Hawks `grind out' victory; Hudson pulls out second straight title.

Byline: Jay Gearan

HOLDEN - Need a lesson in overcoming adversity? Talk to the Hudson High golf team.

In yesterday's Central Mass. Division 2 championship at Holden Hills, Josh Feinberg, the Hawks' junior co-captain, opened with three straight bogeys, freshman Dillon Glynn was four-over par after three holes, and sophomore John Gill took 11 shots on his first hole of the day, the par 4, 12th.

Final scores: Feinberg 76, Glynn 77, Gill 89. Add junior co-captain Jesse Tolan's 86 and the Hawks had the lowest four-player total at 328 and their second straight title, edging runner-up Leicester High by two shots.

Both teams advance to the Division 2 state tournament on Monday at Gannon Municipal in Lynn.

"We told the kids it was going to be tough, and they just had to grind it out one shot at a time," Hudson coach Sandy Nichol said. "This was one of our goals, to repeat once we got here. And now we're glad we're going back to the states as a team. Last year we finished sixth, but only seven shots out of first."

The Hawks, without a senior in the lineup, were 8-0 in winning the Mid-Wach C championship and finished 14-2 overall in dual matches.

"We thought it might happen for us today," said Leicester coach Jason Grimshaw, who predicted the championship would be close, perhaps decided by two or three shots. "Our target was 325. We had a practice round here a couple of weeks ago and shot 329, and I told the kids that would come pretty close to winning. We had a very good team effort today." That was bolstered by two Wolverines shooting 83 - Chad Gosselin and Donny Blake.

Due to morning frost, the shotgun starting time was delayed by an hour, pushing the opening tee times to 10 a.m.

Hudson's Feinberg, with his 76, tied Leicester's Nate McNamara for the individual championship. Feinberg, beginning on the 354-yard first hole, boarded the bogey train for three holes. He settled down and carded 40-36.

"On this course you really have to grind it out," said Feinberg who birdied the fourth hole after his drive landed only 10 yards from the green, setting up a short chip and four-foot putt.

In the shotgun start, Glynn opened with a par on the 14th hole, then followed with back-to-back double-bogeys. "Double-double toil and trouble," Shakespeare would have said.

Instead, Glynn remained positive, saying, "I told myself to just start a new round. I parred the 17th and almost birdied the 18th." On his way to finishing third overall in the individual competition...