Courtesy photo of Zach Temple

Zach Temple finished 13th overall in the N.E.I.G.A. championship, a tournament including division one, two and three athletes.

Entering the 2015 golf season, junior Zach Temple had his sights set on another impressive season, but there was one problem. Former coach Bill Bowes unexpectedly resigned within the first week of the season leaving Temple and teammates unsure about whether or not to play.

In the days prior to their first tournament Castleton Athletic Director Deanna Tyson announced Brian Hill as the new coach for the Spartans.

“For me, I didn’t want the kids to be left out. Their season started in two days and I wanted to help them out,” said Hill. “When they asked me to take the job I was thrilled and I’m glad they did.”

In the midst of a coaching change and a near season cancelation, Temple remained focused and admitted he was impressed with Hill.

“He was kind of thrown really nothing, just our names,” Temple said. “His focus was NAC. He got everybody better. We strive to do well in NAC, it’s what our whole season was built around.”

Temple started his season off on fire, winning the first two tournaments of the year. The first at the Johnson State Invitational, then the Newbury College Invitational the following day. Temple continued to shoot low scores and finish toward the top of the leader board throughout the year.

Temple was the Spartans number one golfer. He placed third overall, helping his team grab third place in the NAC Championship.

“With Zach, I wouldn’t really follow him around that much. I’d check up on him to see how he’s doing, but I wasn’t worried about him scoring,” Hill said.

Temple received NAC first team honors for the second year in a row as he claimed four top ten finished in six matches.

Temple concluded his season by finishing 13th out of 110 overall golfers at the New England Intercollegiate Golf Championships at The Captain’s Golf Club in Brewster, Massachusetts, a tournament that includes golfers from divisions one, two and three. He held the lead after the first day shooting a two under par, 70.

Maintaining a lead into the next day of the N.E.I.G.A. Championship was one of the biggest challenges of the year, according to Temple.

“Over night, thinking about it, I came out the next day and didn’t play my best and ended up losing by several shots,” Temple said. “That was I mentally killing thing because I have to think about it until next season.”

Temple’s competitive spirit shows during matches, but shows during practices as well.

“During practice we’d always go out and play for a drink at the bar or play for dinner or something like that, so that was fun competition within our team,” said Senior Justin Del Bianco.

Going into next season Temple’s expectations for himself continue to grow.

“I’d definitely like to win player of the year. It’s something I’ve been wanting to win since winning rookie of the year,” Temple said.

So what was Temple’s favorite course to play this year?

“The Captain’s Course,” Temple said. “It was right on Cape Cod. There’s two different course, port and starboard, and they’re both beautiful venues.”