Souderton tees off with high expectations
MONTGOMERY TWP. >> Souderton has its sights set on a Suburban One League Continental Conference championship after just missing out on first place the last couple of seasons.
The 2019 campaign got started Monday afternoon against North Penn at PineCrest Country Club.
“I think we’ve been second the last three years,” Souderton senior James O’Malley said. “It’s been a rough run, especially since last year it was by one stroke. Hopefully we can get it this year. We have a lot of new guys though.”
The Indians top duo, O’Malley and junior Stephen Butler, are two big reasons for the program’s championship aspirations.
O’Malley earned First Team All SOL Continental Conference honors as a junior. He has even higher expectations this year.
“My main goal this year is to make top three for Suburban One League,” he said. “Hopefully I’ll be able to.
“Over the summer my irons were really bad. I had to have a really good short game all summer. That’s gotten a lot better. My irons still aren’t the best, though. I still need to work on that.”
Butler qualified for the state tournament and finished 24th during his sophomore season.
“It’s always in the back of my mind,” he said of topping last year’s finish, “but I’m not going to make it a priority completely because I don’t want to put that much pressure on myself. I’m just going to let it happen.
“I’ve just been working on my long game a lot with my longer irons, especially off the tee. I’ve been working on my chipping. My chipping has gotten loads better since last year. I’m looking forward to see how that can translate to better scores.”
O’Malley and Butler shot 41 and 39, respectively, on the par-35 course against the young Knights.
“Not the greatest,” O’Malley said of his opening day. “Missed a lot of putts, doubled the easiest hole on the course. That wasn’t the best. Besides that, not too bad, especially since this isn’t a course I like too much.”
“I am (happy with how I played),” Butler said, “because I started with a double-bogey on the first hole. I’m glad I was able to come back from that.”
Souderton head coach Fred Cicacci knows he has some talented returning players at the top — O’Malley, Butler and sophomore Jack Graboski — and others who need to take steps forward for the team to reach its goals.
“They’re great golfers,” Cicacci said of his top three. “Stephen plays tons of tournaments. Bigs O’Malley doesn’t play too many tournaments, but Stephen and his brother, our best player last year, played 20 tournaments in the spring and summer. Stephen went to states last year. He practices very much, so does Bigs. Jack was a freshman last year. Jack also spends a lot of time, took lessons from a pretty renowned golf pro in the area. He’s at the course all the time. He works at it. He was a starter for us last year.”
Cicacci mentioned Central Bucks West, the defending league champs, as a school Souderton will need to watch out for in the standings.
