Woodberry finishes 8th in VSGA Tournament

CHANTILLY HIGH SCHOOL WINS THE
6th VSGA FOUNDATION HIGH SCHOOL INVITATIONAL

MIDLOTHIAN –– Stoked  by four scores of 75 or better in the final round, Chantilly High School posted a one-stroke comeback victory as the 6th Virginia State Golf Association Foundation High School Invitational concluded today at Independence Golf Club.     

    

The northern Virginia-based Group AAA school returned a championship-best 4-over-par 292 aggregate (19-over 595) on the last day to get past first round leader Mills E. Godwin High School in Richmond (299, 20-over 596), whom the Chargers trailed by six strokes to start the day. Langley High School, located in McLean, finished eight shots back in third place (27-over 603) after registering the second best score of 297 in the final round. In the competition, the best four of five scores are counted toward the team’s aggregate.

Chantilly took home the Richard V. Smith Trophy, which honors the longtime former VSGA director of competitions, for the first time.  

Rising juniors Ju Hee Bae (1-under 71), Connor Messick (73), sophomore Vishal Giri (73) and junior Mike Sciorra (75) contributed Chantilly’s scores in the final round. The 17-year-old Bae, runner-up at the 2011 VSGA Women’s Amateur Championship, paced the team with an even-par 144 total in the two-day competition.

The event marked the first time Chantilly’s rotation has played together in a competitive event. They seemed unaffected, though, as a host of team members executed pressure shots in the closing moments.

Sciorra, fighting nagging back problems and playing his first competitive event of the summer, drained a downhill, right-to-left breaking 30-footer for birdie at the par-4 18th hole. Bae went without a three-putt and got up and down from 70 yards short of the green, making a 6-footer for par at the last. Messick recovered from making three straight bogeys to start his round and sank a 30-footer for par at the demanding par-4 16th and closed his round with three straight pars. The 14-year-old Vishal matched his best competitive round of the summer.

The winner of the VSGA Foundation High School Invitational has gone on to claim the Virginia High School League Group AAA Golf Championship three of the five years the event has been conducted leading up to its sixth renewal. But the Chargers lived up to the stay-in-the-moment message fourth year coach Kurt Sporkmann has been emphasizing with his players.

“I’m sure they’ve read it and know it, but we’re not thinking about it,” Sporkmann said of programs’ successes at the state tournament following victories at the VSGA Foundation High School Invitational. “We have a motto this year: ‘The next shot.’ We want to focus on the next shot and this week, for the most part, we met that goal. Everyone was ‘all in’ today.”

“I’m beyond words. I’m speechless. This is the toughest tournament to win leading up to the state tournament.”  

Chantilly finished second to Langley at both the 2011 Northern Region event as well as last year’s VHSL Group AAA High School Golf Championship.

Rallying for victory against a strong field in an early-season event “means we can compete with these teams,” according to Messick. “All these teams are great teams. We just had a good tournament. Hopefully, we can bring that to October (the state tournament is Oct. 8-9). It definitely motivates us to play better.”

With a team still getting acclimated to high-level state high school competition, Sporkmann noted that there is still important work ahead for the squad.

“We’re young, so some days it’s fantastic. There are great days like this, but they’re learning and they’re going through the process,” he said. “This is a nice milestone for us, but we still need to win our region – and Langley is really good.”

For Godwin, rising senior Brian Hill shot a final round even-par 72 and finished with the Eagles’ low aggregate (1-over 145). Rising junior Brian Hill carded consecutive rounds of 73, while sophomore Mark Lawrence Jr. compiled a 147 (72-75) total.

Langley was led by individual co-medalist Edric Wung, who accounted for a 36-hole score of 3-under 141. Jason Park, an 18-year-old rising senior at James River High School, equaled a final-day best score of 2-under 70  to close play at 141. Park made a 15-foot birdie on the first extra hole, the par-4 10th, in a playoff with Wung to take home low individual accolades.

Three competitors took part in the event individually, with 14-year-old Fitz Woodrow IV of Charlottesville’s St. Anne's Belfield School leading the way, shooting a final round 1-under 71 to finish with a 1-under 143 aggregate.

Among the competitors playing on a team, in addition to Park and Wung, Griffin Clark of Thomas Dale High School carded consecutive rounds of 1-under 71 and Kyle Hart of Midlothian High School closed play at 1-under 143 (73-70).

ABOUT THE VSGA FOUNDATION AND INDEPENDENCE GOLF CLUB:  Independence Golf Club, owned by the VSGA Foundation, features a 22,000-square-foot clubhouse, an 18-hole Tom Fazio-designed championship course and a nine-hole Sawyer Short Course. In addition, the club includes a separate junior clubhouse with dormitories and junior clubhouses for campers. The VSGA Foundation continues to champion junior golf initiatives, particularly those that benefit at-risk children. The Robins Junior Program camps and clinics not only teach fundamentals of the game, but also empowering life lessons. The programs are named in honor of Richmond-based philanthropist E. Claiborne Robins Jr. for his many efforts on behalf of junior golf. Thousands of youths have gone through the camps and clinics over the past nine-plus years.

MIDLOTHIAN –– Results following the final round of the 6th VSGA Foundation High School Invitational at Independence Golf Club (6,677 yards, par 36-36—72) on Wednesday, Aug. 22. The best four of five scores count toward the team’s aggregate.

CHANTILLY HIGH SCHOOL (303-292—595)

Ju Hee Bae, 73-71—144; Connor Messick, 72-73—145; Vishal Giri, 74-73—147; Noah Tucker, 84-84—168; Mike Sciorra, 75; Ben McGrath, 84

MILLS E. GODWIN HIGH SCHOOL (297-299—596)
Tyler Bennett, 73-72—145; Brian Hill, 73-73—146; Mark Lawrence Jr., 72-75—147; Colton Grow, 79-79—158; Curt Kennedy, 81-81—162

LANGLEY HIGH SCHOOL (306-297—603)
Edric Wung, 69-72—141; Will Byrne, 77-75—152; Derick Paxton, 76-76—152; Chris Bugge, 84-74—158; Justin Nguyen, 83; Mike Sanders, 85

JAMES RIVER HIGH SCHOOL (321-300—621)

Jason Park, 71-70—141; Ben Reid, 79-74—153; Guy Cheatham, 81-79—160; Josh Kirby, 90-77—167; Patrick Baly, 90; Jennie Jeu, 92

THOMAS DALE HIGH SCHOOL (309-312—621)

Griffin Clark, 71-71—142; Jeremy Craft, 79-79—158; Eric Blythe, 80-79—159; Tyler Gray, 80-83—163; Michael Brooks, 79-85—164

JAMES MADISON HIGH SCHOOL (314-310—624)

Won Suk Rhee, 73-73—146; Ryan Smith, 80-77—157; Joel Choi, 81-82—163; Amber Liu, 84-80—164; Shannon Brooks, 80; Phillip Davine, 80

WESTERN ALBEMARLE HIGH SCHOOL (313-312—625)

Kent Miller, 76-77—153; Hunter Weis, 81-75—156; Kyle Landis, 78-78—156; Nick Norris, 78-82—160; Tyler Mahone, 102-87—189

WOODBERRY FOREST SCHOOL (317-310—627)

Billy Mott, 79-74—153; Thomas Mack, 78-76—154; Timothy Walter, 79-77—156; William Knibbs, 81-83—164; Spence Townsend, 87-83—170

MIDLOTHIAN HIGH SCHOOL (315-313—628)

Kyle Hart, 73-70—143; Davis Testin, 80-80—160; Jeff Brochetti, 81-83; Owen Thompson, 81-83—164; Evan Stynes, 85-80—165

LOUDOUN VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL (315-315—630)

Ian Hildebrand, 76-74—150; Scott Mumpower, 80-74—154; Mark Shayka, 79-80—159; Trevor Colby, 80-87—167; Troy Mumpower, 97-95—192

CENTREVILLE HIGH SCHOOL (313-319—632)

Keon Ho Soong, 77-74—151; Shaan Kololgi, 78-75—153; Yookin Kim, 73-82—155; Jae Jun, 85-88—173; Chris Sokol, 85-89—174

BATTLEFIELD HIGH SCHOOL (322-317—639)

Thomas Fricke, 70-77—147; Nick Kwon, 77-71—148; Buzz Ganow, 81-81—162; Nate Morrison, 94-88—182; Thi Dao, 90; Kevin Banwarth, WD

POWHATAN HIGH SCHOOL (317-323—640)

Ryan Brinkley, 80-79—159; Brandon Herring, 77-82—159; Nick Furbee, 82-79—161; Luke Hill, 78-88—166; Trey Barden, 84-83—167

MATOACA HIGH SCHOOL (324-319—643)
Brett Lockett, 78-78—156; Peyton Broach, 79-79—158; Davis Topping, 80-82—162; Matthew Padgett, 87-80—167; Samuel Smith, 87-87—174

FLOYD E. KELLAM HIGH SCHOOL (323-324—647)

Young Suh, 78-77—155; Derrick Budd, 80-83—163; Tyler Vinsand, 80-84—164; Henry Reaume, 85-80—165; Max Arnold, 85-89—174

SOUTH COUNTY SECONDARY SCHOOL (327-325—652)

David Rabil, 77-73—150; David Ross, 81-81—162; Adam Bacon, 79-83—162; Jason Swartz, 90-88—178; Nick Nguyen, 96; Robert Fox, 103

COSBY HIGH SCHOOL (324-337—661)

Ford Zehner, 77-78—155; Nolan Kelly, 75-87—162; McKoy Lamantia, 85-85—170; Sam Garafolo, 87-87—174; Chase Ginther, 88; Sterling Simmons, 89

DOUGLAS S. FREEMAN HIGH SCHOOL (359-339—698)

Chris Knaysi, 85-83—168; Connor Melhorn, 92-82—173; Foster Johnston, 94-86—180; David Northen, 93-89—182; Will Humble, 89-99—188

JAMESTOWN HIGH SCHOOL (357-371—728)

Dan Kelly, 87-89—176; Austin West, 88-92—180; Sam Ross, 90-93—183; Ryan Satira, 92-97—189; Jake Arbogast, 104; Paul Keurajian, 120

INDIVIDUALS COMPETING IN THE VSGA FOUNDATION
HIGH SCHOOL INVITATIONAL
Fitz Woodrow (St. Anne’s Belfield School), 72-71—143

Stephan Suh (Westfield High School), 80-79—159

Daniel Yoo (Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School for Government and International Studies), 85-85—170

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