Gavin Clarke

Gavin Clarke chips onto the green during a divisional matchup.

GRAHAMSVILLE – Rounding out the final season of the 2022-23 school year, Gavin Clarke set the tone for golfers throughout the county with an impressive senior season.

Years of travelling for youth tournaments and practice culminated in a NYSPHSAA state championship tournament appearance this spring after missing the cut by one place last year.

Gavin’s friends joined the golf team this year, giving hin the opportunity to play alongside and teach them.

“The season was great, the matches were a lot of fun because my close friends went out for the team,” Clarke said.

Clarke completed the regular season with an average of 0.6 strokes under par, qualifying for Sectionals easily.

After finishing 11th at Powelton on day one, Clarke tied for the lowest score of the day at McCann on the second day, improving from 11th to 4th and earning a trip to States.

“States was an experience,” Clarke recalled. “My other Section IX friends made it and it was a great time.”

Clarke had been playing golf since he was around three years old, picking up a club for the first time after watching his cousin play.

For his fifth birthday, Gavin visited a golf resort in Cape Cod, and has gone each year since.

Gavin started playing competitively in 8th grade for Tri-Valley, while also participating in PGA Jr. tours.

“As a junior I started to grow into my game and see a lot of improvement,” Clarke said. “One year of varsity golf got cancelled, so I played four years.”

Clarke signed to play for Hofstra prior to the start of his senior season, previously reported as part of Tri-Valley’s college signing day.

He will be majoring in Mechanical Engineering, focusing on Aerospace Engineering with hopes to work for an aviation company.

However, his true goal and the path that he intends to follow centers around becoming a professional golfer. 

“My family and friends have been supportive every step of the way, and their belief in me has helped tremendously,” Clarke explained. “My parents traveled so I could compete in tournaments and my swing coach Joseph Spivak always believed that I could play D1 golf.”

As Clarke awaits his departure for college, he is keeping busy with school, participating in a Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) national event in Atlanta.

“I competed in Rochester, and I’m headed to Atlanta to compete in Nationals, which includes a 100-question test.” 

Throughout his senior year, and his final season of golf, Clarke found time to mentor and help out his teammates on the links.

“Being a mentor is a good sense of pressure,” Gavin explained. “I enjoy helping, and they trust my input and it makes me want to play more.” 

Luckily for Gavin, playing more won’t be an issue as he prepares to head to Hofstra and join the ranks of collegiate athletes.

Kaylee Poppo

Kaylee Poppo placed 7th in Sectionals and earned a trip to States.

GRAHAMSVILLE – Closing out her third and final sports season in her senior year, Kaylee Poppo hit the links hard and earned a trip to states after signing to play golf at the collegiate level for Mount Saint Mary College.

From goaltending for the Section IX Class C runner-up soccer team to trying out various events on the indoor track team, Kaylee has been making waves all across Tri-Valley athletics.

After signing a letter of intent to play college golf at Mount Saint Mary College, Kaylee kicked off her final season of senior year.

Poppo was looking to qualify for her fifth straight sectional tournament, having reached that goal in each year since 8th grade.

“This year was stressful because I put a lot of pressure on myself,” Poppo explained. “There were a lot of expectations and stress that I put on myself before the season even started.”

From picking up a golf club at three years old and sticking with it until high school and, soon, college, the sport has always been a huge part of Kaylee’s life.

“My dad is a huge golfer, and he got me and my brother into it when I was young and it’s something I excelled at so I always stuck with it,” Poppo explained.

Aside from her talent at the sport, golf has been a way for Kaylee to network and make new friends during her years playing for Tri-Valley.

“Gabby is one of my closest friends. I always play better when we go out and I’m always the least stressed when I golf with her,” Poppo said.

Cohen graduated in 2022 and the pair won the Villa Roma women’s tournament last summer.

When it was time to decide on a college to attend, Poppo figured out early that she would be headed to MSMC to play golf while pursuing a degree in exercise science.

“I competed in a PGA Jr league, which is where I met Andy Crane, the head coach of the women’s team at MSMC,” Poppo explained.

The Women’s Golf program at MSMC just finished their first year, so Poppo will be joining a new program that is working to establish themselves.

“Mount Saint Mary is a legacy school, I have family members that attended,” Poppo explained. “It has such a gorgeous campus and a very home-y feel. I knew it was the right fit right away.”

With her future in academics and athletics secured, Poppo took to the links for one final season at Tri-Valley before graduating.

Throughout the regular season, Poppo shot the lowest round in all league matches by at least eight strokes. 

As she had done in the previous four years, Kaylee qualified for sectionals without much trouble and looked to make it to the state tournament.

This year, however, Poppo was the only Sullivan County female golfer to qualify for the Section IX Championships.

After a 92 on day one, Poppo made the Day 2 cut with a 7th place finish. In her second round, Poppo shot a 91 which kept her in 7th place and earned her a trip to the State Championship tournament.

Kaylee traveled to Rexford to compete against the best high school golfers in the state, finishing tied for 75th.

“It was nerve-wracking being there,” Poppo explained. “I had to remind myself that I was there because I deserved to be, and after a rocky first day I had a much better day two. Everyone in my group was so nice and I had a lot of fun.”

With Kaylee heading to MSMC in Newburgh, she won’t be too far from home.

“Having my family supporting me throughout high school was a tremendous boost,” Kaylee said. “I’m hoping they’ll be there next year because I’m definitely going to need them!”

Aside from starting golf and soccer at such a young age, Kaylee has also taken a particular interest in Martial Arts, and values that she has learned through that has carried her.

“Tradition, philosophy, technique, history, discipline and respect are the values that have kept me stable,” Poppo explained. “There is a studio near my college that I’ll be able to continue training at once I leave for college.”