Golf Teams Showing Promise Ahead Of Playoffs

Ahead of the high school golf season’s stretch run, things are looking rosy for the Severna Park and Broadneck squads.

The teams will play in the county championship on October 6, districts on October 12, and, if they qualify, the state finals October 26 and 28.

The county championship match will take place at Compass Pointe Golf Course in Pasadena. The District Championship will take place at the Timbers at Troy in Elkridge, and the University of Maryland will host the state finals.

Severna Park, Broadneck, Chesapeake, Crofton and South River high schools play in the County A Division for the regular season county competition. For the county championship tournament, six qualifying golfers per team will split into foursomes on the course. The lowest four scores per team count toward the team championship.

Severna Park has placed first in four out of their six tournaments this season. In their wins, the Falcons scored 152, 149, 149 and 155 as a team.

Severna Park has 24 players — 16 boys and eight girls. Coach Joshua Dean said new talent has elevated the team.

“We’ve had Davis Balderston, freshman, that is shooting right around an even to one under par every round,” Dean said. “I got sophomore Chase Connell, who is also averaging (35.8) through nine holes.”

Colin Barry, KJ Flanagan, Jack Peery and Chris Jenkins have also cracked the top 10 at events this season.

The Falcons have played at The Preserve at Eisenhower in Crownsville, Renditions in Davidsonville and Compass Pointe this season. The familiarity of the golf courses will be huge in order to repeat as county champions, according to Dean.

“When there’s a lot of pressure on you as a golfer and at the county championship, you want to play well,” Dean said. “Once you come across that 13th or 14th hole that you’ve seen six, seven or eight times, that comfortability might set in, and they know exactly what they need to do, and anxious feelings go away.”

Dean shared there is a hunger in the team to go back-to-back.

“(They) have a little chip on their shoulder saying we can go out there and we can really compete, and let’s go and try to be the big dogs in the county now,” Dean said. “It’s more of an attainable goal that they have put upon themselves to go and win these districts.”

Connell and Balderston brought consistency to the tournaments this year.

“I always preach our mental toughness, and those two just do it right from the get,” Dean said. “Typically, you got to coach up the mental toughness to kind of let those breaks go. But those guys coming in year one on the team, they’ve been fantastic.”

Over at Broadneck, coach Devin Gardner said the Bruins are determined to win in districts and states this season.

They have the determination and grit to not let any of the tournaments get out of control. A player could get a bogey on one hole and come back with a par on the next, Gardner said.

“That’s hard to do in high school golf because you got nine holes … for these matches,” he said. “One hole is not the determining factor, and I love how much they compete and they never give up. It’s a testament to them and the captains and the program over the years.”

Seniors James Jonker and Caroline Viscardi, as well as junior Michael Peterson, are the captains for the Bruins.

Broadneck won their first tournament on September 10 at the Naval Academy Golf Club and finished in second place in four other matches, losing by a combined 15 strokes.

“I have no worries about them being prepared and working hard and getting ready to perform in the postseason when the lights are the brightest,” Gardner said.

Gardner said to count on Jonker and fellow senior Max Harada, Peterson and sophomore Micah Gossard to come through for the Bruins. This season, Jonker has averaged 37.1 strokes, Peterson 39.4, Harada 41.5 and Gossard 39.8.

Gardner said the game plan for the Bruins to win in districts and states is for the players to familiarize themselves with each hole on the golf courses.

“Everything is not a driver hole,” Gardner said. “You need to put yourself in play to go and then attack the green and give yourself the best chance to walk off there with a par. If you get a birdie, that’s a plus. Hole seven at Compass Pointe, you can’t play driver; you need to lay it out and know it’s a par five, and you got an extra shot.”

The 4A/3A District 5 meet will be contested by Broadneck, Severna Park, Annapolis, Arundel, Chesapeake, Crofton, Glen Burnie, Meade, North County, Old Mill, Severn Run, South River, Atholton, Centennial, Guilford Park, Marriotts Ridge, Oakland Mills and Reservoir.

For the district and state tournaments, five qualifying golfers are entered per team, with the four lowest scores counting toward the team total.