Final Results – Saturday, April 23

Baltimore Country Club, backed by two 3-0 sweeps each at home and away, powered its way past Beaver Creek CC, 15 1/2 – 2 1/2, for the championship of the 87th Team Matches of the Maryland State Golf Association on a sunny and windy afternoon, April 23. It marked the widest spread in at least 25 years.

Defending champion BCC set the tone for what turned out to be a lopsided score when every one of its pairings won the front side to go to the back nine with a 6-0 lead. Eventually, the teams of pro Pat Coyner, the club’s director of instruction, and Andrew Rice, along with Tim Prey-Mike O’Neil at home, and the father-son entry of Bob and Ben Kaestner and Ryan McCarthy-Patrick McCormick at Beaver Creek collected the 3-0 decisions. The players were buffeted by 15-20 mph winds at both sites, which definitely affected play.

The Hagerstown squad’s points came from its No. 1 team at home, Scott Raley-Josh Blickenstaff, who rallied to win the back nine, 2 up, for a 2-1 decision over Jon Steckler-Tim Dilli, and Ty Bordner-Billy Reed, who split the back with Kevin Tehan-Brandon Luckett to salvage a half-point.

O’Neil featured play at BCC with five birdies, including one (No. 8) matched by Randy Barnes. Tehan had three birdies and closed out the proceedings with a winning par at the 17th. At Beaver Creek, Ben Kaestner, in his first team match, and Bob, in his 34th consecutive appearance, contributed, as Ben birdied the first hole and Bob the ninth for 2 up. One down on the back through 13, Bob chipped in for birdie at 14, eagled 15, they lost 17 to a birdie, but won 18 with a conceded birdie.

Both teams fielded experienced players, as BCC sent out 10 who played on its championship team of a year ago, while Beaver Creek had three who had previously played on two championship teams (1999 and 2010) — head professional Dirk Schultz plus Ken Lampard and Randy Barnes

For BCC, Brandon Luckett and Ben Kaestner replaced Michael Mulieri and Brett Williams. The triumph was the seventh for BCC, as it broke away from a three-way tie. Only Columbia, CC, with 11, and Congressional CC and CC Maryland, with 10, have won more.

In reaching the title-round, BCC drew a first-round bye, then defeated Hayfields CC, CC Maryland, Rolling Road GC, and Glen Riddle GC. Beaver Creek advanced against Black Rock GC, Cumberland CC, Waverly Woods GC, University of Maryland GC, and Congressional CC.

Semi-Final Results – Sunday, April 17

Baltimore Country Club and Beaver Creek Country Club advanced to the title round of the 87th Team Matches of the Maryland State Golf Association April 17. BCC, the champion in two of the past three years, sailed past Glen Riddle Golf Club, 17-1, and Beaver Creek, a finalist in 2012 and a champion in 2010, defeated Congressional CC 10 ½ to 7 ½.

The championship match, with the pros at Baltimore CC, will be April 23.

Baltimore, the home team, collected eight points at home and nine at Glen Riddle. Kyle Sterling-Jason Gulshen salvaged the visitors’ one point from Kevin Tehan and Jon Steckler at BCC’s Five Farms’ East Course.

In Washington, with Congressional the home team, it and Beaver Creek split the points, 4 1/2 – 4 1/2. Assistant pro Patrick Clark-Connor Tendall got three points for Congressional in the No. 1 pairing, but Beaver Creek dominated the last two. In Hagerstown, Beaver Creek got a majority of the points to get the victory.

Quarter-Final Results – Saturday, April 16

Congressional Country Club and Baltimore CC won by narrow margins and Beaver Creek CC and Glen Riddle GC posted easier victories as the pairings for the area finals in the 87th Team Matches of the Maryland State Golf Association, were filled, April 16.

In the Washington half of the draw, Congressional defeated Columbia CC, 10-8, and Beaver Creek stopped the University of Maryland GC, 15 1/2 – 2 1/2. On the Baltimore side, Baltimore outlasted Rolling Road GC, 9 1/2 – 8 1/2, and Glen Riddle got past Crofton CC, 11-7. In area finals April 17, Congressional will be the home team against Beaver Creek, and Baltimore will be the home team against Glen Riddle.

With the pros at Columbia, the home team and Congressional split the points, 4 1/2 – 4 1/2, highlighted by assistant pro Pat Clark and Connor Tendall and Parker Williams-Paul DeRosa each getting two Congressional points. Marty West and Colin St. Maxens got 2 1/2 points for Columbia. At Congressional, with a 5 1/2 – 3 1/2 edge, the entry featured team captain Tony Russo and Sam Weaver with three points, while Ralph Blasey, IV, and Brian McCormick picked up two Columbia points.

Beaver Creek earned eight points at home and seven and a half at Maryland where Ty Bordner-Billy Reed took three points.

Baltimore, with 2 1/2 points each from Kevin Tehan-Jon Steckler and Tim Frey-Mike O’Neil, dominated at home with a 7-2 edge, while Rolling Road did much the same at home with a 6 1/2 – 2 1/2 total, featuring a 3-0 win by Bart DeLuca and Dan Forester and a 2 1/2-point effort by head pro Luke Arentz and Moose Brown.

Glen Riddle, used a 7-2 road difference as a cushion to hold off Crofton, which led at the Eastern Shore club, 5-4. Each team produced a sweep — Glen Riddle director of golf Scott Dailey and Henry Hall for their side and Gary Carpenter and Bryan Breslin for Crofton.

The respective area champions will play for the state championship April 23 at the site of the Baltimore winner.

Quarter-Final Preview

There will be plenty of familiar faces this weekend during two rounds of the 87th State Team Matches of the Maryland State Golf Association, as seven of the eight teams have pretty much dominated the field going back to 2008.

In Saturday’s area quarter-finals, Washington will have the University of Maryland Golf Club at Beaver Creek Country Club and Congressional CC at Columbia CC. In Baltimore, Baltimore CC will be at Rolling Road GC, and newcomer GlenRiddle GC, from the Eastern Shore, will be at Crofton CC. The winners will play for their respective area title Sunday, and the survivors will have to wait until April 23 to play for the championship at the Baltimore site.

Since 2008, Baltimore (3), Rolling Road (2), Beaver Creek (1) and Maryland (1) have combined for seven of the eight championships, and all of them beginning in 2010. In Washington, the same four teams are in the area semi-finals for a second straight year, although the pairings are different this time. To add to the rivalries, Beaver Creek-Congressional, Beaver Creek-Maryland, and Congressional-Columbia have met on multiple occasions in that stretch. In the same span, Baltimore has presented a mixed bag with only BCC-Crofton, BCC-Rolling Road, and Rolling Road-Crofton having faced each other.

Of all the rivalries, Columbia and Congressional is perhaps the most storied. Columbia did not win a State title until 1973 but from there through 2002, it won a record 11, including four in a row in the late 1990’s, three of them against Baltimore CC. Congressional, which won its first one in 1937 and its most recent in 1992, is tied with the CC Maryland for second place with 10.

In recent meetings, Columbia won in 2014 and Congressional in 2010.

It is fairly certain, however, that the most exciting match of the series was in 1993. Although Columbia won and went on to beat Nassawango CC in the State final, it paled in comparison to its DC final against Congressional. The two teams tied, 9-9 in regulation and the playoff went five extra holes (at Columbia) before Jack Skilling, an assistant professional at the host club, made a 12-foot birdie putt for the victory. It is still the longest championship match and believed to be the longest in tournament history.

The playoff matched Columbia’s Skilling and Geoff Robertson against Congressional’s Kent Cayce-Pat Tallent. Cayce birdied the second hole from 40 feet, only to have Robertson drop an eight-foot putt for a half. They halved the next two holes (a Cayce chip shot hit the flagstick at the fourth and he had to make a six-footer to keep it going). At the fifth, both Congressional players missed long birdie bids ahead of Skilling’s winner. In the regulation match, Congressional had won all three points.

The circumstances that even forced a playoff were amazing and Columbia did everything it had to for it to happen. Except for the No. 1 pairing, the other five matches were not decided until the 18th green.

In the last two matches at Congressional, Columbia teams had to birdie the 18th to get necessary points. Marty West made a 40-foot putt and Dan McAndrews made one a lot shorter.

At Columbia, member Bill Scott had to get up-and-down from behind the 18th green — no easy task to a surface that slopes away — to keep the match going. Teammate Glenn Mitchell holed an eight-foot putt for a half at 18, and member Ken Foster needed to hole a seven-foot putt on 18 to ensure two points.

As Skilling said at the time, “There were all kinds of heroics and everybody had a story to tell.” The same will likely be true this weekend and in the future, whenever and wherever these matches, unique in their own right, are held.

Sunday, April 10

Rolling Road Golf Club, the champion in two of the four past years, stormed into the quarterfinals of the 87th Team Matches of the Maryland State Golf Association with a 13-5 conquest of Mountain Branch GC, an on-and-off contender in recent years, most recently last year when it went to the final eight.

Traditionally strong over its short, tight Catonsville course, Rolling Road collected eight points at home, led by 3-0 sweeps from Bart DeLuca-Dan Forester and Jeff Perkins-Brandon Mourges. At Mountain Branch, pro Luke Arentz-Moose Brown and Justin Jarvis-George Blythe, IV, each won 2 1/2.

Joining Rolling Road in the Baltimore half of the draw were next opponent Baltimore CC, a 12-6 winner over CC Maryland; Glen Riddle, 16-2 over Talbot CC, and Crofton CC, an 11-7 victor over Chartwell CC.

In Washington, annual contender Beaver Creek CC (won in 2010, runner-up in 2012) stayed in the hunt by beating Waverly Woods GC, 13 1/2 – 4 1/2. As was the case with Rolling Road, the Hagerstown entry dominated at home with 8 1/2 points. Scott Raley-Billy Reed and Bernie Deane-Joe Zdrojewski collected sweeps there and at Waverly Woods, Jack Weber-Randy Barnes picked up the three points.

Beaver Creek moves on to face the University of Maryland GC, which defeated Breton Bay CC, 11 1/2 – 6 1/2. Opposite these two will be two familiar challengers, who have met many times in the past — Columbia CC and Congressional CC. Columbia moved on by stopping TPC-Avenel, 18-0, and Congressional continued along with a 13 1/2 – 4 1/2 victory over Lakewood CC.

The matches will continue April 16-17, with the quarterfinals and semifinals. The two survivors will play for the championship, April 23. Baltimore CC is the defending champion, having outlasted Columbia, 9 1/2 – 8 1/2, last year.

Reported By: John Stewart

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