With a mix of veterans who serve as quasi-coaches and mentors for a large group of younger players, the East Providence High School golf team is poised to stay competitive among its competition as the weather improves and the season hits the midway point.

The Townies are 4-2 thus far in the season, scoring wins over Middletown, Tiverton, Bay View, and Rogers. They’ve lost to Portsmouth and Barrington.

But as head coach Bill McEnery will eagerly tell you, the overall record means nothing in the grand scheme of the Rhode Island Interscholastic League’s scoring protocols for state qualification.

“We have an uphill battle now to see if we can get our scoring average down, which we will, and just hopefully do good enough to make the states,” McEnery said in a recent interview, lamenting about a couple years back when the team got to a 12-2 record yet failed to qualify for the state tournament.

Now in his 25th year of coaching East Providence golfers, and in his 53rd overall year of coaching, McEnery has been the constant rock for generations of young golfers. He maintains that cool composure year to year, delighting in sharing the joy of the sport and its inherent competition, rather than stressing the students out too much about wins and losses.

“That's the nice thing about golf. Every time they play, there's a purpose to it. It’s not stressful, they're not making living at this sport like the pros are, but I always say you should play for something. Sometimes we'll play for a couple of tees, just to make a purpose,” he said. “Other than possibly playing in the next match, it just puts them in a mode of competition. And that's what golf is. It’s competition. It can also be social. The kids seem to like each other, so there's a social part.”

It’s one of the reasons McEnery is fielding one of his larger teams in recent memories. Thirteen total students are on the squad, including six returning veterans (seniors Noah Araujo and Nathan Carter, the team captains, Caleb Reynolds, and Jameson Moon; and two sophomores, Jake Iacavone and Parker Andrews. Add to that four freshmen (Roman Cunha, Noah Lang, Weston Ferreira, and Colin McKenzie), and three new juniors (Kingston Ferreira, Tristan Tyfvaer, and Owen Richards).

“That’s more than I’ve had in a few years, which is good for East Providence High School,” McEnery said. “They’ll play each other to see who plays in matches. I don’t decide who plays, we play based on numbers.”

With five matches left, McEnery is hopeful the team can continue to grow together and improve.

“The kids have been playing well. We have a young team, I think the future is bright,” he said. “We’re right in the hunt, which is exactly where we want to be.”