Golf Club
ME Hornets Golf's head coach, Bill Melvin.
For Bill Melvin, returning to Manchester to coach the same sport he played in high school in the same town where he played, marks a special kind of homecoming.
“I’ve coached other sports, coached in Gloucester,” explains Melvin, who this season will take over for Hollis French as head coach of the Manchester Essex golf team. “I played at Manchester High School, and helped out as an assistant with this team last year. Being head coach here is like coming home for me.”
The Hornets’ first-year head coach definitely has some returning talent to work with in 2022. Sam Athanas and Mark Pollack return to help anchor the lineup, while also helping to guide some young players -- and even some seniors -- trying to navigate the sport at the varsity level. Both are captains, and should be major contributors to the team’s success this fall.
“They are just very grounded,” explains Melvin. “They don’t get too high or too low. Golf is a game you can get emotional about, but they maintain the right disposition and it reflects the way they play. They set a good example for the older players.”
A key returning player is Lily Brigham, a junior. Brigham is one of the few girls to play the sport in the Cape Ann League, and she proved last season that she can provide a boost to the lineup.
“She’s a young lady who works hard at her game and wants to get better,” says Melvin. “She takes a lot of pride in what she’s doing out there. She gets a lot of points for our team, a very consistent golfer.”
Another unique factor in the makeup of this squad is the return of four players who competed as eighth-graders last year, and return as freshmen with varsity experience. Gray West, Jack McCavanagh, Matt Graeter and Ian Campbell all have the talent and experience to make waves in 2022 after earning their stripes pretty early on.
“I think they might all help us contribute,” Melvin says of the younger set.
Just as important to the team’s success in 2022 will be the return of talented upper-classmen such as brothers Matt and Michael DeOreo, Quinn Brady and Jack DePasquale.
“Jack and Michael are seniors who can hit the ball, and they look like they can help us out,” says Melvin.
Rounding out the roster are Elliot Davis, John Bediz and Will Connell, helping to bring the roster size to 14, up from 10 in 2021.
“I’m confident we will be competitive, and we should be able to play competitively this year,” explains Melvin. “We were a young team last year.”
The Hornets open the regular season against the Clippers on August 29 at 3:30 p.m. in Newburyport.
