer and is looking to help Hopedale on the greens this fall.

“Cam started playing golf with his buddies this summer and found that he really enjoyed the sport and wasn’t that bad at it either,” Boyd said. “It was a pleasant surprise that he joined us at the last moment. He had talked it over with his family and decided that golf would be a good idea. He should be a fixture on this team as a starter.”

After picking the clubs up for the first time, Vailette has found that he has been able to lower his scores with each round while gaining more and more confidence in himself. Boyd and the rest of the Hopedale golfers are thankful that he decided to leave soccer and join them on the golf course this fall.

With what looks to be his starting six Boyd is optimistic about the forthcoming season and believes that they can still be a big presence once again this season. The Blue Raiders are looking to win the DVC again, which he believes is very obtainable with this group. By capturing the DVC Boyd believes that in turn will propel the squad into the districts and hopefully another trip to the State Tournament.

“If we play our hearts out we could get ourselves another bid to the states and that would be incredible,” the Hopedale Coach said. “But if we do not get that bid, we’d still be happy with our growth this year, especially knowing that this group should be together intact for another year or two.”