Although Newtown High School’s boys’ golf team’s season is slated to begin Wednesday, April 8, with a visit to Brookfield at 3 pm, and the Nighthawks have (weather permitting) seven more matches before of Southbury visits Rock Ridge Country Club, it’s that April 27 match with the rival Panthers that the Nighthawks have circled on the schedule.

After coming oh so close to defeating host Pomperaug in last year’s regular-season match, losing by only a stroke, then falling by four strokes to the Panthers for a runner-up finish in the South-West Conference championship, the Nighthawks are after the title this spring.

“We were knocking on the door last year,” Newtown Coach Bill Flood said. “We’re going to be good.”

The long, snowy winter is behind us and the Nighthawks have put last year’s close setback behind them as they try to avenge what turned out to be their lone regular-season defeat of a year ago, when they posted a glossy 15-1 mark.

Newtown lost two of its top golfers to graduation but the Hawks bring back plenty of experience and lots of competitive golfers looking to earn spots in the lineup.

Captains are Tom Rahr, Colin Patrick, and Graham Hubbert. Patrick and Hubbert were All Conference honorees last spring, and teammate Josh Houle earned All Division recognition, missing All SWC accolades by a mere tenth of a point.

“I’m pretty loaded with my top three,” said Flood, adding that any number of players can work their way into the starting group as the season unfolds. Among those challenging for spots, including Rahr, are Steve Zink, Curtis Williamson, Mike Maccharulo, Jimmy Widmann, Jacob Burden, and Mike Meyer. Junior varsity team members also include freshmen Ryan Patrick, Garrett Reed, and Devin Marsh.

While snow coated area courses deep into March and even as the calendar turned to April, Newtown’s golfers have had the advantage of working on their games indoors. Their preseason unfolded at the Newtown Golf Lab, an indoor virtual golfing facility at NYA Sports & Fitness Center, run by Flood and Assistant Coach Jonathan Phillips.

Flood anticipates the SWC title coming down to Pomperaug and Newtown, and believes his team can prevail both in the regular-season clash and in the postseason. “I think we have a real good shot,” he said. “It all depends who steps up in the four and five spots. It’s wide-open competition.”

The Hawks placed fourth in last year’s state tournament, and Flood is hopeful for an improvement on that finish as well. He said the golfers will work hard on all facets of the game in an effort to avoid any letdowns come postseason time. Although Flood is confident Pomperaug will prove to be his squad’s most formidable foe, New Milford and Masuk of Monroe may also pose challenges.

Newtown is slated to visit Bethel on Thursday, April 9, at 3 pm. The home opener is set for Monday, April 13, when Joel Barlow of Redding visits. All home matches feature 3 pm start times.

Note: After this article was posted, on April 7, the April 8 match with Brookfield was postponed to a date to be announced.