By Kim J. Harmon

SOUTHBURY – When the South-West Conference golf tournament tees off a couple of Wednesdays from now at the Ridgewood Country Club in Danbury, Newtown is hoping to be one of those schools shooting for a team championship.

And the possibility of that happening seems pretty good after the Nighthawks defeated Joel Barlow, Kolbe-Cathedral and Stratford this past week to run their record to 6-5 overall, 5-5 in the SWC.

“There are a lot of good teams in this league,” said head coach Jim Casagrande, “and a lot of teams which aren’t doing so well. We’re right there in the middle.”

The ‘Hawks crushed Barlow, 171-202, at the Redding Country Club last Wednesday and then hammered Kolbe, 165-235, at Fairchild Wheeler Golf Course in Bridgeport. And on Monday, the ‘Hawks routed Stratford, 176-251, at Heritage Village Country Club in Southbury.

The only blemish on the entire week was the 165-176 loss the ‘Hawks suffered against Pomperaug on Monday – right at the same time they were pounding Stratford.

Last Wednesday, the Falcons on Joel Barlow got a blistering round of 39 from their No. 1 man, Scott Stevens, but the ‘Hawks countered with a 40 from sophomore Mike Troy, rounds of 43 from Ben Moore and Taylor Gunn, and a 45 from Tom Ragusa.

Last Thursday, it was a solid, consistent effort that would have gotten the ‘Hawks past just about any team in the SWC – never mind a Kolbe team which has been struggling. At Fairchild Wheeler, Jared Nathanson, Ben Millar and Troy all carded 41s while Nate Gaines finished with a 44.

“That was the best effort we’ve put together this year,” said coach Casagrande.

On Monday the ‘Hawks went up a tough Pomperaug team – and a weak Stratford team – and came away with the split. Troy was the medalist in the tri-match with a 3-over 38 and he was followed by Joe Ziemann (43), Moore (45) and Greg Korotash (50).

Pomperaug was led by Matt Kielt and Kevin Lynch, who each turned in a round of 5-over 40. On the other side, Stratford was led by Keith Korchman, who carded a 19-over 54.

The ‘Hawks hosted Immaculate on Thursday (after press time) and will host Brookfield on Monday before traveling to Far Mill River Country Club to take on a pretty solid Bunnell team. A match against Masuk at Newtown Country Club will follow on Thursday.