Bridgewater-Raynham High golf coach George Pimental’s 38th season at the helm of the program is beginning to wind down.
But the coach has no plans of slowing down.
“Everyone is wondering, ‘When are you going to finish?’, but I’m just hanging in there,” Pimental said with a laugh.
It’s been another solid year for his Trojans, though it looks a bit different than in years past.
After winning 10 league championships in a row between the Old Colony League and Southeast Conference, the Trojans did not have an opportunity to win an 11th this season, with B-R and Dartmouth exiting the Southeast Conference.
However the team is still having another winning season.
Pimental credits much of his success to the players that have come through the program in the last four decades.
“We’ve just been fortunate to have some good golfers and be in a league where we can compete,” Pimental said. “It’s something that I enjoy doing and we just keep going along.”
Considering the success that Bridgewater-Raynham golf has had, one would assume that golf had been at the forefront of Pimental’s life since his childhood. But that’s not the case.
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Before retiring at the turn of the century, Pimental worked at Bridgewater-Raynham as the television coordinator at the school for 20 years. He picked up the sport in his late 20s, right around the time that he was working at the school. A little while later, the head-coaching position for the golf team opened up and he decided to jump at the opportunity.
“It was a good fit for me. I didn’t think it was going to go this long but I’m still with it,” Pimental said.
In addition to golf, Pimental also had stints coaching girls basketball and tennis teams. He said that though he and his wife of 57 years, Jo-Ann, do not have any children, coaching gives him an opportunity to connect with student-athletes.
“Over the years, there have been many kids in my life through coaching,” Pimental said. “(I’ve) had a lot of contacts with very, very nice young people throughout the years. I just enjoy it.”
Two of those athletes are currently senior captains for the golf team: Matt Lydon and Jack Balutis. Both have been on the varsity squad for multiple seasons and are often at the top of the scoreboard for the Trojans.
After Olde Scotland Links opened in Bridgewater in 1997, Pimental became a golf camp instructor for kids at the course. Lydon was one of those kids who attended his camp, and has been on the varsity roster since he was a freshman.
“I’ve known him since I was pretty young just doing golf camp around here so (we) have a good connection. Good guy, good teacher and a good coach,” Lydon said.
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Pimental said that when the course popped up roughly 30 years ago, it gave players at Bridgewater-Raynham a place to play and practice within a close proximity to the school. Since then, it has helped players like Lydon and Balutis improve their games.
“They’ve played very well throughout the year. They are very solid in the first two positions,” Pimental said of his two captains.
Jack Kless, who plays in the third position for the team, has also been integral to the Trojans on match day, in addition to Cole Williams and Ian Carvalho.
Heading into Wednesday’s match against Brockton, Bridgewater-Raynham stood at 8-6, just one week away from the Division 1 South Sectionals at Acushnet River Valley.
Pimental said that the hope is to have some players qualify for individual play once the tournament begins.
As to what the future holds for Pimental, he doesn’t have any plans of stopping right now.
This article originally appeared on The Enterprise: Bridgewater-Raynham golf coach concluding 38th year with school
