The most frequently asked question of the day was - when will this weather finally turn spring-like?! Another cold, slightly damp golf day and even some raindrops towards the end for today's match with St. Albans at Columbia CC.
We played a 10 hole match - just because the tenth hole comes back toward the clubhouse while the ninth green is one of the farthest points away. The team won handily 215-259. The nine hole score would have been 191 - 232.
Denny McCarthy tied for low man on the day. His two-over score included three birdies, three pars, two doubles, and one bogey. The double bogeys were partially due to some three putts.
Matt Brown continued his steady play with his own 37 - albeit a bit less volatile. Only one birdie, one bogey and one double.
Sam Spikell, who plays regularly at Columbia, had a rough day on the greens but managed a 38. He recorded three doubles, three birdies, and three pars.
Nate Cohan had his own adventure on the hilly course but posted a 39 by finishing with four straight 4's. His first few wedge shots were leaking right and he was forced to make some necessary recoveries.
Greg Bourdon and Jack Myers (another member) both notched 40's. Jack was particularly frustrated because after a poor first hole that led to a double he hit seven of the next 8 greens in regulation but had two three putts. Greg's round was pretty consistent with the exception of the long #6 where he took a triple bogey.
Among the alternates Wes Strang demonstrated some effective ball striking (according to the St. Albans coach) on his way to an even par 35. Kyle Soltesz who has been out sick for the last three matches posted a 40 and Tom Horton had a 43.
For STA senior Glory Roper was low with a 37. Roper hits the drive a very long way often outdriving Sam by as much as 20-30 yards. And Sam is considered the longest hitter on the team.
Other Bulldogs were Sam Kleinman (48), Peter Jahnig (48), Prominski (49), Alex Basil (50), and Bennett (59).
IAC Standings (as of April 13)
Georgetown Prep 3-0
Episcopal 2-0
Landon 1-1
Bullis 1-1
SSSA 0-2
STA 0-3
The regular season counts for one half while the tournament counts for one half in determining the league champion. The IAC tournament will be April 28th at Shenandoah Valley GC.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Wins in Virginia over PVI and SSSA
On an extremely cold and windy Tuesday afternoon, Prep (6-0) defeated Paul VI (10-1) on their home course of CC of Fairfax 6.5-2.5. Coach had five layers on and could have used another at times. But the players seemed to persevere nonetheless.
As has become custom Denny McCarthy started the match with the Panther's #1 Tyler Wingo by winning the first three holes to set an early torrid pace. He finished the front side in 37 with a couple of uncharacteristic putting misses but managed to close out Wingo on the 10th hole of the 12 hole match.
Sam Spikell started in the #2 slot based in part on his good showing the last two outings but he struggled with his putting and some bad breaks along the way and lost 1 down to Jay Pinkos. On the third hole, for example, Sam hit a draw into a small stand of trees but was not able to find his ball and had to go back to the tee to rehit. Later Coach found his ball in the rough on the opposite side of the fairway. Sam had a chance to pull his match even on the final hole but his 12 foot birdie putt refused to drop.
With Denny's torrid start and a clutch birdie putt on #7 by Sam they easily won the best ball point.
The second group was a wash. Nate Cohan drew Brandon Luxenberg but he couldn't get any part of his game going this day and Brandon, who also had his share of troubles outlasted Cohan 3 and 1. Nate won the par 5 fifth hole with a 7.
Greg Bourdon , on the other hand, had a good back and forth match with Matt Astorino but he prevailed 3 and 1 as well. The best ball came down to the final hole where Astorino made an excellent recovery to save par while Bourdon put his third shot on the par 5 hole outside of birdie range, and the point was halved.
Wes Strang and Matt Brown dominated the third foursome fairly easily. Wes struggled with his game again today, especially his putting but still managed a 3 and 1 win over Alex Kormanec. Matt kept the pedal down and cruised to a 4 and 3 win over Scott Simmons. His play complemented Wes' quite well and they won the best ball point 4 and 3.
In all likelihood these two teams will meet again in the Metros on May 12th at International CC in Virginia.
On Holy Thursday the guys wore short sleeve shirts and a few even donned shorts as the weather warmed up to the low 60s for the match with St. Stephen's and St. Agnes. The ride out to Mt. Vernon Golf Club took the scenic route out the parkway alongside the Potomac River and that may have been a portend for some of the players. Too much woods and water.
A few starters were not in town for this contest but the team stepped up to pull off a 190 - 208 win. Matt Brown was low man for the day on the basis of his even-par 35. He played conservative golf and kept the ball in play for the most part. He did "over club" on #4 which resulted in a three putt but made up for it by sinking a 10 footer on the ninth hole. As Captain, Matt switched up the pairings a bit and opted to play with Nate Cohan. Nate posted 37 with a birdie 3 on the most difficult hole on the front side - #3 where he stuck his nine iron relatively close after a drive that hugged the tree line.
Sam Spikell played a most conservative game (for him) today until the ninth hole. He made one mistake on #4 when his three-wood caught some tree limbs and kicked into the woods and out of bounds on the right, but he rebounded by bombing a drive over the corner of the dogleg to the front edge of the green where he made the up and down to salvage a bogey. On #9 Sam took his drive as deep as he could go so that he might have a more open approach to the ninth green from the first fairway. But he could not convert the opportunity and had to settle for a three-putt bogey. He finished one over at 36.
Greg Bourdon did a lot more scrambling than he is used to and faltered on #8 and #9 with back-to-back sixes on his way to a 41. Tom Horton sandwiched three straight pars between a four-over start and a two over finish to close with another 41. Jack Myers simply had a miserable round as he couldn't keep the double bogeys off his card; he soared to a 45.
The Saints were led by David Budway (36), followed by Holt Mountcastle (39) and Joe Curley (40). Marshall Hughes had a triple and two double bogeys on three of the last four holes on his way to a 46; Hunter Garth was ten over par on just three holes on his way to a 47. Alex Freedman simply struggled to a 52.
The team improved to 6-0, 2-0 on the season and looks forward to next week's match-ups with St. Albans at Columbia CC, Gonzaga at Argyle, and Archbishop Spalding at Lake Presidential in Upper Marlboro, MD.
As has become custom Denny McCarthy started the match with the Panther's #1 Tyler Wingo by winning the first three holes to set an early torrid pace. He finished the front side in 37 with a couple of uncharacteristic putting misses but managed to close out Wingo on the 10th hole of the 12 hole match.
Sam Spikell started in the #2 slot based in part on his good showing the last two outings but he struggled with his putting and some bad breaks along the way and lost 1 down to Jay Pinkos. On the third hole, for example, Sam hit a draw into a small stand of trees but was not able to find his ball and had to go back to the tee to rehit. Later Coach found his ball in the rough on the opposite side of the fairway. Sam had a chance to pull his match even on the final hole but his 12 foot birdie putt refused to drop.
With Denny's torrid start and a clutch birdie putt on #7 by Sam they easily won the best ball point.
The second group was a wash. Nate Cohan drew Brandon Luxenberg but he couldn't get any part of his game going this day and Brandon, who also had his share of troubles outlasted Cohan 3 and 1. Nate won the par 5 fifth hole with a 7.
Greg Bourdon , on the other hand, had a good back and forth match with Matt Astorino but he prevailed 3 and 1 as well. The best ball came down to the final hole where Astorino made an excellent recovery to save par while Bourdon put his third shot on the par 5 hole outside of birdie range, and the point was halved.
Wes Strang and Matt Brown dominated the third foursome fairly easily. Wes struggled with his game again today, especially his putting but still managed a 3 and 1 win over Alex Kormanec. Matt kept the pedal down and cruised to a 4 and 3 win over Scott Simmons. His play complemented Wes' quite well and they won the best ball point 4 and 3.
In all likelihood these two teams will meet again in the Metros on May 12th at International CC in Virginia.
On Holy Thursday the guys wore short sleeve shirts and a few even donned shorts as the weather warmed up to the low 60s for the match with St. Stephen's and St. Agnes. The ride out to Mt. Vernon Golf Club took the scenic route out the parkway alongside the Potomac River and that may have been a portend for some of the players. Too much woods and water.
A few starters were not in town for this contest but the team stepped up to pull off a 190 - 208 win. Matt Brown was low man for the day on the basis of his even-par 35. He played conservative golf and kept the ball in play for the most part. He did "over club" on #4 which resulted in a three putt but made up for it by sinking a 10 footer on the ninth hole. As Captain, Matt switched up the pairings a bit and opted to play with Nate Cohan. Nate posted 37 with a birdie 3 on the most difficult hole on the front side - #3 where he stuck his nine iron relatively close after a drive that hugged the tree line.
Sam Spikell played a most conservative game (for him) today until the ninth hole. He made one mistake on #4 when his three-wood caught some tree limbs and kicked into the woods and out of bounds on the right, but he rebounded by bombing a drive over the corner of the dogleg to the front edge of the green where he made the up and down to salvage a bogey. On #9 Sam took his drive as deep as he could go so that he might have a more open approach to the ninth green from the first fairway. But he could not convert the opportunity and had to settle for a three-putt bogey. He finished one over at 36.
Greg Bourdon did a lot more scrambling than he is used to and faltered on #8 and #9 with back-to-back sixes on his way to a 41. Tom Horton sandwiched three straight pars between a four-over start and a two over finish to close with another 41. Jack Myers simply had a miserable round as he couldn't keep the double bogeys off his card; he soared to a 45.
The Saints were led by David Budway (36), followed by Holt Mountcastle (39) and Joe Curley (40). Marshall Hughes had a triple and two double bogeys on three of the last four holes on his way to a 46; Hunter Garth was ten over par on just three holes on his way to a 47. Alex Freedman simply struggled to a 52.
The team improved to 6-0, 2-0 on the season and looks forward to next week's match-ups with St. Albans at Columbia CC, Gonzaga at Argyle, and Archbishop Spalding at Lake Presidential in Upper Marlboro, MD.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Waxing Loyola
Sophomores stepped up yet again as Prep defeated Loyola Blakefield by 22 strokes today at Norbeck CC in Rockville with a final score of 182-204.
Denny McCarthy was low man once again for the Hoyas as he shot a two-under 34 on the front side in windy and chilly conditions. He pulled a wedge badly on the 351-yard first hole and that led to a bogey but he drained a 40-footer from the second level on the par-3 third for a 2. He got to one-under when he got up and down from about ten yards off the par 5 fifth green and then left a ten footer for par short of the hole on number 7. On the 485 yard par-5 eighth, which was playing down wind, he hit an 8 iron for his second shot to within 12 feet and then made the putt for an eagle. On the final hole Denny had a difficult bunker shot from a downhill lie to a close front pin position that he managed to get to within two feet.
Wes Strang (junior) bounced back from his struggles in his first two matches with an even-par 36. He canned an 8 footer on three for birdie and then followed that with a birdie on four again from about ten feet. His third shot on the fifth sailed over the green and he was stymied by a tree as he missed a good opportunity for a turkey. On the seventh hole Wes pulled his drive into the left rough and his line to the green was blocked by a stand of trees. His second caught some branches and fell almost straight back into the fairway. Then after he hit a good third shot he miscued from less than two feet for an uncharacteristic three putt for a double bogey. He rebounded with two fours on 8 & 9.
Sam Spikell (sophomore) playing in his first match since the inaugural win over Good Counsel fought off some medicine reactions that gave him the shakes on the first two holes as he went bogey, double bogey to start. He made a twelve foot birdie putt on #3 and then a two-putt birdie on #8 as he finished with a 37.
Nate Cohan (sophomore) continued his very steady performance with another 37. Nate made birdie on #2 from close to fifteen feet only to miss the green on #3 and settle for a bogey when he couldn't get up and down from the left side. Pars followed on 4, 5, & 6. But faced with a similar shot that Wes had from the left rough on #7 Nate left his second shot out to the right and he caught a bad lie in the right hand trap. His explosion barely got out of the trap and his chip left him a long bogey putt so he took a double bogey there. Like Wes, Nate closed with a birdie and par.
Greg Bourdon (sophomore) played steady if unspectacular golf on his way to a 38. He had a three putt bogey on the second hole from about 40 feet and could not negotiate an up and down for par on #3. But he came back with a birdie on 4 only to have another three putt on #5 for bogey. His birdie on #8 was followed by a bogey on #9 when his trap shot trickled past the pin and left him with a tricky sidehill, downhill putt to save par.
Matt Brown (senior) shot 39 with four bogeys and one birdie. Even the alternates had a good day today as Jack Myers (37), Mike Marcus (37), and Tom Horton (40) played very steady golf. Jack had an opening and closing bogey with a birdie on #8 and Mike had a three putt bogey on #3 with eight other pars.
The 182 is just three shots off the all-time team nine hole score of 179 posted last year at Whiskey Creek against DeMatha in ideal weather conditions. Today was far from ideal - very windy out of the west and cloudy with periods of downright chilly air.
Low man for the Dons was Ben Shields (39) for the all-senior squad. Mike Finnegan (40), Colin Greenwell (41), Brendan Buchness (42), Church Waesche (42), and Cory Voelkel (44) played for Coach Marty Stewart who announced that this was his last season coaching the Dons and that he was passing the mantle along next year.
Marty represents the best camraderie of high school golf coaches. He spins good yarns, provides the best for his boys, and win or lose he is always a gentleman. He will be missed and hopefully this rivalry can continue without him. It just won't be the same.
Denny McCarthy was low man once again for the Hoyas as he shot a two-under 34 on the front side in windy and chilly conditions. He pulled a wedge badly on the 351-yard first hole and that led to a bogey but he drained a 40-footer from the second level on the par-3 third for a 2. He got to one-under when he got up and down from about ten yards off the par 5 fifth green and then left a ten footer for par short of the hole on number 7. On the 485 yard par-5 eighth, which was playing down wind, he hit an 8 iron for his second shot to within 12 feet and then made the putt for an eagle. On the final hole Denny had a difficult bunker shot from a downhill lie to a close front pin position that he managed to get to within two feet.
Wes Strang (junior) bounced back from his struggles in his first two matches with an even-par 36. He canned an 8 footer on three for birdie and then followed that with a birdie on four again from about ten feet. His third shot on the fifth sailed over the green and he was stymied by a tree as he missed a good opportunity for a turkey. On the seventh hole Wes pulled his drive into the left rough and his line to the green was blocked by a stand of trees. His second caught some branches and fell almost straight back into the fairway. Then after he hit a good third shot he miscued from less than two feet for an uncharacteristic three putt for a double bogey. He rebounded with two fours on 8 & 9.
Sam Spikell (sophomore) playing in his first match since the inaugural win over Good Counsel fought off some medicine reactions that gave him the shakes on the first two holes as he went bogey, double bogey to start. He made a twelve foot birdie putt on #3 and then a two-putt birdie on #8 as he finished with a 37.
Nate Cohan (sophomore) continued his very steady performance with another 37. Nate made birdie on #2 from close to fifteen feet only to miss the green on #3 and settle for a bogey when he couldn't get up and down from the left side. Pars followed on 4, 5, & 6. But faced with a similar shot that Wes had from the left rough on #7 Nate left his second shot out to the right and he caught a bad lie in the right hand trap. His explosion barely got out of the trap and his chip left him a long bogey putt so he took a double bogey there. Like Wes, Nate closed with a birdie and par.
Greg Bourdon (sophomore) played steady if unspectacular golf on his way to a 38. He had a three putt bogey on the second hole from about 40 feet and could not negotiate an up and down for par on #3. But he came back with a birdie on 4 only to have another three putt on #5 for bogey. His birdie on #8 was followed by a bogey on #9 when his trap shot trickled past the pin and left him with a tricky sidehill, downhill putt to save par.
Matt Brown (senior) shot 39 with four bogeys and one birdie. Even the alternates had a good day today as Jack Myers (37), Mike Marcus (37), and Tom Horton (40) played very steady golf. Jack had an opening and closing bogey with a birdie on #8 and Mike had a three putt bogey on #3 with eight other pars.
The 182 is just three shots off the all-time team nine hole score of 179 posted last year at Whiskey Creek against DeMatha in ideal weather conditions. Today was far from ideal - very windy out of the west and cloudy with periods of downright chilly air.
Low man for the Dons was Ben Shields (39) for the all-senior squad. Mike Finnegan (40), Colin Greenwell (41), Brendan Buchness (42), Church Waesche (42), and Cory Voelkel (44) played for Coach Marty Stewart who announced that this was his last season coaching the Dons and that he was passing the mantle along next year.
Marty represents the best camraderie of high school golf coaches. He spins good yarns, provides the best for his boys, and win or lose he is always a gentleman. He will be missed and hopefully this rivalry can continue without him. It just won't be the same.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Panthers looming
This week will be a telling week for the Prep team as they face Loyola on Monday, Paul VI on Tuesday, and SSSA on Thursday. The Saints did not score well in their match with Episcopal last week but the Mt. Vernon golf course always gives long hitters difficulty.
After the team had already wrapped up the IAC league title a couple of years ago, we stumbled quite a bit and had to rely on some last few holes heroics from Justin Nogay who now plays for Mount St. Mary's. Justin fashioned several birdies and a par over the last three holes to snatch victory from the jaws of ignominy.
On the other hand, Paul VI Panthers appear to be a legitimate threat. They have already beaten DeMatha, last year's Metros champs, on DeMatha's home course by a score of 6-3. In match play the final score isn't always an indicator of the tightness of a match. But it seems that Warnquist from DeMatha beat Tyler Wingo at the first spot and they tied best ball. Other Stags did not hold on. Myles Handy was four up after the first four holes and lost. Jordan Sweet and Jeb Hynes both lost too. In addition to Wingo, the Panthers start two other really good sophomores - Pinkos and Louxenberg. They have two seniors who play solid golf at 5 and 6. And they get to play on their "home" course. They've already played there at least five times so far this year. The Prep guys will have to be focused if they want to win this one.
Don't know much about Loyola. The Dons have only two matches on the scoreboard so far this season. One was a blow-out of Annapolis Area Christian and the other was a loss to Archbishop Spalding. Marty Stewart (coach) says he can only bring 7 players and they will all be seniors. We had a great time up in Baltimore last season and we won when Chris Brown came through in the last spot to clinch the victory. We'll see what they bring this year.
Rain is forecast for part of the day on Monday. Did see a window of clearing starting at 3:00 and lasting till maybe 6:30. It would be nice to get this match in.
After the team had already wrapped up the IAC league title a couple of years ago, we stumbled quite a bit and had to rely on some last few holes heroics from Justin Nogay who now plays for Mount St. Mary's. Justin fashioned several birdies and a par over the last three holes to snatch victory from the jaws of ignominy.
On the other hand, Paul VI Panthers appear to be a legitimate threat. They have already beaten DeMatha, last year's Metros champs, on DeMatha's home course by a score of 6-3. In match play the final score isn't always an indicator of the tightness of a match. But it seems that Warnquist from DeMatha beat Tyler Wingo at the first spot and they tied best ball. Other Stags did not hold on. Myles Handy was four up after the first four holes and lost. Jordan Sweet and Jeb Hynes both lost too. In addition to Wingo, the Panthers start two other really good sophomores - Pinkos and Louxenberg. They have two seniors who play solid golf at 5 and 6. And they get to play on their "home" course. They've already played there at least five times so far this year. The Prep guys will have to be focused if they want to win this one.
Don't know much about Loyola. The Dons have only two matches on the scoreboard so far this season. One was a blow-out of Annapolis Area Christian and the other was a loss to Archbishop Spalding. Marty Stewart (coach) says he can only bring 7 players and they will all be seniors. We had a great time up in Baltimore last season and we won when Chris Brown came through in the last spot to clinch the victory. We'll see what they bring this year.
Rain is forecast for part of the day on Monday. Did see a window of clearing starting at 3:00 and lasting till maybe 6:30. It would be nice to get this match in.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Other Scores
WCAC Scores
Monday 3/30
DeMatha - 9 Bishop Ireton - 0
Paul VI - 7.5 Bishop O'Connell - 1.5
St. John's - 5.5 Bishop McNamara - 3.5
Tuesday 3/31
Good Counsel - 5 Bishop O'Connell - 4
St. Mary's Ryken - 5 Gonzaga - 4
Wednesday 4/1
Paul VI - 6 DeMatha - 3
IAC Scores
Episcopal - 208 St. Stephen's & St. Agnes - 223
MIAA scores
Pallotti - 17 Severn - 4
The WCAC (DC) uses a match play format with six individual matches for one point each and a best ball match in each foursome for three more points, a total of nine. They will play 12 holes.
The MIAA (Baltimore) uses match play as well but they use a "nassau" format with three points for each individual match - a total of 18 points and then one point for each of the best ball of the foursomes for three more points, a total of twenty-on. They too will play 12 holes.
The IAC (DC) uses stroke play format with six players but counting only the top five. They will usually play 9 holes but extend a match if there is sufficient time. That would be determined before teeing off.
Monday 3/30
DeMatha - 9 Bishop Ireton - 0
Paul VI - 7.5 Bishop O'Connell - 1.5
St. John's - 5.5 Bishop McNamara - 3.5
Tuesday 3/31
Good Counsel - 5 Bishop O'Connell - 4
St. Mary's Ryken - 5 Gonzaga - 4
Wednesday 4/1
Paul VI - 6 DeMatha - 3
IAC Scores
Episcopal - 208 St. Stephen's & St. Agnes - 223
MIAA scores
Pallotti - 17 Severn - 4
The WCAC (DC) uses a match play format with six individual matches for one point each and a best ball match in each foursome for three more points, a total of nine. They will play 12 holes.
The MIAA (Baltimore) uses match play as well but they use a "nassau" format with three points for each individual match - a total of 18 points and then one point for each of the best ball of the foursomes for three more points, a total of twenty-on. They too will play 12 holes.
The IAC (DC) uses stroke play format with six players but counting only the top five. They will usually play 9 holes but extend a match if there is sufficient time. That would be determined before teeing off.
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