Middlebury, Vt. — Ryan Landgraf’s last competitive high school golf tournament could have ended on a down note, but the Rivendell Academy senior didn’t let it happen.

Landgraf gathered himself after a rough 18th hole to par the first sudden-death playoff hole and win the individual medal on Wednesday at the Vermont Principals Association Division III boys golf championship at Middlebury College. Landgraf and his teammates nearly came home team champs as well, settling for second place behind Stowe by just seven strokes.

“He was really confident going into the playoff,” Rivendell coach Justin Bonnett said in a phone interview. “He knew that he had the experience going in. The kid he had in the playoff is a freshman and he will be outstanding, but Ryan used his experience and sealed the deal.”

Where the Raptors dealt with the fast greens in the morning, Woodstock struggled with increased wind in the afternoon. The net result was a fifth-place finish in the Division II tournament, with Joe Bianchi’s 91 serving as the Wasps’ low round.

“The wind came up blowing hard, 25 mph this afternoon,” Woodstock coach Jim Gunnare said. “A lot of those guys got beat up out there. … It was a tough day out there.”

Landgraf and Stowe’s Flynn Kearney both shot rounds of 84 on the par-71 Ralph Myhre Golf Course in the D-III tourney. Landgraf had the medal all to himself, but a four-putt finish on 18 left the two competitors tied, with their playoff to start on the 492-yard first hole.

The straightaway par-5 has trees on either side, and Landgraf flirted with them on his way to the green.

He eventually sent a 5-iron long and left of the green, but Landgraf chipped to 8 feet and sank the putt to put pressure on Kearney. The Stowe freshman’s par putt from 6 feet to extend the playoff died short and right of the cup.

Jackson Felis (86), Clark Brown (98) and Chad Haggerty (98) followed Kearney’s 13-over-par round for Stowe’s 366 team tally. The Raptors got rounds of 91 from Sam Kamel and 99 from Jacob Kamel and Jacob Perkins for their team 374.

Only five schools fielded teams for the Division III tournament. Rivendell and fourth-place Arlington (406) automatically qualified out of the south district because no other school fielded a minimum of four golfers at sectionals.

Bonnett thought Rivendell had a chance at winning the team crown, but knew the Raptors would have to make up a lot of ground to do so. Stowe won its north sectional tournament with a team 340; Rivendell shot 376 at its sectional.

“That’s a lot to shave off,” Bonnett said.

The Raptors graduate Landgraf, Perkins and Sam Kamel, leaving behind what Bonnett considers a young and enthusiastic group. Rivendell has won two D-III titles and posted second- and fourth-place finishes in the last four state tournaments.

“It was special in the sense that I had my three seniors graduating,” Bonnett said. “I got to see them develop and grown as people, and that’s been the coolest.”

Rice shot a team 350 to win the D-II crown by 10 shots over Harwood and 20 over Lyndon. Woodstock finished at 395, as Bianchi was joined with scoring rounds from Kevan O’Connell (98), Braden McCarthy (101) and Lucas Godfrey (105). All four are seniors, as is the Wasps’ fifth player on Wednesday, Brian Townley (111).

“I had five seniors out there, and I had great years with them,” Gunnare said. “They showed a lot of mettle. They never quit.”

Rice’s Harrison Thayer won the D-II individual medal with an 11-over 82. North Country won the D-I team championship, shooting 324 to edge Rutland by two shots despite a tournament-best 73 from the Raiders’ Logan Broyles.

Curl Leads N.E. Open; Russell Close Behind

Quechee — Former Web.com pro Jeff Curl shot a 5-under-par 67 to take the first-round lead at the New England Open at the Quechee Club on Wednesday, while Grantham’s Evan Russell — in his third tournament as a professional — remained near the front of the pack.

A one-time golfer at the University of Charlotte who’s been knocking around the pro ranks for 15 years, Curl’s round on Quechee’s Lakeland Course was good enough for a one-shot lead through the first round of the two-day, 36-hole tournament. The Alabama native shot out of the gate, shooting 5 under par through his first seven holes. Bogeys on 11 and 13 brought him back to the pack, but Curl closed with back-to-back birdies on 17 and 18 to grab the outright lead.

New Hampshire native Rich Berberian, last year’s third-place finisher, is a shot back at 68 with New York’s Danny Guise and Connecticut’s Chris Wiatr. Four other competitors — Michael Carbone, Cole Wilcox, amateur Matt Hutchins and Landon Michelson — are two strokes back.

Russell, the Kimball Union Academy and recent University of Hartford graduate, is in a group of five at 2-under 70. Russell, who made his pro debut at last week’s Cape Cod Open, posted a consistent first round at Lakeland with 16 pars to go birdies on the par-3 sixth and par-4 10th holes.

Hartford High graduate Zach Temple fired an even-par 72 and is tied for 24th place. Lebanon’s Pat Pelletier is at 75, Hanover Country Club pro Alex Kirk shot 76, Hanover’s Sam Brackett shot 77 and Hanover High grad Nate Choukas is at 80.

The tournament wraps up on Quechee Lakeland today.