Woodberry Forest Golf: Fall 2021 wrap-up

Wednesday, November 24, 2021

Fall 2021 wrap-up

Seventeen golfers participated in the fall 2021 season, including veterans Coops Cooper '22, Turner Edwards '22, Bennett Perry '22, Winslow Newton '22, William Andrews '23, Logan McNabb '23, Graham Roberts '23, Griffin Warlow '23, Will Brown '24, and Christopher Nabors '24. Newcomers Will Reid '23, Tristan Hays '23, Wyatt Rankin '23, Hunter Hueman '24, Gray Smith '24, Wells Warke '24, and Mack Edwards '25.

The Tigers had one match, October 9, vs. Mercersburg, which allowed Coach Hogan to see most of the new players in competition.Woodberry came out on the short end 18.5-9.5. The margin of victory did not accurately describe the closeness of the matches.

Griffin Warlow and William Andrews played the Mercersburg #1 & #2. Both lost their singles matches and the fourball match. Score: WFS 0 Mercersburg 7

At #3, Graham Roberts won all three points in his singles match. Playing #4, Will Reid also captured a point but the duo lost their 18-hole fourball match to the Mercersburg #3 & #4.

Score: WFS 4 Mercersburg 3

At #5, Gray Smith won 2.5 points in his singles match. Partner #6 Wells Warke won 0.5 points and the fourth formers lost the fourball.

Score: WFS 3 Mercersburg 4

Finally, #8 Wyatt Rankin won 2.5 points in his singles match, while partner #7 Tristan Hays was shut out in his match. The fifth formers lost their fourball.

Score: WFS 2.5 Mercersburg 4.5

On the weekend of November 6-7, six Tiger golfers participated in the 2021 Michael Breed Junior Invitational at Independence Golf Club in Midlothian. Will Brown '24 (second from right) finished second in the Freshman/Sophomore High School division with rounds of 76-75 on the 6,619-yard, par 72 track. As you can see from the picture, the conditions were challenging.

May be an image of 6 people and people standing (photo courtesy of the College Prep Golf Tour)

Turner Edwards shot 76-78 (+10) to finish t14th in the Junior/ Senior HS division. Coops Cooper finished t21 with rounds of 76-80, and Logan McNabb finished t44. Bennett Perry and Winslow Newton were unable to complete their tournament play because of injury.

Finally, Bob Hudson '73 once again hosted the group on Tuesday, October 26, for a day of golf at the Country Club of Culpeper. The golfers thank Bob for his generosity and hospitality. The windy conditions provide a good test.

Bob Hudson '73 welcomes the group.

Mack Edwards '25, Captain Turner Edwards '22, and our host Bob Hudson '73.

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.