Final
Beaver Creek Country Club won five of the six pairings and defeated Baltimore CC, 13-5, for the championship of the 88th Team Matches of the Maryland State Golf Association, on a cold, wind-swept afternoon, April 29. The well-balanced Hagerstown team won 7 1/2 points at home and 5 1/2 at BCC on the way to earning its third title and first since 2010.

The winners were led by Chris Bushey-Derek Baker who swept at home against Brandon Luckett-Andy Kolarik, 3-0, and Bernie Deane-Nik Steiner, who stopped Kevin Tehan-Andrew Rice, 3-0, at BCC. Mike O’Neil-David Feeley produced Baltimore’s only shutout, 3-0, at home (West Course) against Zach Weber-Randy Barnes.

O’Neil had five birdies in his round, as he and Feeley won the front, 4 up, and the back, 2 up. Feeley had two birdies, one for a half and one for a win.

Pro Dirk Schultz birdied the ninth hole for a 1/2, then turned it over to partner Ryan Crabtree, who had his side’s best score for four straight holes on the back, concluding with a winning 12-foot birdie at the 16th for two of their 2 1/2 points.

Steiner birdied the 16th and Deane won the 17th with a par to close out Tehan-Rice.

This was Baltimore CC’s fourth straight final, as it previously had beaten Columbia CC in 2015 and Beaver Creek (15 1/2-2 1/2) in 2016, and lost to Columbia last year. Beaver Creek had stopped Columbia’s bid for a third title-round appearance in four years in the Washington area final, 11-7.

In reaching the final round, Beaver Creek had a bye and a forfeit, then went on the road to beast Congressional CC, Hobbit’s Glen GC (playoff), and Columbia. Baltimore had a bye, then won against Green Spring VHC, Mountain Branch GC, Rolling Road GC, and Maryland G&CC.

Beaver Creek CC 13, Baltimore CC 5

At Baltimore CC

Dirk Schultz (pro)-Ryan Crabtree, 2 1/2; Pat Coyner (pro)-Patrick McCormick, 1/2
Zach Weber-Randy Barnes, 0; Mike O’Neil-David Feeley, 3
Bernie Deane-Nik Steiner, 3; Kevin Tehan-Andrew Rice, 0

At Beaver Creek CC

Chris Bushey-Derek Baker, 3; Brandon Luckett-Andy Kolarik, 0
Chuck Thatcher-Ken Lampard, 2; Mike Mulieri-Bob Kaestner, 1
Billy Reed-Josh Blickenstaff, 2 1/2; Ryan McCarthy-Brett Williams, 1/2

Semi – Final
Beaver Creek Country Club ousted defending champion Columbia CC, 11-7, and
Baltimore CC, the losing finalist a year ago, thwarted a challenge from Maryland
G&CC to squeeze out a 9 1/2 – 8 1/2 victory on a sunny, breezy afternoon, April
28.

Playing at BCC, members Kevin Tehan-Andrew Rice won the front from Jim
Winner-Will Zelaya, 1 up; halved the back, and won the deciding match point.

The two area champions, with BCC the home team, will play for the 87th Team Match
championship of the Maryland State Golf Association, April 29. As the home team,
Baltimore will have the professional pairing — Pat Coyner and an amateur
partner against Dirk Schultz and an amateur partner.

An eighth-hole birdie provided Maryland Golf, the home team, with a 1-up margin
at the turn, but Patrick McCormick (two) and Coyner (one) won three holes early
on the back nine, lost 16, and hung on for the match point.

Clark Topping-Jason Ferguson blanked Ryan McCarthy-Ben Kaestner, going 3-up on
the front and 2-up on the back. Topping led the charge with a 5-under-par 68, a
round that included a 40-foot downhill birdie at the 16th that provided a
cushion and the two sides halved the last two holes. Ferguson highlighted his
round with an 18th-hole birdie when he chipped in from the hillside below the
green.

Bob Kaestner eagled the 502-yard first hole and playing partner Michael Mulieri
eagled the 554-yard ninth to win the front and Mulieri gave his side a boost
with a birdie at the 10th, but the Chris Demetrakis-Steve Smith pairing made
three birdies coming in to tighten the contest at that point. The BCC pair combined to be 5 under par for the round.

Demetrakis, who came to Maryland Golf recently from Winters Run GC, and Bob
Kaestner shared the shot-of-the-day. Both hit iron shots from the fairway at the
568-yard 17th, the former saw his ball stop scant inches from the cup, only to
have his opponent duplicate it when his ball stopped right next to the first one
for a pair of easy birdies.

Baltimore finished with six points at home and Maryland Golf fell just short at
home with 5 1/2. The Bel Air club was making its first appearance in the area
championship, while BCC will advance to the title-round for the fourth
consecutive year. It defeated Columbia in 2015 and Beaver Creek in 2016 before
losing to Columbia last year.

Columbia CC was the home team in the Washington area, but was unable to gain an edge on its course, normally a team strength. This time, it could muster only 2 1/2 points at home and 4 1/2 away. Beaver Creek took a page from that book as it collected 6 1/2 points at home, 4 1/2 away to earn another chance at Baltimore CC.

 

Fourth Round

Maryland Golf & Country Club mixed up some teams a bit and used a surprisingly strong Away effort to squeeze past Ocean City Yacht & Country Club, 9 1/2 – 8 1/2, to reach the Baltimore area final for the first time in club history in the 87th Team Matches of the Maryland State Golf Association, April 22.

In other action, Baltimore CC, the defending Baltimore champion, continued its run with a 12-6 victory over Rolling Road GC to join Maryland Golf in the area final. In the Washington area, Columbia CC, the defending State champion, stopped the University of Maryland GC, 12-6, and Beaver Creek thwarted Hobbit’s Glen GC in a playoff after tying 9-9.

The area finals will be Saturday, April 28, with the two winners playing for the title Sunday, April 29.

For three of the winning entries it was business as usual at this stage of the event, but for Maryland Golf it was a whole new experience.

“We received some help from some of our newer members and we decided to change the teams around,” professional Jason Gentilcore, the team’s playing pro, reported. “Chris Demetrakis came over from Winter’s Run, J.P. Glynn came to us from Philadelphia several years ago and in his first year won the club championship, and former member Jim Winner returned.”

Prior to the start of the match, Gentilcore explained that the Away team had been getting about four points a match, but that trend was about to be reversed. Wayne Carter, Jr., and Glynn, plus Winner and Will Zelaya, another recent addition, each collected 2 1/2 points, while Chris Wiedel and Mark Puckett split with Brian Taylor and Ray Griffin.

Another feature that helped the team over the weekend was the availability of three good backups for support. Team captain Dan Lynch was warming up at the club before Saturday’s match against Crofton when his back suddenly went out on him. Gentilcore was fortunate to get Matt Hottman because he was the third and final reserve available, as the other two were already listed as players. “We called him and he was here in 15 minutes, had a brief warm-up and went off the first tee. . .and even birdied the first and ninth holes.”

With Lynch still not ready for Sunday, Hottman went out with Chuck Limmer and got a 2-1 decision against  Ocean City’s Matt Perry-Ben Steinmiller.  Baltimore CC won seven points at home and scored in each of the three pairings away, highlighted by a 3-0 triumph from Pat McCormick-Ben Kaestner against Bart DeLuca and George Blyth, IV.

Columbia CC, equally as impressive as the two Baltimore winners, scored in all six pairings, including 3-0 decisions by pro Bob Dolan-Mike Mitchell against Jeff Maynor-David Dustin; Richard Holland-Doug Hurson over Neil Ryan-Mike McGrain, and Chris Lamond-Ralph Blasey over John Marshall-Dan Walker.

At Hobbit’s Glen, Beaver Creek head pro Dirk Schultz ended matters in a hurry. He hit it almost out of bounds down the right side, then struck a 180-yard shot over some trees to two feet to set up a winning birdie. The effort sent the Hagerstown club to the Washington final.

Earlier, each side won six points away to go with three at home. At Beaver Creek, in the last two pairings, Hobbit’s Glen’s Josh Notes-Vance Welch got 2 1/2 points and Craig Ostrom-Kevin Allis followed with a 3-0 sweep to keep the Columbia team alive. The day before, Hobbit’s had won in a playoff against Manor CC, a Washington area finalist a year ago, when Tony DeSimone dropped a par putt for the triumph.

Beaver Creek has been one of Maryland’s best team in recent years,  along with Baltimore CC and Columbia. Since winning the championship in 2010, the Schultz-led crew has lost to Rolling Road in the 2012 final; lost to Columbia in the DC final in  2015; lost to Baltimore CC in the 2016 final, and last year lost to Columbia in the DC semi-finals.

Third Round

Paired with professional Paul Maurer, Tony DeSimone parred the first extra hole to lift Hobbit’s Glen Golf Club to a playoff victory over Manor Country Club in the third round of the 87th Maryland State Team Matches, April 21. The two had each scored 4 1/2 points, home and away, to create the deadlock.

The win sends Hobbit’s Glen against Beaver Creek (home side) today (April 22) in one of four remaining pairings. The Columbia team also is bracketed in the Washington area. The other half of that draw pits defending champion Columbia CC (home team) against the University of Maryland GC. In Baltimore, Rolling Road GC will be the home team against defending area champion Baltimore CC, while Maryland Golf & CC will be the home team against Ocean City Golf & Yacht Club.

In April 21 action, aside from Manor-Hobbit’s Glen, Beaver Creek CC defeated Congressional CC, 11 1/2 – 6 1/2; Columbia CC defeated Cumberland CC, 10 1/2 – 7 1/2; the University of Maryland defeated Old South CC, 10 1/2 – 7 1/2; Ocean City defeated Prospect Bay CC, 10-8; Maryland Golf defeated Crofton CC, 11 1/2 – 6 1/2; Baltimore CC defeated Mountain Branch GC, 12-6, and Rolling Road GC defeated Eagle’s Nest CC, 13-5.

Of the five teams receiving first-round byes, all but Manor CC, a Washington area finalist a year ago, advanced. Moving on were Beaver Creek, Columbia, Ocean City, and Baltimore
CC.

Among the survivors, Maryland Golf reached the Baltimore area semi-finals for only the second time in the last 10 years. The other time was in 2011, when it lost to Hillendale CC. The intervening years included four first-round exits. The Bel Air club is also the only one of the eight remaining not to have made an area final since 2000.

The area finals are scheduled for April 28 with the state championship pairing listed for April 29.

Second Round

The conditions may have been wet but Eagle’s Nest (Towson Golf & Country Club) ended a dry spell when it defeated Piney Branch GC, 11-7, in the rainy second round — with temperatures in the low 40’s — of the 87th Team Matches of the Maryland State Golf Association, April 15.

There was a measure of payback, too, as Eagle’s Nest had previously lost to Piney Branch in the first round last year and in the second round in 2015. Other defeats had been handed out in the past eight years by Hillendale (twice), Hunt Valley GC (twice), and Rolling Road (twice).  

This time, head professional Nick Miller, in his second year at the club, and Church Waesche combined for a 3-0 sweep of pro Jim Bennett and Cody Mehwirter, as the victors collected six points at home. The top pairing won the front, 3 up, and the back, 1 up, and the third pairing accounted for the final score, as Dave Lemanski-Bob Mulreaney won the front 4 up, and the match, 1 up, after Mike Stokes-Matt Lukehart won the back, 3 up.

Eagle’s Nest had won its opening-round match against Hillendale CC, 10 1/2 – 7 1/2, highlighted by a 3-0 home win from Justin Minisci-Lance Bajkowski. Piney Branch had moved on with a 14 1/2 – 3 1/2 win over Mount Pleasant GC. 

On the Washington side of the draw, the tightest second-round match saw Hobbit’s Glen GC edge Musket Ridge GC, 9 1/2 – 8 1/2, while next was Old South CC, which surprised Breton Bay CC, 11-7.

All five teams that drew first-round byes scored victories in the second round, with the closest one being Baltimore CC, runner-up a year ago, which got by Green Spring Valley Hunt Club, 10 1/2 – 7 1/2. The other winners were defending champion Columbia, last year’s area finalists Manor CC and Ocean City Y&CC, plus Beaver Creek CC, a Washington area finalist in 2016.

Future action calls for two rounds on April 21-22  to reduce the field to four teams. Area finals will be April 28, and the championship match April 29.

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