Joe Rice, IV, birdied the ninth hole — his final one — to give him and partner Tom Winegardner a round of 36-32–68, good for a one-stroke victory in the 53rd Four-Ball Championship of the Maryland State Golf Association at Lake Presidential Golf Club in Upper Marlboro, April 29.
Despite a cold, rainy day, when several teams chose to abandon the chase, the Old South CC members persevered with a tour that included four back-nine birdies by Rice from distances up to 24 feet. On the front side, Winegardner, a former MSGA Amateur finalist who had won this title with Jeff McKnight in 2006, birdied the third hole and the team had two bogeys.
Joe Scheffres and Myke Cohn, from Woodmont CC, finished one group in front of the winners and one stroke back early in the afternoon. The two finished 35-34–69. Also starting at No. 10, Scheffres produced three birdies from inside 10 feet, then turned and ran in a pair of 30-foot putts on the front. There were two bogeys, too, and such was the play on the second nine that they spent most of the time one stroke behind. A bogey by the leaders at the eighth dropped them into a tie, but Rice took care of that on the last hole, a 165-yard carry over water.
Justin Jarvis-Bart DeLuca, members of Rolling Road GC’s title-winning entry in the MSGA Team Match Championship, and Chris Demetrakis-Steve Kincaid, Winter’s Run GC, each returned 36-35–71 to tie for third. Demetrakis and Kincaid each had two birds in their round, while Jarvis and DeLuca had one apiece.
There was a tie for fifth between Dan Falls-John Ohly, from Manor CC, and Ben Clements-Troy Fitzgerald, Hobbit’s Glen, at 72, par for the 6,895-course, although it played much longer. Still, the greens held up well for much of the day, considering the water they received. Falls helped his team with three back-nine birdies, and Clements-Fitzgerald combined for three front-nine birdies.
There were eight tee times in the afternoon and those teams (15 and a WD) took a beating. Of the 15, 10 posted a score and five failed to finish. The best afternoon score was a 73 by Beaver Creek CC’s Alex Hoffman-Joe Zdrojewski in the final group of the day. Overall, 57 teams started, 51 finished.
There had not been a higher winning score since Gary Mason-Adrian Druzgala, from Hobbit’s Glen GC, had 69 in 1991. Mark Cusic-Kevin Ferris, Breton Bay G&CC, who had won in a 2012 playoff at 63, also won last year with 68. This time, the Southern Maryland team had 75 to tie for 15th.
-Reported by John Stewart from Lake Presidential Golf Club
