Woodberry Forest Golf: Tigers take prep league and state championship titles

Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Tigers take prep league and state championship titles

Due to last week's inclement weather, the Prep League golf tournament was held concurrently with the VISAA state championship Monday, May 23 at Meadowbrook Country Club in Richmond. More rain and soggy course conditions delayed the start of the tournament until the afternoon. Because both Division 1 and Division 2 VISAA championships were being held at the same site, the tournament's 18-hole format was modified: the Division 1 schools played the front 9 twice, the Division 2 schools played the back 9 twice.

Play began at 1:30 with a shotgun start. There were 14 foursomes playing on each side, meaning that some holes had two groups teeing off back to back. Woodberry Forest was ranked second behind St. Christopher's, and was paired with St. Anne's Belfield (#3 seed) and Norfolk Academy (#4 seed).

After nine holes, the Tigers recorded a 152 (four lowest scores), slightly behind the pace set by both Norfolk and STAB. Playing brilliant golf, Woodberry scored an even par 144 on the second nine for a 296 total. STAB's first two scores were 67 and 68, but their team total put them tied with Woodberry at 296. In such cases, the teams' fifth score is used as a tiebreaker. The Tigers won (79-84), thereby earning their 29th VPL and 3rd VISAA titles.

Senior Peter Knade (72) was the low score for the Tigers. Peter earned his 4th All-Prep Honors, the second time this has been achieved in school history. Basil Boyd (73) and Andrew Jacobs (73) also earned All-Prep honors. All three golfers were also named All-State by virtue of their top 10 finish. For both Basil and Peter, this is a third All-State honor.

Coach Marc Hogan earned VISAA Coach of the Year Honors as well.

VPL results are listed below. VISAA results will be posted later.

41st Virginia Preparatory League Golf Championship

Meadowbrook Country Club

6500 yards, par 72

1. Woodberry Forest* 296 *wins on tiebreaker

2. STAB 296

3. Norfolk Academy 299

4. St. Christopher's 309

5. Collegiate 321

All Prep (top 10)

1. Fitz Woodrow, STAB, 67

2. Sam McNamara, STAB, 68

3. PETER KNADE, WFS, 72

Will Clark, NA, 72

5. BASIL BOYD, WFS, 73

ANDREW JACOBS, WFS, 73

7. Brian Peccie, NA, 74

8. Caroline Curtis, COL, 75

Drew Brockwell, STC, 75

10. Ben Foster, STC, 76

Mark Kelly, NA, 76

Other WFS scores:

Bo Pettegrew 78

Woodson Smith 79

Teddy Garner

Golf Facilities

Our golf facilities are unmatched. The only high school in Virginia with its own course, Woodberry plays its home matches on a nine-hole golf course designed in 1926 by Donald Ross. We also have the Graves Golf Practice Area, built in 1991, which has a driving range, two practice greens and sand bunkers. With our Doppler-based TrackMan launch monitors, we can track each player’s clubhead speed, ball speed, launch angle, and carry distance. We can then use this data to test different equipment. Our indoor putting green allows us to practice putting and short-game skills in any weather.

Coach’s Corner: Varsity Golf Coach Marc Hogan

Of the campus’s many resources, the school’s golf facilities truly set it apart. With a nine-hole Donald Ross-designed golf course and a range of other amenities for the teaching of golf, Woodberry is poised to nurture the young golfer. And no one is more suited to bring together the promising golfers who choose Woodberry Forest with traditional techniques honed at the Graves Practice Area and modern-day technological tools installed in the Squash Pavilion than Marc Hogan.

Having worked with the golf program for over twenty years, Marc holds a Level III golf teaching certification from the United States Golf Teachers' Federation and a Level I golf fitness instructor certification from the Titleist Performance Institute. He was the first coach certified in the DECADE course management system, which teaches players course strategy. His contributions to the game have been honored by the Virginia Prep League, which has named him Coach of the Year nine times, and by VISAA, which has awarded him the title six times.

As he does in his English classroom, Marc embraces technology in the teaching of golf. With particular support from Mitch Hull ’77 and past parents Hallie and Ed Pettegrew, as well as an anonymous gift, the school has video-recording devices, computers, and three launch monitors that analyze a player’s stroke and help him match it to swings used by the world’s most successful golfers.

Marc is a Greensboro, North Carolina, native and earned his BA and MA from the University of Virginia. He has taught English at Woodberry Forest since 1987. A scratch golfer, Marc has qualified for the Virginia Senior Amateur Championship six times and made match play four times in 2017, 2019 (round of 16), 2020, and 2021. He has also qualified for the VSGA Amateur Championship in 2021 and 2022. He lives in the Rapp House with his wife Linda, who works in Culpeper. They have three daughters, Miranda, who lives and works in Staunton; Anna Grey ’14, who lives and works in Charlottesville; and Cordelia '17, who lives and works in Charlotte.