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Central Catholic freshman Connor Greenleaf of Windham began golfing at age 3 when his grandfather, Edward Carls, now 88, made him a set of golf clubs. “He took the heads of the golf clubs and shafts and made them small enough so you could use them,” Greenleaf said. Greenleaf called his grandfather, who lives in Florida and still plays golf, yesterday after winning the MVC individual golf championship at Vesper Country Club with a sizzling 1-over par 73.   “He was really proud and he congratulated me and was really excited,” Greenleaf said.   Greenleaf said he thought he had a decent chance of placing in the top five entering the championship. He beat out Andover’s Janik Koenigs and Haverhill’s Craig Farley, who both shot 76. Andover’s Donny Hunt came in fourth with a 77. “I didn’t go in expecting to win but I thought I had a good chance to place top five and probably on the 14th hole, I was like, ‘Wow, I really have a chance of winning this thing,’” Greenleaf said. He ranks this among the top accomplishments of his young career. “I play in multiple tournaments over the summer,” he said. “This is up there but I wouldn’t say it’s the greatest accomplishment that I’ve had in golf. I played in the Callaway World Juniors (in California) over the summer. I placed like 44th out of 150. And these were the best kids in the world. That was my best experience.” Greenleaf began his competitive golf career at 10. Greenleaf’s mother, father and brother all play golf, too. “My brother (Ryan Greenleaf) sometimes beats me,” he said. “He goes to Salem High. He plays for the Salem golf team. We have pretty good competitions but I usually win. I took more interest in golf at an early age. He kind of caught on after me.” Sachems’ Cavanaugh wins Cape Ann League title Pentucket junior Mac Cavanaugh of Pentucket-Georgetown won the medalist honor at the Cape Ann League Open at Far Corner by shooting a 74 (2-under-par). Interestingly enough, Cavanaugh, the team’s No. 2 golfer, shot just a 94 at the same golf course in the Division 2 North tournament Monday.   “He said to me, ‘Can you believe I shot 20 strokes less today?’” Pentucket-Georgetown coach Jayne Martinese Beaton said. “He said to me, ‘I shot a 74.’ I grabbed his arm and I said, ‘What?’ He said, “I shot a 74.’ I was absolutely thrilled. ... He’s a great kid and he turned into a very good leader as the season went on. He was very encouraging to the other kids on the team.” Cape Ann League Open at Far Corner (par 72) Results (32 golfers): 1. Mac Cavanaugh (Pentucket-Georgetown) 74, 2. Alex Kane (Masco) 76, 3. Charlie May (Masco) 78; top nine are All-CAL, cutoff was 82. North Andover: John Boyle 84, Nick DePace 84, Ross Boyle 94 North Reading: Tyler Canaday 92, Jack Manning 99 Penucket-Georgetown: Mac Cavanaugh 74, Jason Steele 84

Central Catholic won the MVC division for the second straight year with its win over Andover 20-0. Joe Leavitt and Kevin Desjardians both shot a one under par, 35, in the win.

BOXFORD — Something unexpected happened at the Division 2 North Sectional golf tournament at the Far Corner Golf Course. North Andover delivered its first sectional crown since Ted Pritchard's 1987 team. The Knights finished with a first-place score of 326, three shots ahead of runner-up Lincoln-Sudbury and four ahead of Beverly. They were the only qualifiers in the 19-school field. Reading and Masco tied for fourth at 334. Leading the way for the Knights was senior Ross Boyle, who fired a 78 as the medalist under cold and windy conditions. Twin brother John was next at 80 while Alec Brown and Nick DePace both shot 84s. “It was very tough out there, but I felt I had a good day,” said Ross. “We’re really excited about the team. We always knew we had depth but we didn’t think we’d win it. It was a pleasant surprise.” The fact that the Knights finished ahead of Masconomet was icing on the cake. “They really killed us in the dual meet, so beating them today made it (the title) a lot better,” said Ross. North Andover will compete in the Division 2 state final Oct. 26 at Pocasset Golf Club. Complete Eagle-Tribune records go back through 1991 and the Knights’ best finishes were second places in 2006 (16 strokes behind Lincoln-Sudbury) and 1992 (1 stroke behind Winchester).

In preparation for the North sectionals on Monday, Andover traveled to Haverhill and dominated, 16-4. Brett Krekorian paced a balanced Golden Warrior effort with a 1-under par 34 to earn medalist honors. Dan DuBois lead the way for the Hillies with a 35.