Woodberry Forest Golf: 2022 Season recap

Friday, May 20, 2022

2022 Season recap

Ten golfers qualified in February for the 2022 Woodberry Forest golf team. After a two-week spring break, the Tigers opened their season against arch-rival Episcopal High School at the Mount Vernon CC. Woodberry continued its impressive winning streak against the Maroon with a 151-174 win.

The home opener was against St. Chris. Led by Coops Cooper's even par 35, the Tigers defeated the Saints 145-152. Collegiate was next up, and Woodberry again had a strong performance against the defending state and league champions, beating the Cougars, 145-148, with third former Tommy McMillan gaining medalist honors with a 35.

After convincing wins over St. Anne's Belfield and Blue Ridge, the Tigers traveled to the Westhampton course to face St. Christopher's. In a sign of good things to come, Woodberry won a close match, 148-154. Coops Cooper again led the way with a -2 round of 34.The Tigers then faced two IAC opponents, St. Alban's and Georgetown Prep and got two more wins to raise their record to 8-0. Third former Mack Edwards fired a -2 round of 68 against the Little Hoyas to secure the victory.

Woodberry got three more wins before the Easter break, over Benedictine (140-197), Covenant (144-207), and Bishop O'Connell (144-172) to get to 11 wins, the most since the undefeated season of 2005.

The following Tuesday the Tigers traveled to Salisbury CC to face the #1-ranked Trinity Episcopal Titans. In a heartbreaker, Woodberry lost its first match of the season, 147-149, while defeating Mercersburg 149-160.

The regular season concluded with four more victories: at eventual VISAA Division III champion Eastern Mennonite (143-149); at STAB (131-191); at Collegiate (145-155); and at home vs. Trinity Episcopal (142-146). The 16-1 record was the best since the undefeated 1994 season (19-0).

The Prep League tournament was held at Old Trail GC in Crozet for the fourth time. Woodberry had five golfers finish in the top 10 and earn All-Prep: Mack Edwards (co-medalist) 71; Turner Edwards 74, Will Brown 74, Tommy McMillan 75, and Bennett Perry 75. The 294 team total was only good enough for second, and Trinity Episcopal edged the Tigers by one (293).

The following week the VISAA state championship was held at Meadowbrook CC in Richmond. Again Woodberry had a strong performance, shooting a 294 with three golfers finishing in the top ten and earning All-State: Mack Edwards (72); Turner Edwards (73); and Will Brown (74). However, the Tigers were again narrowly defeated by three shots by Collegiate (291).

While a mere six strokes kept the Tigers from a perfect season, the 2022 campaign saw Woodberry have its best record in almost 30 years. The team set records for the most scores of par or better (19) in matches, as well as setting the all-time scoring average (37.22). And Coach Hogan earned his 200th career dual match victory.

Mack Edwards joined his father Frank Edwards '88 as the first father-son duo to win the Prep League's medalist and the school's William H. White Golf Trophy as third formers. Turner Edwards won his second Sam A. Dougherty Prize, this time for his outstanding leadership as captain. Finally, Will Brown again won the Thomas D. Bond MVP award and was elected captain for the 2022-23 squad.

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.