Dartmouth High’s golf team couldn’t overcome undefeated Old Rochester for its chance to play in the postseason, ending the season with a 276-256 loss.

The loss brings Dartmouth High’s season record to 7-9, just one win short of securing a team qualification for the state tournament. Although the Indians had five returning seniors this season and a crop of returning players, Head Coach Mike Frates said his young team struggled to remain consistent.

“We just played inconsistently; we had some matches where we were just giving shots away,” Frates said.

Despite a tough season, Frates noted Justin DeBortoli, a junior captain, and senior captains Noah Goldburg and Eric Medeiros excelled this season, both on and off the green.

“DeBortoli is our most consistent golfer, and Goldberg is one of those kids that golf is his thing,” Frates said. “He’s great around all of our kids too.”

With the team unable to clinch a postseason bid, Frates still anticipates sending at least one athlete to states in the individual qualifiers. He’s also thinking about next season as well. With a young team and a number of promising returners next season, he hopes to see this year’s tough matches translated into improvement.

“It’s nice when you can get some of your younger kids some quality match experience,” Frates said. “I think that will really help out for next year.”

Bryce Souza began his golf career in his freshman year, after his neighbor and teammate got him into it. Now a junior, he’ll be a senior when he returns next season.

“The seniors are really fun to be around and we had a lot of team-bonding stuff,” Souza said of his teammates. “We’ll lose a lot senior wise but it’s basically going to be the same core group next year.”