WILLIAMSTOWN, MA – Williams College sophomore golfer Dylan Dethier, a native of Williamstown and a graduate of Mt. Greylock, has been named to the Ping Northeast All-Region golf team the Golf Coaches Association of America announced.
Even though he is a town resident, Dethier took the long way around to joining the Williams golf team. Dethier did not come directly to Williams from Mt. Greylock; instead he deferred his enrollment for year and embarked on a 48-state golf tour. "I distinctly remember Dylan walking into my office during the summer leading into his senior year of high school and asking me if I thought he could make the golf team at Williams if he decided to come here," recalled Eph head coach Rick Pohle.
"My response (based on his high school career) was that he needed to work hard and that I thought his game would improve by playing with better players every day. I didn't think he was particularly challenged in high school golf and his junior golf background wasn't that impressive; but he was a very good athlete. What I didn't know was how much desire he had to compete. I think he arrived a year later at Williams with a new sense of what was ahead of him with the golf team."
Dethier and his sophomore classmates Jake Abrahams (Los Angeles, CA), Cody Semmelrock (Pomfret Center, CT), Ross Bowen (Winnetka, IL Matt McCarron (Portland, OR) are the nucleus of an Eph youth movement and they saw their first Varsity golf action at the 2010 Williams Fall Invitational and have made a large imprint on the team.
Dethier, Bowen, McCarron and Semmelrock played in the NESCAC Qualifier and in the NESCAC Championship Dethier was joined by Abrahams, Bowen and Semmelrock. Dethier posted identical rounds of 75 in his first Williams Fall Invitational in 2010 and was 9th overall.
This year Dethier opened the fall portion of the schedule with a fourth place finish at Bowdoin (155) and carded a 9th at the Williams Fall Invite (150) before a key 6th place finish at the NESAC Fall Qualifier (147) won by the Ephs, giving Williams the opportunity to host the NESCAC Championship in the spring.
By finishing 6th at the NESCAC Qualifier Dethier earned First Team All-NESCAC honors.
"Dylan has a great ability to "save strokes" during his round with a pretty good short game, which in my opinion comes from a great imagination," added Pohle. "He doesn't play by the numbers (mechanics), he plays by a feel. As with a lot of golfers, he doesn't have a classic swing and that is all right because he has the heart to compete in the game, which often happens in sport these days. When he steps on the golf course - it is all business and I can relate to that."
In six of the nine tournaments he played this year Dethier posted top 10 finishes. At the Williams Spring Invitational he was the medalist with a two-day total of 151.
Dethier was one of just two NESCAC golfers to make the Ping Northeast All-Region along with Hamilton's Greg Scott.
"Golf wise, I think Dylan will continue to improve as long as the challenges exist and the nature of Williams golf will present that to him as new players enter the program and the conference remains so demanding, Pohle noted. "Beyond golf and Williams, I think he will do just fine in whatever avenue he chooses. His quiet sense of confidence will provide all the tools he will need to be successful."
Ping Northeast Region Team
Chris Berry, Salem State
Garrett Colgan, Skidmore
Dylan Dethier, Williams
Anthony DiLisio, Skidmore
Chris Hamel, Husson
Matt Lussier, Rensselaer Polytechnic
John McCarthy, Skidmore
Nicholas Palladino, Rochester
Grant Rosener, Rensselaer Polytechnic
Greg Scott, Hamilton
Joseph Young, Babson
Nick Zolotas, Salem State
