Washington teammates Sean McGarrity, from Bethesda, and Brad Riley, from Olney, combined for a 3-0 victory over Lou Baker, IV, from Timonium, and Will Ford, from Reisterstown to spark an 8-4 team triumph over a Baltimore entry in the sixth annual Junior Team Match, sponsored and conducted by the Maryland State Golf Association, at Rolling Road Golf Club, August 27. The demanding Catonsville layout was played at 6,174 yards to a par of 70.

Liam Powderly, 16, from Cockeysville, produced the best individual showing with five birdies, dipping 2-under on each nine (with the usual concessions). Partner Ford Bennett, 15, from Owings Mills, contributed three birdies, as the pairing won the front and the match and halved the back with Patrick McKinney, 16, from Gambrills, and Oliver Whatley, 17, from Rockville. Whatley, Washington’s oldest player (he will turn 18 in November), bolstered his team’s effort with birdies at 11 (a win) and 12 (a half), then won 16 with a par to offset two winning holes by his opponents to split the back.

McGarrity won the third hole with a par and it stood up for a front-nine win (worth one point). On the back, Baker’s birdie at the 14th drew his pairing even, but on 18, both Washington players had winning pars to get a point for the side and a point for the match.

Will Klein, 15, from Bethesda, birdied the first two holes, and he and Noah Reeder, 16, a West Virginia resident who plays from Beaver Creek CC in Hagerstown, turned 3 up. Partners Austin Steckler, 15, from Glen Arm, and Austin Barbin, 15, from Elkton, each birdied a hole on the back to cut the match deficit to one, but Reeder won 17 with a par. He and Barbin halved 18 in birdies, giving the Baltimore team one point for the back.

Pieter DeGroot, 15, from Potomac, who highlighted his summer by shooting 5-over-par 215 in the Dewey Ricketts Memorial tournament at Manor CC to win the 14-15 age group by 18 strokes and beat the 16-18 winner by five strokes, took care of the front nine (2-under and 1 up). Partner Brad Whitaker, 17, from Kensington, birdied the 11th and parred the others, earning them 2 1/2 points after halving the back with Will Koras, from Lutherville, and Trip Smith, from Phoenix. Koras was the lone holdover from last year’s event.

This was the third successive win for Washington, which leads the series, 4-2.

The results:

Washington 8, Baltimore 4

Noah Reeder-Will Klein, W, d. Austin Steckler-Austin Barbin, 2-1.
Sean McGarrity-Brad Riley, W, d. Lou Baker, IV-Will Ford, 3-0.
Patrick McKinney-Oliver Whatley,W, lost to Liam Powderly, 1/2 – 2 1/2.
Pieter DeGroot-Brad Whitaker, W, d. Will Koras-Trip Smith, 2 1/2 – 1/2.

Reported by: John Stewart