End of Year Awards - 2010

Polo Junior All-Americans
Denny McCarthy was selected to the first team All-American Squad, the first player from Maryland ever to be so selected since the program began in 1979. Andrew Lister (Haymarket) was chosen for Honorable Mention. Tyler Wingo (Paul VI) was tapped for the H-P Scholastic All-American team in part because he was ranked #2 in his class. Congratulations to all three.
Washington Metropolitan Golf Association
For the third year in a row Denny McCarthy was picked to be the WMGA Junior Player of the Year - the first time that has happened.Denny won the first two tournaments of the junior summer circuit and then dominated the field at the Williamson Cup in Ontario in August.
Maryland State Golf Association Player of the Year
Denny McCarthy finished second in the race for POY to Chris Baloga of Hillendale who tied for 8th in the final event to eke out a close win.
Maryland State Public School Golf Championship
Kudos to the Hawks of Urbana HS of Frederick CO who edged out Damascus HS by just three shots in the two day event at University of Maryland Golf Course. Kyler Rose led Urbana with a 149 to finish in a tie for 8th in the individual standings. Brett Myers finished tied for fourth (147)to post low score for the Hornets of Damascus. Bart George led Broadneck to a third place team total of 628. Not certain why Churchill was not given third place? Their four-man squad was only one shot behind Damascus.
Top Ten Individuals at Public School States:
1) Connor Tendall (Wooton) 143
2t) Bart George (Broadneck) 145
2t) Cas Dickerson (McDonough) 145
4t) Brett Myers (Damascus) 147
4t) Ryan Cole (Linganore) 147
4t) Ryan Triller (North Harford) 147
4t) Austin Doerr (Northern - Garrett) 147
8t) Chris Yoo (Marriotts Ridge) 149
8t) Eric Sawchuck (North Point) 149
8t) Kyler Rose (Urbana) 149
Other Montgomery County Top 20 Finishers:
11) Nathan Tenpas (BCC) 150
15t) Bradley Rotter (Churchill) 153
15t) Phillup Ahn (Churchill) 153
15t) Andrew Barth (Walt Whitman) 153

Montgomery County Districts (Public Schools)
In a closely contested tournament, Bradey Rotter (Churchill) took first place in the District tourney to lead Churchill to a tie for first place with Damascus. Both teams posted 317 and qualified for States. Walt Whitman came in third with 321

Top 10 Individuals at Districts:
1)Bradley Rotter (Churchill) 72
2) Evan Hughes (Quince Orchard) 73
3) Connor Tendall (Wootton) 75
4) James Lillie (Walter Johnson) 76
5t) Cody Pestun (Damascus) 77
5t) Brandon Eng (Walter Johnson) 77
5t) Nick Ponafala (Paint Branch) 77
5t) Nathan Tenpas (Bethesda Chevy Chase) 77
5t) Pat Moriarty (Rockville) 77
5t) Phillup Ahn (Churchill) 77

St. Andrews claims MAC Title in 4-peat

Tim Gregg led St. Andrews to an upset win in the MAC conference championship with a one stroke victory over Flint Hill 326 - 327. Potomac finished third (337)and Sidwell Friends came in fourth (358). The MAC counts the top 4 out of 6 players and St. Andrews needed their #6 player Jacob Reiskin to post his best ever score to pull out the narrow win. Reiskin shot 90 with a par on the last hole.

MCG Tourney
Robert Balaban and Ralph Blasey both from Landon tied for first (72) in this invitational held at Falls Road GC even though Landon is NOT supposed to play any fall events because their season is in the Spring. Balaban won a playoff on the first extra hole. Connor Tendall upheld public school honors with a third place finish just one shot off - 73.
Here is the top ten:
1) Robert Balaban (Landon) 72*
2) Ralph Blasey (Landon) 72
3) Connor Tendall (Wootton) 73
4) Michael Fuller (St. Andrews) 75
5t) Andrew Barth (Walt Whitman) 76
5t) Joey Berkinshaw (Northwest) 76
5t) Alex Kosh (Northwest) 76
9) Jeremy Ponafala (Paint Branch) 77
10t) Alex Lu (Churchill) 78
10t) Sam Pastorila (Walt WHitman) 78
10t) Taylor Powell (Gaithersburg) 78
10t) Austin Sanquist (Damascus) 78
10t) Brandon Spiegel (Churchill) 78

The Coach's Top 15 for 2010

These are final overall individual results from performances in the 6 major junior golf tournaments conducted during the summer for the WMGA, MAGA, and MSGA (Frank Emmet Schoolboy Championship, Maryland State Junior, Middle Atlantic Junior Boys, Bobby Gorin, Bob Riley Junior Open, and Dewey Ricketts Memorial)All of these tournaments are conducted at stroke play with the one exception of the Gorin which is a match play contest.
20 points is awarded for a first place finish; 18 for second place; 16 for third; 15 for fourth down to 9 points for tenth.

1) Jordan Sweet (DeMatha) 69 pts. -
Jordan won both the Mid-Atlantic and Bobby Gorin, 2nd - MD Junior, 8th - Emmet
2) Bart George (Broadneck) 50 pts -
Bart: 6th - Emmet,8t - Mid-Atlantic, quarters - Gorin, 3t - Riley.
3) Alex Taylor (Glenelg) 48 pts -
Alex won the Riley, 3rd - Ricketts, quarters - Gorin
4) Keegan Boone (Gonzaga) 46.5 -
Keegan: 7th - Emmet, 2nd - MidAtlantic, 3t - MD State
5) Denny McCarthy (Georgetown Prep) 40 pts -
Denny won both the Emmet and the MD State.
6) Brian McCormick (Gonzaga) 39.5 pts -
Brian: 4th - MidAtlantic, qualified - Gorin, 3rd - Ricketts
7) Thomas Curley (Vienna, VA) - 31 pts.
Tom : 2nd - Riley, 7th - Ricketts
8) Ryan Cole (Linganore, MD) - 30 pts
Ryan: 2nd at Emmet, 7th - MD State
9) Greg Bourdon (Georgetown Prep) - 29.5 pts
Greg: 9th - Emmet, 10th - MD State, quarters - Gorin
10)Ralph Blasey (Landon) - 28.5 pts
Ralph: 8t - MD State, 2nd - Gorin
11)Sam Stewart ( Gilman) - 26.5 pts
Sam: 8t - MD State, 3rd - Mid Atlantic
12)Joe Simpson (Langley) - 26 pts
Joe: 8t - Riley, Semifinals - Gorin
13)Mason Short (St. Mary's Ryken) - 24.5 pts
Mason: 6t - MidAtlantic, quarters - Gorin
14)Kyler Rose (Urbana, MD) - 23 pts
Kyler: 10th - Emmet, 5th - Ricketts
14)Brian Petrosky (Crofton, MD) - 23 pts
Brian: 10th - MidAtlantic, 3t at Riley

Tourney Winners:

Frank Emmet Schoolboy - Denny McCarthy
Maryland State Junior - Denny McCarthy
Middle Atlantic Junior - Jordan Sweet * won playoff
Bobby Gorin - Jordan Sweet
Bob Riley Junior Open - Alex Taylor * won playoff
Dewey Ricketts Memorial - Bradley Rotter * won playoff

Final Comment

Congratulations to all the winners and everyone who competed during the year. This may have been one of the more competitive years for junior golf in this area topped by the showing of McCarthy, Sweet, George, and Boone at the Williamson Cup in Ontario, Canada. McCarthy posted 63-65 - 138 and yet the team was so strong that Jordan, Bart, and Keegan would have won without Denny's scores!
McCarthy distinguished himself on the national level this past year with a semifinal appearance at the USGA Juniors and qualifying for the match play portion of the USGA Men's Amateur. He also qualified to be a member of the US Junior Ryder Cup by virtue of winning the Junior PGA Championship in August. He finished the season ranked 3rd in the Nation by Polo Junior Rankings.
Ben Warnquist (135), Ryan Cole (139), Alex Church (185), Connor Tendall (212), Christopher Hickman (214), Nate Cohan (422), Jordan Sweet (424), and Ralph Blasey (498) all from Maryland made it into the top 500 Juniors in the country. From Virginia - Andrew Lister (56) Tyler Wingo (64), Noori Hyun (142), Ji Soo Park (168), Jay Pinkos (209), and Andrew Brenneman (490) were ranked in the top 500.
The Montgomery County Gazette released its All-Gazette Golf team in November of this year. And yet again it left out deserving players from private schools. What I don't understand is that they included someone on the first team based solely on his finish in the MCG Invitational but his team was not playing this season. And they did not include his Landon teammate who tied and then lost in a playoff. If the Gazette's argument in making selections is that private schools play in the spring while public schools play in the fall, then why take any private school players? Or certainly not ones who play in the spring!
Connor Tendall deserves his selection as POY because he finished first in the MD State Public School Championship and third in Districts and third in the MCG.
The Gazette will not identify who makes the selections or the criteria they use. Their counterpart in Prince George's County makes a team selection in the spring that includes private school players as well as public school players. Why can't the sports writers at the Montgomery Gazette do the same? It is frustrating to see so many private school golfers who performed so well over the year not be recognized.
Thank goodness golfers know who the better players are and have a pretty good notion who are the very best players in the area. Scores in tournament golf are clear cut indicators and very hard to debate.
Well, the Gazette won't change and life will go on. Looking forward to the spring and more good golf.