Directors of Golf Brendon Croteau and Maine Hall of Famer Abby Spector are looking forward to their second seasons leading the Bobcats. Croteau will direct the men's golf team while Spector directs the women's golf team. The men start their season this weekend at Middlebury with the Duke Nelson Golf Tournaments while the women stay close, competing in the Polar Bear Shootout on Saturday at 12pm in Brunswick, Maine.
Spector looks forward to the upcoming season and continuing to grow her team. She will be returning everyone, including three individuals who qualified for the NESCAC championships.
"That was fantastic, so exciting. The girls are so excited to be here." said Spector.
While reflecting on her first season leading the women's golf team, Spector could not be happier.
"It was wonderful. It's the best job I've ever had, Spector said "I love it, I love all the girls, it's been everything I could have expected and more. I'm very excited about the fact that we didn't lose anyone last year, we didn't have any seniors. We are all coming back and we have two first-years. It just makes for a great atmosphere that we didn't lose anyone, so we are very much like a family."
The women's golf team returns junior Alex Voight-Shelley (State College, Pa.) who was named Second-Team All NESCAC in the 2020-21 season, making her the first Bates women golfer to win all-conference honors. In the 2021-22 season, she earned NESCAC Spring All-Sportsmanship Team accolades and finished 18th out of 24 competitors with rounds of 87 and 84 at the NESCAC Women's Golf Championship.
Voight-Shelley is joined by sophomores Maddy Kwei (Pasadena, Calif.) and Nerea Barranco Aramburu (Zarautz, Spain) who also qualified for the NESCAC championships this past season. Kwei finished 20th out of 24 competitors and Aramburu finished 19th out of 24 competitors with rounds of 81 and 92 at the NESCAC Women's Golf Championship.
"I saw massive amounts of improvements from all of them and they were very dedicated," said Spector.
The women's golf program welcomes two first-years, Kendall Reed (Newtown, Conn.) and Ruby Haylock (Hartford, Maine). Haylock has already made a name for herself, winning the 2022 Women's Maine Amateur during the summer. "She is an excellent player. She's won two state championships, she won the junior state championship this year, she's good. She's the real deal. I'm really excited to have her on the team. She is also a wonderful young woman. Everyone loves her." Spector said.
On the men's side, Croteau manages a large roster and is looking for leadership from his lone senior captain, Patrick Bergin (Longmeadow, Mass.) who earned NESCAC Spring All-Academic honors as a junior.
"Pat has been here the longest. He is our one and only senior and has the most experience," Croteau said "He's a good team guy, he gets everyone together and I'm excited to have him step up and lead the way."
Bergin is also anticipating big seasons for his five juniors who have only had one full season due to the pandemic. Three out of the five competed in the NESCAC championships this past spring. Paul Detre (Morristown, N.J.), tied for 29th out of 50 competitors. John Kawakami (Northport, N.Y.) tied for 45th out of 50 competitors While Evan Glicos (Windham, Maine) paced the Bobcats and finished tied for 22nd overall out of 50 competitors with rounds of 87 and 91. Glicos is studying abroad this fall but will return for the spring season.
The men's program will host a pair of notable tournaments this year. They will start by hosting the CBB (Colby, Bates, Bowdoin) Championship this fall and the NESCAC Championship in the spring.
"That's really exciting," Croteau said "We are trying to prepare as much as we can. Having the home course advantage and getting that atmosphere from the students and faculty and getting everyone to come to support us will be really helpful."
Croteau and Spector are both thrilled to get back on the course and see what their team has to offer this upcoming weekend as their seasons begin.
"My whole team is very dedicated and very serious about improving and getting better and they are all very competitive which is fun," Spector said "I'm excited to see how everyone does. The older girls have been in this position before and know what to expect."
Croteau is excited to see how his two first-years, Christopher John (Franklin Lakes, N.J.) and Henry Ehrlich (Portland, Org.) compete.
"I'm looking forward to seeing the two incoming first-years mesh and mold with the existing team," Croteau said "I'm excited to see how everybody gets along and how we practice and our first tournament should be pretty telling too.
"As much as golf is an individual sport, it is very much a team sport as well."
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