CHENANGO VALLEY – The Norwich Purple Tornado golf team teed off on Wednesday for the first match of the season on the road against Chenango Valley. The team had three good practices to start the week and had been putting in the work over the summer when they could. With being on the road and not on your home course can be difficult, but it wasn’t the case for the two-time STAC East and 2023 Section IV, Class B champions. Norwich captured their first win of the season with a 223-253 victory over Chenango Valley.

Norwich, who graduated five seniors, including leading golfer Jacob Morris, had to fill in a few holes to determine their top six golfers, but Coach Dave Branham had a great crew, and has a great group overall, out there on Wednesday.

In his first Varsity appearance, but with lots of golf experience under his belt, seventh grader Brevin Bennett paved the way for Norwich as top medalist with an impressive 38. Veteran golfers and seniors Julien Smith and Jacob Dowdall return for their final season. Smith shot a 42 as Matthew Brunick and Gavin Burrell, who is also new to the program, both shot a 46. Michael Brunick rounded out the team scoring with a 51 as Dowdall shot a 56.