Woodberry Forest Golf: 5/12/24

Monday, May 13, 2024

Tournament Wrap-up: VPL champions with a record score

2024 VPL Champions

The undefeated Tigers came into the 48th VPL Golf Championship at the 6600-yard, par 72-layout at the Old Trail GC in Crozet as the favorite but not having won a league title since 2019.

St. Christopher's was determined to avenge its two losses to Woodberry, and the Saints posted their best score of the season, a one-under-par mark of 287, the lowest score in the Prep League tournament since St. Christopher's winning score of 285 in 2018 at Keswick GC.

Led by a pair of 63's (-9) from Mack Edwards and James Doyle, Woodberry shot a team- and tournament-record 270 to capture its 32nd VPL golf championship in historic fashion. The eighteen under-par mark shattered the 2018 record of (-3) held by St. Christopher's and bettered the Tigers' best VPL tournament round of 280 when the event was held here at Woodberry Forest.

Edwards had a perfect card, notching seven birdies and one eagle without a bogey. Doyle garnered eight birdies and one eagle, but bogeyed the par-three seventh hole. Both players had an incredible 30 (-6) on their back nines en route to earning All-Prep and co-Player of the Year honors.

Captain Will Brown overcame a slow start (+2 after seven holes) to finish with a one-under-par round of 71. Brown earned his fourth All-Prep award, the third Woodberry player to do so.

Henry Cardwell made his debut in the VPL tournament count by shooting a one over par 73 and earned All-Prep status.

Tommy McMillan's fine round of 74 just missed making the top ten. Chris Nabors also competed.

Ranked #1 all season, Woodberry has been invited to the VISAA golf championship in Williamsburg on Monday, May 13, where they are the defending champions.

Thanks to the parents and grandparents who came out today to support the team.

48th Virginia Preparatory League Golf Championship

Old Trail Golf Club

6600 yards, par 72

1. Woodberry Forest - 270 (-18)

2. St. Christopher's - 287

3. Collegiate - 297

4. Trinity Episcopal - 302

5. Norfolk Academy - 315

6. St. Anne's-Belfield - 340

All-Prep (top ten)

t1. 63 - James Doyle, (WFS); Mack Edwards (WFS)

3. 70 - A. Brown (STC)

t4. 71- Will Brown (WFS), G. Williams (TES)

t6. 72 - C. Lange (STC) P. Goldman (STC), S. Hahn (COL)

t9. 73 - Henry Cardwell (WFS), G. Hall (STC)

Tournament Wrap-up: State champions!

2024VISAA champions

Playing the final hole of his high school golf career, Chris Nabors was deciding whether to go for the green on the par 5, 18th at Williamsburg National. Little did he know that the outcome of the 2024 VISAA state tournament hung in the balance.

Chris fired a 3-iron from 230 yards onto the green and made a two-putt birdie to shoot a five-over-par 77, a score which at the time wasn't going to count towards the Tigers' total.

Playing behind Chris, James Doyle also went for the par-five in two and pushed his second shot right into the trees. Facing a difficult pitch, James successfully put the ball close to the hole and nearly made his birdie putt. His subsequent par meant James's score of 74 had given Woodberry a tie with Paul VI at 294.

According to VISAA rules, if two teams are tied with four scores, the fifth score is used. Both Woodberry (Henry Cardwell) and Paul VI had rounds of 76. So the second tiebreaker, the sixth score, was used. Chris Nabors's 77 edged Paul VI's sixth score by one shot and gave the Tigers the title.

Everyone on the team literally contributed to this win. Will Brown capped his high school career by firing a two-under 70 and earning All-State honors for the fourth time. Will is the first player in school and VISAA history to do so.

Mack Edwards overcame the flu and shot a 74 to win All-State honors again. James Doyle''s 74 also earned him All-State.

Playing with a heavy heart because of the loss of his grandfather, Tommy McMillan posted a 76.

The 2024 team is the first golf team in the school's history to go undefeated and win both the Prep League and state championships, an unprecedented treble.

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.