Woodberry Forest Golf

Friday, April 17, 2015

JV Golf defeats Collegiate

The JV golf squad defeated Collegiate School today in a nine-hole match at the Country Club of Virginia Tuckahoe Creek Course. Scott Gulquist was medalist for the match, shooting 41. Woodberry won by 14 strokes, defeating the Cougars 182-196. Individual scores are listed below:

Scott Gulquist 41

Crawford Humphreys 44

Jake Edwards 46

Will Goetzenberger 51

Thomas Williams 56

Joseph Loebsack 57

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Player Profile: Hawk Swearingen ’15

Name: Hawk Swearingen

Grade: Senior

Hometown: Sedalia, Missouri

Handicap: 3.0

Best golf memory: My dad and I play in a father son tournament every year at one of the best courses in Missouri. The first year, we had a practice round with my mom and my aunt. My dad struggled and I wanted to help but he was extremely frustrated, and to be honest, I was a little scared of how we would fair in the tournament. The first day of the tournament, my dad and I played extremely well going into the 17th hole. We came up with a plan to scare my mom so we pretended that we were mad at each other after the round. My mom was so scared that she went inside to the pro and asked him if he knew anything about why my dad and I were so mad at each other. My mom was still talking to the pro when my dad and I entered the clubhouse and the pro asked my dad how we did. My dad proceeded to say, "Well, if he could have hit a fairway off the tee today, that would have been nice!" I came right back at him by saying, "well he couldn't make a two foot putt to save his life!" I then proceed to turn away and start laughing, and my dad says, "You know why he is turning away? It is because he cant help himself to laughing because this is all a joke and we had the time of our lives!"

Best course you've played: Golf Club of Houston (Tournament Course)

Best course you've never played: Augusta National

Favorite golf movie? Caddyshack

Favorite pro golfer? Jordan Spieth

If you weren't a golfer, what sport would you go pro in? Basketball

If you had a pair of golf pants with little pictures all over them, what would the pictures be?

I would want them to have pictures from all of the schools that I have and will attend such as Woodberry, my junior high, my middle school, my elementary school, and, of course, TCU.

Best golf advice you've ever gotten? Be the ball Danny... You're not being the ball Danny.

Sunday, April 12, 2015

Varsity golfers pair with club members for Saturday match

On Saturday, April 11, twelve varsity golfers teamed up with twelve Woodberry Forest Golf Club members for a two-man competition. JV Golf coach John Amos partnered with Bo Pettegrew '16 to win the event with a five-under 65. Their round featured an opening eagle 2 by Pettegrew from the fairway bunker on the 345-yard, par 4 first hole, and then a birdie by Coach Amos on the 184-yard par 3 second hole.

Gary Brookman and Andrew Jacobs '18 finished second with a three under 67.

Coach Hogan hosted the group at the Rapp House afterwards for barbecue and to watch round 3 of The Masters.

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Team photos are here!

Bengal

Varsity A & B

Varsity Captains Peter Knade and Hawk Swearingen

Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Golfers enjoy a round at Country Club of Culpeper

Thanks to Bob Hudson ’73 for hosting the varsity team today at the Country Club of Culpeper. The guys had a great day of golf!

Monday, April 6, 2015

Photos posted on Woodberry Photo Album

Enjoy beautiful photos from John Berry.

Woodberry Photo Album, Varsity Golf vs. St. Chris

Player Profile: Rob Prater ’16

Rob Prater

5th Form

St. Simons Island, GA

Handicap: 3.5

Best golf memory: Of all the golf memories I have had, the best and most memorable rounds that I have played are ones that I played with my dad. From the age of about 10 to the present, my Dad and I would go out quite frequently to the golf course and walk nine holes, talk, and really bond. I can recall the year before I came to Woodberry as one of the rounds over the summer that my dad and I played. It was the typical time of about 4:00 PM, and Dad and I had, as always, rushed to the tee without any sort of practice and teed off. We played the front nine of Plantation (one of the courses of Sea Island), and I vividly remember him telling me how much my life was going to change now that I was going off to Woodberry. We were walking in, the sun was setting, we had both completely forgotten about our score or the typical friendly wager we had for some manual labor (from me) versus a trip to the local ice cream parlor, and I now realize it was a win-win for my Dad. The advice I would receive from him during these rounds, whether it be about girls or school, it was always significant. But all in all every found I have the opportunity to play with my Dad are the most fun and meaningful, and those are the rounds that I will remember forever.

Best course you've played: St. Andrews (Old Course)

Best course you've never played: Augusta National

Favorite golf movie: Caddyshack, obviously.

Favorite pro golfer: Matt Kuchar

If you weren't a golfer, what sport would you go pro in? Eating

If you had a pair of golf pants with little pictures all over them, what would the pictures be? Small prints of Dogs sitting in a regal, blue chair, holding a golf club like a sword as if he had just conquered something.

Best golf advice you've ever gotten? Swing easy and accept the extra distance

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.