A record-tying second-round 61 propelled Billy Peel, IV, and Brandon Cigna to the Maryland State Golf Association’s 58th 4-Ball championship with a 36-hole wire-to-wire total of 64-61–125 at Musket Ridge Golf Club in Myersville, August 27.
This marked the first time the event had been played in two rounds in as many days and no decision has been made whether it will continue in this format or return to its long-standing one of a single 18-hole round.
At the end of the first round, one team trailed by a stroke (65) and there were seven teams at 66. That all changed in the final round, as the 65 and all but two of the 66’s fell back, leaving the winners with a comfortable four-stroke lead in front of Joey Rice-Charlie Winegardner, who posted 66-63–129.
Early in the day, Josh Notes and Andrew Rice displayed marked improvement by returning a 62 for a 36-hole total of 131. They were later tied for third by Chris Baloga-Ryan McCarthy, who finished with 66-65-131. The “ups” and “downs” were almost evenly divided, as 14 improved and 12 went the other way, with the latter group in the spotlight because of the number of contenders unable to stay in the hunt.
Previous 61’s had been recorded by Caves Valley GC members Henry Blue-Joel Kaye in 1994 at Kenwood GC, and last year by Lee Detmer, from the Chevy Chase Club, and Evan Katz, Bethesda CC, at Bethesda. Both of those were on par-70 golf courses, compared to this year’s site, a par-72 played at 6,777 yards.
For the winners, who totaled 11 birdies in a bogey-free tour, Peel, 30, from Columbia Country Club, had six, and Cigna, 33, from Manor CC, had five, including opening with three in a row on putts of between 20 and 25 feet. And, as Peel said, “It’s nice to get off to a good start. . .and it took the pressure off.” As it developed, Cigna took care of the front (30) with five birdies, and Peel did the same on the second nine (31) with five of his own, including a 25-foot uphill putt at the 14th.
The closest they came to a bogey was “borderline” on one hole where Cigna got up-and-down with a par-saving putt. Otherwise, both were in every hole and they ended with 27 putts.
Joey Rice and Winegardner, from The Cannon Club, combined for 10 birdies (seven and three, respectively), and bogeyed the 18th with a 3-putt. Only one of their birdie putts was from beyond 10 feet.
Andrew Rice, from Baltimore CC, who wound up an alternate in last week’s U.S. Mid-Am qualifier (Peel was in the same boat for a second straight year), had eight of his team’s 11 birdies, including a 190-yard 6-iron shot to six feet on No. 7. A missed green at the eighth led to their only bogey.
McCarthy, from Baltimore CC, eagled the 520-yard sixth with a 7-iron second shot to 30 feet that was offset by two bogeys, leaving the pair with seven birdies, highlighted by four in a row, Nos. 12-15, by Baloga, from Hillendale CC, a former champion.
There were two other eagles, as Michael Bobys, from Woodmont CC, had a 3 at the 505-yard, par-5 10th, and Ron Thomas, The Cannon Club, struck a 6-iron shot to 40 feet to set up his 3 at the 505-yard 12th.
Round 1
Billy Peel, from Columbia Country Club, and Brandon Cigna, from Manor CC, combined for an 8-under-par 64 to take a one-stroke lead after the first round of the 58th 4-Ball championship of the Maryland State Golf Association at Musket Ridge GC in Myersville, August 26.
The course was played at 6,777 yards to a par of 36-36–72, on a perfect early fall day — sunny, a breeze, and the temperatures in the 70’s.
Peel, the reigning MSGA Amateur champion and leader in the organization’s Player-of-the-Year chase, featured an eagle-2 on the 319-yard 11th hole, driving the green with a 3-wood and touching a 15-foot downhill putt. He also had a 35-foot putt at the 17th and one from a much shorter range at the 18th among his five birdies. Cigna, who was a U.S. Four-Ball finalist (with Ben Warnquist) three years ago and a match-play in qualifier in 2017 at Pinehurst and earlier this year at Bandon Dunes, had one birdie and two good par-saving putts at Nos. 2-3 to save the round.
Beaver Creek CC’s Chuck Thatcher and Zach Weber returned the second-low score, a 65, highlighted by an eagle-3 at the 520-yard sixth hole (driver, 6-iron to four feet) by Thatcher and birdies on the other three par-5 holes. Weber, celebrating his 27th birthday, was in the event for the first time, while Thatcher, the current MSGA Public Links titleholder, tied for second (with Gary Carpenter, Jr.) in the 2016 4-Ball.
The two, members of Beaver Creek’s championship entry in the Washington Metropolitan Team Matches, combined for six birdies, with the longest 15 feet. It marked the first time the two had teamed up, although, as Thatcher pointed out, “We’ve been trying to get together, but this is the first time we’ve been able to do it.”
There was a crowd of seven teams at 66, and two at 67, setting up a string of challengers for the final round, on August 27.
Among the 66’s, David Lughermo-Neil Ryan, from the University of Maryland GC, had seven birdies, one bogey, with each player birdieing a par-5 on the back nine; Chris Baloga, from Hillendale CC, one-half of a winning team in this event in 2010, and Ryan McCarthy, Baltimore CC, teamed for seven birdies, five on the back nine, and one bogey; Joey Rice and Charlie Winegardner, from The Cannon Club, second last year, finished with an eagle-3 at the 10th by Rice (plus two birdies), and Winegardner’s three birdies. There was also one bogey.
Also, Skip Clasper and Ryan Tendall, from Congressional CC, collected five of their seven birdies on the back nine and dipped under par on three of the par 5’s. Ryan Crabtree and Ken Lampard, from Beaver Creek, had six birdies, three each nine, including three of the par-5’s.
Also, Nick Sorkin, Lakewood CC, and Rob Menefee, Swan Point Y&CC, returned a bogey-free round that included five back-nine birdies (they included both par 5’s), while Ben Shields and Mike Filler, Mount Pleasant GC, split six birdies three apiece, with three on each nine.
There were two other eagles, as Walter Jew, Norbeck CC, hit driver to six feet on the 11th, and Ron Thomas, The Cannon Club, had a dramatic finish, as his 6-iron second shot at the 505-yard 12th left him a 40-foot putt.
Reported by John Stewart
