item

Mark Coburn birdied the 13th hole to send Hunt Valley Country Club, 1 up, and he and partner Gavin Stringer thwarted Columbia CC the rest of the way to win two points and earn a 7-5 triumph in the 19th Senior Team Matches of the Maryland State Golf Association, September 29.

Columbia’s Mike McCarthy, whose 190-yard rescue club hole-out from the 18th fairway for an eagle-2 had given CCC a Washington area win over Congressional CC last week, lifting it into the championship pairing, birdied the first two holes with 20-25-foot putts, but Stringer got one back at the third. Columbia’s Henri deLozier pushed the margin back with a birdie putt from 90 feet at the sixth, but the home side recovered to halve the front nine.

At Columbia, which was moving at a faster pace, Larry Sheets parred the fifth hole and he and partner Steve Grem made it stand up for a front–9 win for Hunt Valley. Opponents Marty West and Kevin Gallagher rallied and sparked by two birdies from West, won the back, 3 and 1, and a 2-1 triumph. This was the first Senior Team season for Sheets, although he had played in years past in the regular Team Match competition.

Jay West, from Columbia and Joel Erstad, from HV, matched birdies on the front nine to split the point, and West added back-9 birdies at the 13th (20 feet) and 16th (12 feet) holes to set up a 2 1/2 – 1/2 victory.

While Columbia had a 4 1/2 – 1 1/2 edge at home, the Tom Grem-Jim Biggar sweep tied it  and later when the other two sides halved the front 9, the score was 5-5 heading for a nail-biting run down the back-9.

The championship was Hunt Valley’s third in the last four years (Columbia won last year), and John Barnes, Gavin Stringer and Tom and Steve Grem played on all three. The win enabled Baltimore to tie the series at 9-9-1.

Click here to view the 2018 bracket.

Results

Hunt Valley CC 7, Columbia CC 5

At Columbia CC

Larry Sheets-Steve Grem 1; Marty West-Kevin Gallagher 2

John Barnes-Joel Erstad 1/2; Dan Brigati-Jay West 2 1/2

At Hunt Valley CC

Tom Grem-Jim Biggar 3; Bobby Lane-Chris Duke 0

Mark Coburn-Gavin Stringer 2 1/2; Mike McCarthy-Henri deLozier 1/2

Reported by John Stewart