EAST PROVIDENCE — "Competitive" or some variation of it is the key word surrounding the East Providence High School golf team as the Townies begin their 2023 Rhode Island Interscholastic League Eastern Division regular season next week with a match at Wanumetonomy Golf Club against host Middletown with Portsmouth on Monday, April 24.

There's competition within the EPHS roster for playing time, as is often the case. And the Townies, under the direction of long-time steward Bill McEnery, fully expect to once again be competitive within the always difficult Eastern Division ranks.

There has also been a big change made by the sport's officials, referenced competitive balance in making the move. The Interscholastic League has completely revamped state tournament qualification in time for the 2023 event at the end of the season.

The number of teams who will qualify for the state tournament drops from 15 total to 10. Previously, the winners and second-place teams from each of the five groupings earned berths into states from the regular season. Sides in places three, four and five then held a one-match playoff to earn the other bids.

Now, the regular season division winners will still head to states, but instead of the second-place sides the five other teams with the lowest combined scoring average from around the entire league, regardless from which grouping they competed during the regular season, earn the five other slots.

McEnery said he was disappointed with the changes, though admitted the rationale used, that teams in recent years who qualified in places 11-15 and even some of the second-place side during the regular season weren't really in the contention for the state title, was correct.

An optimistic sort in general, McEnery is upbeat about the prospects of the Townies, who are minus a key component to their ranks from a year ago, though added a few others who could take up the slack. EPHS made the Eastern Division playoff match in 2022, losing to Portsmouth.

The team lost its best individual player of the last decade, two-time All-Stater Michael Wetmore, to graduation, the Townies picked up a pair of quality golfers from other sports. Junior Billy Fitzgerald, in fact, has catapulted to the top of the order upon joining the golf team from baseball. Senior Austin Arruda comes to the team from boys' lacrosse and is among a group of players vying for the sixth position in the lineup.

Though McEnery has known about Fitzgerald's golfing potential for some time, he didn't attempt to talk him out of playing baseball. His switch to golf happened a bit by chance and with some prodding from the aforementioned Wetmore, a member at Wannamoisett Country Club in Rumford where Fitzgerald works.

"I don't recruit players on other teams," McEnery explained. "My team recruited him. He broke his arm last year playing baseball and while he was rehabilitating Michael got in his ear because Billy works out of Wannamoisett. He's very good. He's a legit top of the order guy, he is."

Senior captain and three-year team member Chris Riel leads the rest of the Townies. He'll play from the three spot. A pair of impressive freshman have made the starting order to begin the year. Nathan Carter plays from the two position and Noah Araujo from the five. Junior and three-year player Zach Mendo opens in the four spot.

How Carter came to the squad is another interesting tale. This time, McEnery had no problem trying to direct the youngster to golf.

"He's a Silver Spring kid. He plays there every day," McEnery said of Carter, who plays out of the quaint six-hole course located on Exxon-Mobil property off Pawtucket Avenue in Riverside.

McEnery continued, "Last year I had with my grandsons over there playing a hole and I see this kid on the second fairway and I had to ask him what school he went to. He looked a little older, like he might be in high school. So when he came by the sixth hole I asked him what school he went to and he said Riverside (At the time Carter was an eighth-grader at Riverside Middle School). And I said to him, you're coming out for the team. This one, I did recruit him."

Besides Arruda, Marcus Bostic, another senior, is also in the mix for playing time as are juniors Nathan Tavares and Quin Perry. Freshman Jacob Grilo, a relative newcomer to the game, rounds out the varsity roster.

The nine-hole results from four out of six players count towards a team's score during regular season matches and will also account for East Providence's team scoring average throughout the year under new playoff format.

"Overall, I feel great about the team. I think we are going to be very competitive. We can compete with most teams," McEnery, entering his 24th year as Townies' head coach said.

About being one of the 10 teams to qualify for states, he continued, "Of course we can." When asked why, McEnery added, "Because of the three kids we've added. I think we're a better team this year. We lost Michael, a great player, but we picked three, 3-for-1. So I like those odds.

The Townies open with three of the more demanding layouts in the Eastern Division rota to begin the year, both physically and mentally due to potential of difficult weather conditions. After Wanu, EPHS returns to Aquidneck Island to play host Rogers with Bay View at historic Newport Country Club, then heads to Montaup to face host Tiverton with perennial division and state power Barrington. The first of four home matches for the Townies at the Agawam Hunt Club in Rumford is scheduled for Wednesday, May 3, against Mt. Hope.