Hunt to Lead Wildcat Golf Program

by Ken Brown

HARDWICK – Greensboro’s Andy Hunt will step in this fall as the new head coach of the Hazen Union golf team.

Hunt, 66, is a lifelong Caspian Lake summer resident and will soon be a year-round resident of Greensboro. He played high school golf at Burlington High School and went on to play competitively for the University of Vermont. Hunt is a four-time club champion at Mountain View Country Club (MVCC) and is currently the chair of their men’s golf competition committee. He replaces Jason McArthur, who grew the Wildcat program by leaps and bounds in his five years at the helm by getting student athletes at Hazen Union to moonlight for the golf team, while also playing soccer.

McArthur fielded his largest teams at Hazen the past two seasons and had five players qualify for sectionals. Hunt loses two of those players to graduation in Jadon Baker and Tyler Rivard, but returns the experience of Andrew Menard, Brendan Moodie, and Xavier Hill. Eliot Rosendahl and Gavin Stratton also return to the team after a year of varsity experience under their belt. MVCC has been the Wildcats’ home course the past few years and they will host their home opener on September 13.

“I’m committed to growing the game of golf in the local community, which is why I decided to take on the role of golf coach at Hazen Union. I ran the Tuesday night crew at MVCC for three years and still enjoy playing with those guys. I hope to get the kids off to a good start in a game they can play (and sometimes enjoy) for the rest of their lives,” said Hunt.

That soccer-golf crossover at Hazen Union will help Hunt field the largest team in the program’s brief history this season. Six other Wildcat soccer players are following Hill over to the practice tee this fall, along with Kellon Mencunni, Kobe Smith, Anderson Williams, and Owen Skorstad. Skorstad also starred as a freshman for the Hazen baseball team this past spring. Menard, Hill, and Moodie will give Hunt some much-needed veteran leadership on a large team filled with mostly new faces.

Outside of Moodie’s sectional experience in his first season on the team as a sophomore, the PA transfer also earned medalist honors at their first home match in 2022. Hunt will get support from Hazen Union athletic director Oluwadare Sowunmi on some away meets, along with assistant coach and Wildcat alum Aaron Molleur. Molleur helped jumpstart the Hazen golf program almost six years ago and has gone on to win multiple club championships at Mountain View Country Club.

“I’m looking forward to a solid year for the Hazen golf team this fall. We have a good core group of juniors and seniors, along with a few match ready sophomores. As a first year coach, it’s incredible that we have 13 players on the roster. I don’t know if that is a record, but I suspect it is. The future looks incredibly bright with four freshmen and three more sophomores rounding out the team. Some are brand new to the game, but they are already making rapid progress. Aaron is an invaluable resource to this team and the next few years for this program look incredibly promising,” said Hunt.

The Wildcats open their season on Wednesday as Lamoille will host the season opener at Ryder Brook Golf Club. They are scheduled to travel to Enosburg next Monday, before hosting their first meet of the season next Wednesday.