Washington piled up 10 points in the first four matches — more than enough to win — and went on to an 11-7 victory over Baltimore in the 63rd annual team match pitting players against each other from the respective areas.
This marked the third year for a format that paired an Amateur and a Junior for six matches and Washington now leads, 2-1. In the overall series, Washington leads 43-20, having started 19-1 in the first 20 meetings.
Playing at Norbeck Country Club in Rockville, Washington built an early lead with a pair of 3-0 sweeps by Brian Simpson-Kyle Nordheimer and Connor Tendall-Ronnie Kim.The former won the nines 1 up and 2 and 1, while the others were 1 up and 2 up. Tendall-Kim highlighted their round by dipping 4 under par on the back nine, closing it out with Tendall birdies at 17-18. Brett Williams (paired with Alec Foxen, 16, an Archbishop Spalding junior) led his side with three birdies.
A third Washington triumph, 2 1/2 – 1/2, was engineered by Bart Mease, whose other appearance in this event was 20 years ago, and backed by recent success (lost in final of Maryland State Am and won the Washington Met Am, both in 2017, and lost in semifinals of the Washington Am earlier this month), was assisted by Elliott Haas. Will Koras helped get the Baltimore half when he hit his approach shot to a foot at the ninth.
Washington’s Billy Peel, current MSGA Amateur champion and MSGA Mid-Am runner-up, and Gus Heglund split everything with Michael Mulieri, in his sixth match in the last 10 years, and Brandon Wilson, 18, a St. Paul’s graduate headed for Dickinson College, as Baltimore won the front, 3 up, and Washington won the back, 3 up. This was the third straight appearance for Wilson.
Baltimore won the final two pairings, as Connor Flach (one of two Baltimore players to be a single after some miscommunication) had four birdies in gaining a 2-and-1 edge against Evan Santa, a quarterfinalist in this year’s MSGA Am and winner of last year’s Worsham, and Bryan Kim, 14, who won the MSGA Juniors in June.
In the final match, Baltimore sent out Ian Simon, 22, from Owings Mills, and a student at McKendree University in Illinois, and Michael Crowley, 17, a Calvert Hall senior, who has had a rapidly improving season. They swept the team of Senior Pete DeTemple, MSGA Am finalist and medalist in U.S. Seniors qualifying, and Alex Maloy, 14. Crowley birdied the ninth for 1-up, and the 10th, and Simon birdied 11 for 3 up, on their way to a 4-and-3 decision.
In addition to Flach, Kevin Grady, two-time MSGA Mid-Am titlist from Ellicott City and Rolling Road GC, also played as a single against Simpson-Nordheimer.
The event was sponsored and conducted by the Maryland State Golf Association.
Reported by John Stewart
