11 October 2023
While the ultimate goal for the River Hill golf team this fall may be repeating as state champions, the road to defending titles officially kicked off in emphatic fashion Tuesday at the District V tournament at Crofton Country Club.
The Hawks, for a third straight season, captured the district crown as a team, posting a four-player total of 298, eight shots better than second-place Marriotts Ridge (306). It’s the lowest district team total in program history.
Leading the way to victory was senior Benjamin Siriboury, who won the boys individual title by three shots over Marriotts Ridge junior George Williamson, shooting a 1-under-par 71. . It marks the second career district crown for Siriboury, who now looks to become the first boys player in Maryland high school golf history to win three straight state championships when the state tournament tees off at the University of Maryland on Oct. 23-25.
“I don’t want to say that the team has something to prove, but I think there’s a part of them that wants to show that last year wasn’t a fluke,” River Hill coach Matt Graves said. “These kids are very driven and they know what is at the end of the tunnel. They have set the bar incredibly high and now the question is: Can we back it up? Today I think was a big step toward showing what we are capable of.”
For all the familiar faces atop the team and boys individual competitions, there was a breakthrough champion among the girls. Following several top-three postseason finishes the last couple seasons, Glenelg senior Megan Kirkpatrick fired an even-par 72 to edge River Hill’s Helen Yeung (73) by one shot to vault herself into the winner’s circle for the first time.
“It really just feels so great because I have come so close so many times and it seems like it’s always been River Hill this or Marriotts Ridge that. So, yeah, to finally get one is really amazing,” Kirkpatrick said. “The funny thing was I actually wasn’t that nervous coming into today. I just kind of felt like if I just played my best, then that’s all I could control and things would then work out however they were supposed to.”
Five teams — River Hill, Marriotts Ridge, Crofton (330), Glenelg (334) and Severna Park (343) — qualified for the state tournament later this month. Additionally, all male players that shot 82 or better and all female players that shot 96 or better advanced to states.
Crofton was the top Anne Arundel county school, led by junior Owen Newberry, who tied for third individually with a 76. Despite advancing, coach Collin Snyder said he’s still waiting to see his group put it all together.
“Our goal today wasn’t just to qualify, it was to win. We were [third] last year and our goal was to improve, so we really haven’t quite lived up to our expectations yet,” Snyder said. “I think some of it is that the kids are putting pressure on themselves to compete for and win that state championship as a team, which I don’t think is necessarily a bad thing, but it just means that we have to come back out here tomorrow at practice and get back to work.”
Siriboury actually stumbled out of the gates. An errant approach over the green on the first hole led to a bogey and his drive on the second hole found the trees down the left.
But he managed to steady the ship with several pars before birding the par-3 fifth. Later, back-to-back birdies on the 12th and 13th holes distanced himself from the field and allowed him to cruise in for the three-shot win.
“I was a bit worried, actually, coming in because I have a new swing I’m working on and I wasn’t really feeling it. I told my dad before the round that I didn’t know what to expect and after those first few swings, it was definitely not too good,” Siriboury said. “Luckily, though, I was able to find my groove a couple of holes in as I got more used to it. It really was just a matter of staying patient, I think.
“I missed some wedges later in the round, but I was able to save myself on those holes by getting up and down.”
On the way to finishing alone in second place, Williamson made one birdie and four bogeys. It marks the best postseason finish of his career.
“I’ve been playing a lot in the offseason and in the county matches I did pretty good, so I felt like I was ready to compete and try to get over the line in one of these three postseason tournaments,” Williamson said. “I was close today and I feel good heading into counties next week.”
In addition to Crofton’s Newberry, also placing in the top five among the boys were Broadneck’s Ben Coe (T3, 76) and Southern’s Winston Thomas (T3, 76).
Like Siriboury, Kirkpatrick bogeyed her first hole of the day before surging to the top of the leaderboard. It was a birdie on her third hole, the par 3 12th, that got her going. She then rattled off nine straight pars before a birdie on No. 4 moved her under par for the first time.
It was another birdie on her 17th hole, matching a birdie by a hard-charging Yeung, that kept Kirkpatrick ahead by two shots heading into the final hole.
She then proceeded to hit her tee shot on the last par 3 to within 15 feet of the flag. That’s when things got interesting, however, as she raced her first putt nearly 15 feet past the hole.
“The adrenaline kind of picked up there on that last green when I realized how close I actually was [to winning] and I think that was probably the first time all day I actually felt nervous,” Kirkpatrick said. “Luckily that birdie on the hole before kept me ahead by two, so I had an extra shot to work with. I was able to refocus myself, knowing I just needed to two-putt to still win.”
Kirkpatrick calmly reset herself and lagged her par putt to within a foot of the hole, allowing her to tap in for bogey and the one-shot victory.
Yeung, a two-time defending individual state champion in her own right, played her final four holes Tuesday in 2-under par to put a little pressure on Kirkpatrick. It ultimately was just too little, too late.
“It took a lot of grit out here today and I think I just finally found my swing tempo there in the middle of the back nine,” Yeung said. “It was kind of a wakeup call for me I think when I finally made my first birdie on No. 6, the par 5. I kind of kept it going from there, but Megan played very well throughout the round and she deserved it today.”
Rounding out the top five finishers for the girls were Marriotts Ridge’s Lila Becker (3rd, 76), Severna Park’s Nicol Chovanec (T4, 77) and River Hill’s Michelle Yeung (T4, 77).
Top boys finishers: 1. Benjamin Siriboury, River Hill, 71; 2. George Williamson, Marriotts Ridge, 75; T3. Ben Coe, Broadneck, 76; T3. Owen Newberry, Crofton, 76; T3. Winston Thomas, Southern, 76; T6. Mark Berg, River Hill, 77; T6. Aidan Kim, Marriotts Ridge, 77; T6. Dev Sheth, Howard, 77; T9. Jonathan Moon, Marriotts Ridge, 78; T9. James Smack, Broadneck, 78.
Top girls finishers: 1. Megan Kirkpatrick, Glenelg, 72; 2. Helen Yeung, River Hill, 73; 3. Lila Becker, Marriotts Ridge, 76; T4. Nicol Chovanec, Severna Park, 77; T4. Michelle Yeung, River Hill, 77; 6. Cate Lee, Atholton, 79; 7. Summer Stroop, Broadneck, 81; 8. Samadhi Tennakoon, Glenelg, 83; 9. Evelyn Park, River Hill, 85; T10. Iesha DeSilva, Glenelg, 87; T10. Charlene Pak, Marriotts Ridge, 87; T10. Riyanna Patel, Reservoir, 87.
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