Denny McCarthy, from Rockville and Argyle Country Club, set a record on the way to earning Player-of-the-Year prize from the Maryland State Golf Association and was honored during the organization’s annual dinner meeting Nov. 14, at Manor CC in Rockville.
McCarthy, 21, and a University of Virginia senior, had a spectacular season, winning the MSGA Amateur and finishing second in its Open, reaching the U.S. Amateur semifinals, and topping it off with selection to the U.S. World Amateur team, helping it to victory in Japan. Although scoring in just five events, he finished with a record total of 985 points, well in front of the previous mark of 910, set by Chris Baloga in 2010. McCarthy now owns three of the top four scores and he and Baloga (2010-11) are the only ones to win back-to-back since the inception of the program in 2007.
To play in the World Amateur Team championships in Japan in September (USA won with a record score of 534, followed by Canada, 536, and Spain, 537) was the obvious highlight of McCarthy’s year. He was the only one of the three Americans with all four rounds in the 60’s as he returned 68-68-67-64–267 and solo fifth individually. His last round included a record-setting front nine with eight successive birdies and a score of 28. “My game-plan on the back nine was not to do anything stupid, yet I had to be aggressive,” he said at the time.
Recently, he declared, “It was an unbelievable experience, to say the least, and to this date probably goes down as the coolest golf experience I’ve ever had. To me, representing your country is the greatest honor in sports and to be part of a team event that has so much history and so many legends of the game, it leaves me speechless. To come out on top at the end of the week, having all three of us play so well and have everybody with us buy into what we were doing made it that much sweeter — a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
Overall, “2014 was a great year for me and I played really solid and consistent golf throughout the whole year; felt comfortable with all aspects of my game. I was knocking at the door in a few of the major amateur events which shows I can play and compete at the highest level with the best amateurs in the world.” He is currently ranked 14th.
“After having a great tournament at the NCAA’s [tied for sixth individually], I kind of knew going into the Maryland Amateur I had a target on my back that week but I was really looking forward to the challenge. I was extremely confident in my match-play ability and strategy to tackle the course [Baltimore CC] and my opponents.
“It would have been nice to win the Maryland Amateur and Open in the same year again [he had won both in 2013] but it didn’t work out that way. I would have liked to have played a little better at Lakewood since it is a course I know well and have had much success on, but I didn’t. Give Pat McCormick all the credit because he hit the shots down the stretch that ultimately made him victorious.”
The U.S. Amateur, “was an experience I’ll never forget. My whole family was there and I had my brother [Ryan] on the bag for the ninth time in a USGA event. We are a great team and that week we were both on the same mission. We never got ahead of ourselves; we stayed in the present and put the same focus and emphasis on each shot. It’s a lot easier to hit shots and be committed when two people are on the same page. Although it was tough to bow out and know I was just one round from playing in the Masters stings, but I have no regrets and I know I’ll get there some day. The fact groups of friends drove to Atlanta to watch me play a round or two shows how blessed I really am to have a strong support system behind me. I’m a lucky kid.”
McCarthy had a great fall season at Virginia, capping it with a second place at the U.S. Collegiate, regarded as having one of the strongest fields in college golf. “Looking ahead, I’d like to help the team win the first Atlantic Coast Conference championship in the program’s history. It would be a great way to go into the post-season where our ultimate goal is to win a national championship.”
Some area players contend the Argyle CC course is conducive to low scores and McCarthy agrees. “Argyle has been my second home since I was little and I can’t even begin to tell how many rounds of golf I have played there. I think playing it countless times has definitely taught me hows to shoot low numbers. It gives me the confidence I need going into other courses to know I’m playing well and can shoot low scores. When I’m playing in tournaments and have good rounds going, I just think to myself that it is no different than playing Argyle, no matter how hard the course. If you go low on one course consistently, you can go low on any course.”
Bowen Sargent, McCarthy’s coach during his Virginia years, sums it up saying, “He’s done a good job of listening, he’s done a good job of not letting success go to his head, he’s stayed hungry, and all of these things have allowed him to get better.”
-Reported by John Stewart
