The Saugerties High School boys golf team are 2025 MHAL champions, ousting three other programs to take the annual Larry Johnson Memorial Golf Tournament.
In their victory run at Apple Greens Golf Course in Highland, the Sawyers finished one stroke ahead of runner up Rhinebeck with a 158. They were led by junior Ty Monroe and sophomore Kate Smith, each finishing with a 2-over 38. Also factoring into the final tally were sophomores Reid Myers and Chase Brott, each earning a 41.
Rondout Valley (172) and Onteora (176) also competed in the tournament.
SHS Coach Mike Melville said the team’s title run began earlier than this season.
“I think the seeds were planted last year,” he said. “We won our division. We won a big match at FDR, I think the final match of the year, to win our division to put us in the MHAL and we came in second out of the four teams qualified to round out last year. And I think that kind of inspired the younger kids.”
For the Sawyers, it was a return to the top after a nearly 40-year absence, the last MHAL title coming in 1987 at the tail end of a dynastic run under Coach Bob Varrell, who compiled a gaudy 125-2 record during his celebrated tenure. Varrell’s run was highlighted by 1986 SHS grad Todd Kramer, a four-year all-league staple who helped his team earn four MHAL titles.
“We gave the kids a little history lesson on what the golf team was about through the ‘80s,” Melville said. “That’s when the course was open right behind where they used to walk out the door. They could walk out onto the fourth or seven tee, I think.”
That course, long since closed, was on property that is now part of Horse Shows in the Sun. There are still courses in the area, including the whimsically named Apple Greens, which though located around 30 miles south of Saugerties High School, may feel like a home away from home for the Sawyers.
Melville, who was an SHS student during most of that ‘80s run, has been coaching the Sawyers for the past seven years. Their perfect season was their best under his guidance, and he credited the team’s depth, with seven Sawyers qualifying for sectionals.
Golf is generally an outdoor sport, and playing year round can be tricky in the Hudson Valley, where rain and snow alike can spoil a day on the links. But a turning point for the Sawyers may have come a couple of years ago when Melville pointed out players on other teams who were so good they must have played all year long.
“You can just tell,” Melville said. “Golf is a sport that is very meticulous and needs a lot of attention to be really good at it.”
Melville said that there are indoor training options like simulators that can help, and there’s hope of a booster club helping the Sawyers obtain one. Some kids on the team have found a way to golf year round by leaving Saugerties.
“Smith is new to our team this year, and she has grandparents in Florida, so she tries to go to Florida a couple times over the winter and she’ll play down there.”
Melville also credits the dedication of Sawyers who hit the links at Rip Van Winkle in Palenville, where owners John and Sara Smith don’t charge a fee for the team to play.
“As long as there’s not snow on the ground, they know they have a place they can go and play,” Melville said. “John and Sarah Smith just open their open their doors for our program and really embrace the kids. They’ve contributed so much to our program.”
The current crop of Sawyer stars has been playing golf for most of their lives: Of the three interviewed by Hudson Valley One, Smith has been playing since she was four, Monroe six, and Myers seven. But for Monroe at least, golf started out as a bit of fun.
“I never took it seriously and would play with my dad a couple times a year,” he said. “Then the summer before my 8th grade year I started playing every day and fell in love with it. Since then, I joined the golf team my eighth grade year and it was one of the best decisions I could›ve made.”
Monroe and Myers said the big moment in the season came in the MHAL tournament, where they were down a stroke before Brott’s strong finish. Smith recalled a critical late-September win over prior MHAL champ Rondout Valley at Rip Van Winkle, where she finished with a 1-over 37 in a 159-168 win.
“It just showed that we were a better team than we were last year,” Smith said.
If the 2025 Sawyers felt the burden of the school’s distant dynasty, they didn’t show it. Instead, they felt it meant a lot to do their part to bring the school another trophy.
“It means a lot to me,” Monroe said. “Contributing to my team’s success means being consistent, working hard and setting a good example. It’s about helping everyone stay focused and positive, celebrating our wins together and learning from mistakes as a team.”
And despite each golfer’s score a reflection of an individual performance, they all recognize golf — and the Sawyers’ success this season — as a team effort.
“It meant a lot to me to contribute to the team this year, ‘cause I didn’t experience it for myself, but I experienced it with the team and for the school,” Myers said.
Join the family! 
