Amherst Golf Club was thrilled to have the Amherst Regional High School golf team use our facility as their home course in 2019, and look forward to hosting the team again this year. It was quite a year for the ARHS golf team who had a 16-1 record on the year. A lot of credit goes to Coach Carl Vigeland, who has been a long-time member and past-president of the Amherst Golf Club. Evan Rutherford, a senior on the ARHS golf team and the team’s No. 1 golfer, has seen ARHS’s golf program make tremendous strides the last four years. “It’s awesome,” Rutherford said. “We have come so far as a program. Our coach Carl Vigeland has a lot to do with it, making golf cool in Amherst.”

Whereas Amherst finished eighth out of eight teams in the 2018 WMass Division 1 championship, the Hurricanes “rocked it” and finished third in 2019, with the team missing qualifying for the state tournament by a single stroke.  Rutherford, who was undefeated in match play this past season, was the medalist in the WMass Division 1 championship, and earned a spot in the Division I state championship. He was named the Golf Player of the Year by the Hampshire Gazette in January 2020.

In return, the ARHS golf team gave back to Amherst Golf Club by throwing a divot party after school on November 4, 2019, and the team appreciated the support it received this past season.  Coach Vigeland extended special thanks to several members whose donations made possible the purchase of new caps, shirts, and towels; to Doug George for working with the ARHS Junior Varsity golf team (Zack, Jay, Roka, David, and Galen); and to Pro Dave Twohig for many favors large and small.

Evan Rutherford wins WMass Division 1 Golf Tournament, Amherst finishes third

“A lot of hard work paid off,” said Rutherford, who will play at the state Division 1 championship at Haven Country Club in Boylston on Oct. 28. “I worked hard this summer. I’m not going to complain at all about winning, but I left a few strokes out there, but I’m not going to worry about it.”Longmeadow scored 344 to win the team championship. Minnechaug and Amherst each scored 353, but the Falcons won the tiebreaker to finish second and qualify for states.

Each team sends six golfers and the top four account for the team score. A team’s fifth score is used to break a tie. Tim Jodoin shot a 95 for Minnechaug to beat Ben Oates and his 99 for Amherst.

Belchertown finished seventh with a 381.

As the championship went along, Rutherford felt like he had a good chance of competing for the top overall spot.

“I knew I was going to play some good guys,” Rutherford said. “They didn’t have their best rounds, so I thought I had a shot. … I’ve never entered a tournament I didn’t think I was going to win. It’s like, why show up if you don’t think you’re going to win?”

Rutherford competed in the first group with Agawam’s Michael Santore, Belchertown’s Brady Perkins (39th, 99) and East Longmeadow’s Kyle Garvey-Hannah.

Rutherford made four-straight 10-foot putts from the 15th to the 18th hole. The stretch gave him a boost of confidence, but other things were on his mind.

“I was trying to figure out why I missed four greens in a row,” Rutherford said. “I knew once I missed that last green, I had a pretty stock chip – flubbed it. Left myself a 10-footer. I hit it hard enough. … Just knocked it in.”

Rutherford played two practice rounds with this father before competing on Monday. During the rounds, he created a game plan.

“I stuck to it,” Rutherford said. “I’m not going to change my game plan, no matter what happens. … I knew it was going to work, I just had to execute.”

Amherst finished eighth out of eight teams at last year’s championship. The Hurricanes finished third this year and missed qualifying for the state tournament by a stroke.

“I would have loved for the team to go,” Rutherford said. “We missed out by one, which sucks. As a team we are so young.”

Piet Hartman (88) and Chase Lashway (92) are eighth graders and finished among the top four for Amherst. Senior Eli Kayser-Hirsh (13th, 93) was fourth for the Hurricanes.

Eighth grader Skylar Ferro (42nd, 100) also competed for Amherst.

Perkins, Ryan O’Neil (39th, 92), Riley Breen (24th, 93) and Timothy Roda (36th ,97) scored for Belchertown.

Northampton sophomore Camille Richmond (45th, 101) and Holyoke junior Ryan Maloney (16th, 90) competed individually.

As a senior, Rutherford has seen Amherst’s golf program make tremendous strides the last four years.

“It’s awesome,” Rutherford said. “Especially being on the team for four years and seeing how far we have come from my freshman year. We have come so far as a program. Our coach Carl Vigeland has a lot to do with it, making golf cool in Amherst.”