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Manor Country Club won four of the six matches, including all three at home, and swept in the first matches at both sites, to defeat Baltimore Country Club, 12-6, and repeat as champions in the 90th Men’s Team Championship conducted by the Maryland State Golf Association, October 24.

The final match was closer than the score might indicate. The teams split the front nine points across all six matches, 3-3. After 9 holes, both teams led in two of three matches at home. BCC, the home team for the final, earned a point on the front nine in the last two matches on the East Course at Five Farms, while Manor took a point in the first match. Manor won points in the first two matches in Rockville, while BCC’s final road pairing earned a point in the third match. All three front nine points at Manor were earned by 1-up margins.

Alex Hoffman (p) and Brandon Cigna didn’t take long to earn Manor’s first point. In the lead pairing at Five Farms, Hoffman-Cigna defeated Nick Cannon (p) and Michael Mulieri (BCC) on the front nine 4 up after six holes. Hoffman-Cigna were 6-under as a team after nine and eventually finished at 9-under after 17 holes. They won the overall match 6&5 and the back nine 2&1 for a 3-0 sweep.

In the second match at Five Farms, Jamie Hebbel-Nick Smearman (BCC) defeated Ben Warnquist and Christian Elliott, 2-1. Hebbel-Smearman secured a point for BCC on the front nine after they went 4-up through six holes. They maintained their overall lead throughout the back nine to earn another point, but Warnquist-Elliott avoided a sweep by mustering a point for Manor on the back nine.

Kevin Tehan and Mike O’Neil (BCC) defeated Dan Falls and Jay Mulieri, 2.5-0.5 in the last match at BCC. Tehan and O’Neil were three under on the front with birdies by Tehan on the second hole, and O’Neil on holes 4-5. Falls (#3 & 6) and Mulieri (#8) also had three birdies on the front but made two costly bogeys on the first and fifth. That left the door open for Tehan and O’Neil to win the front nine and turn at 2-up. Birdies by Mulieri on #12 and 14 put the Manor side 1 up on the back through the 14th hole, but Tehan birdied the 15th to square the match on the back nine, and the final 3 holes were tied with pars.

In Rockville, John Ohly-Alex Taylor (Manor) defeated Brandon Luckett-Andrew Rice (BCC), 3-0. The match was tied through six holes, but Ohly-Taylor managed to turn at 1-up and secured Manor’s first point at home. They continued their success going 1-up on the back nine and 2-up overall after 13 holes, while Luckett-Rice (BCC) were not able to cut into the lead. The Ohly-Taylor pairing secured two more points for Manor on the back nine, the second after the 16th hole (3&2) and the final point (2&1) after the 17th hole.

Bart Mease and Mark Albus (Manor) defeated Andy Kolarik and Brendan Kelly 2.5-0.5 in the second match. Mease-Albus held an early lead, 1-up through three holes, and maintained the narrow lead to win the front nine. Mease-Albus added to their lead and were 2-up (1-up on the back nine) after the 12th. Their lead stayed at 2-up and 1-up on the back nine, until Andy Kolarik holed out from 135 yards in the rough on the par-4, 16th hole for an eagle 2 to square the back nine and go 1-down with two to play. Kolarik’s heroics weren’t enough for the side to win a full point. The final two holes were tied, and Manor earned a 1-up victory with a split on the back nine.

In the anchor match at Manor, Brian Simpson-Vincenzo Salina Amorini defeated Ryan McCarthy-Patrick McCormick (BCC), 2-1. McCarthy-McCormick opened up an early lead with a birdie on the first hole by McCormick, but Simpson birdied the par-4, second hole to tie the match. The teams traded blows throughout the front nine, and each side won holes with pars. While McCarthy-McCormick’s lead was never more than 1-up, they didn’t allow Manor to get ahead on the front nine, and McCarthy’s par 5 to tie the ninth hole gave BCC a 1-up win and its only point for the front nine at Manor.

Salina Amorini birdied the 12th to tie the match and go 1-up on the back. But McCarthy answered two holes later, when he holed a 30-footer for birdie on the par-4, 14th capped by a celebratory exclamation. Salina Amorini and Simpson both missed their attempts for birdie, and BCC went 1-up again. At the par-5, 15th, Salina-Amorini drained another birdie putt to tie the match again. McCormick missed the fairway left, then missed the green right at the par-4, 16th. He hit an excellent pitch to five feet and holed the putt to save par, tying the hole and match. On the par-3, 17th, Simpson struck his tee shot to 10 feet and holed the putt after others in the group had missed their long attempts at birdie. The win on the 17th gave Manor a point on the back nine and a 1 up lead on the overall match heading to the par-4, 18th. From there, Simpson struck a wedge from the left rough to a front left hole location that landed five feet in front of the hole, dropped for an eagle 2, and earn a 2-up victory for his side in dramatic fashion.

The 12-6 victory was Manor’s sixth state team championship since its first win in 1934. Manor’s successful defense of its 2019 championship run is a feat the club has achieved one other time in its history (1960 and 1961). In this event’s history spanning nearly a century, Manor is only the third club to win back-to-back team championships on two separate occasions. Congressional defended its title and is the only club to have won back-to-back team championships on three separate occasions (’37-’38, ’81-’82, ’89-’90). Columbia CC, which holds the record for most wins in the event (12), won titles in 1973-1974, and a record four consecutive titles from 1995 to 1998.

MSGA Men’s Team Championship History

The Men’s Team Championship typically precedes all MSGA competitions, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event was rescheduled from its original dates in April to October 4, 10-11, 17-18, and 24. Teams from 37 MSGA Member Clubs competed in this year’s championship.

At Baltimore Country Club

Alex Hoffman-Brandon Cigna d. Nick Cannon-Michael Mulieri, 3-0
Ben Warnquist-Christian Elliott lost to Jamie Hebbel-Nick Smearman, 1-2
Dan Falls-Jay Mulieri lost to Kevin Tehan-Mike O’Neil, 0.5-2.5

At Manor Country Club

John Ohly-Alex Taylor d. Brandon Luckett-Andrew Rice, 3-0
Bart Mease-Mark Albus d. Andy Kolarik-Brendan Kelly, 2.5-0.5
Brian Simpson-Vincenzo Salina Amorini d. Ryan McCarthy-Patrick McCormick, 2-1

Reported by MSGA Staff