GolfNewsRI

GolfNewsRI will go east for our third high school golf preview of the week, the Barrington dominated Eastern Division. 

Eastern Division 

The Eastern Division belonged to Barrington last year as they were the only team to make the State Championship. On paper, they will be the favorite, but could get pushed by East Providence. 

Barrington 

The Eagles finished in a tie for fourth at last season’s State Championship tournament, just two shots back of third place La Salle. 

“I think Barrington is going to be a lot better than they were, they have a player that didn’t play last year,” said Hendricken head coach Rick Angeli. 

That player is senior Ryan Ricci, who did not play last season and now gives the Eagles added depth. 

Ricci finished in a tie for fourth at this past week’s Challenge Cup Championship, albeit a rained shortened one. 

He posted a two-over par 73. 

Moses Brown coach Larry Tremblay tells GolfNewsRI that Ricci could win the Individual State Championship, as well as teammate Cole Vieira. 

Vieira finished in a tie for 24th at the Challenge Cup with a score of 78. 

Other than those two, the Eagles will look for contributions from sophomore Nolan Leonard, juniors Max Sylvester and Ryan O’Connell. 

On the girls side, senior Lucy Devine will look to contribute in a big way, while a slew of freshmen will look to crack the final spots in the starting lineup. 

East Providence

East Providence 

The East Providence Townies are looking to send senior Michael Wetmore off in style this year with a run to the State Championship tournament. 

Wetmore is among the best high school players in the state, finishing in a tie for 31st at this past week’s Challenge Cup Championship. 

The Challenge Cup is made up of players from all over the region, Wetmore was the 12th best Rhode Islander in the field. 

Surrounding Wetmore is three juniors, Brayden Booth, Marcus Bostic and Chris Riel. There are also a couple of sophomores who will look to crack the starting lineup this year. 

The Townies have already played one match this year and beat St. Mary Bay View. 

Wetmore led the way with a nine hole score of 44. 

Best of the Rest 

Middletown – Look for the Islanders to be a sleeper pick in this division as they return a slew of players from last season, all of whom have experience playing as individuals in the State Championship. 

The leaders for Middletown Max Nasser, William Psaras, Jonathan Lopes, James Cawley and Peter Alexander. 

All four of those players took part in the Individual State Championship last year, but none of them made the second day cut. 

Bay View – Bay View lost Brooke Brennan, who won the Girls Individual State Championship last season, but they do return a veteran squad. 

The Bengals already played one match this season against East Providence. They were led, and will be led all season,  by Morgan MacLeod who shot a nine hole score of 40 in the first match. 

As GolfNewsRI reported back in November, MacLeod signed a National Letter of Intent to play at Merrimack this past November. Look for her to contend for the Girls State Title. 

The other teams in the division are Mount Hope, Tiverton, Rogers, Portsmouth and St. Raphael.