This past season, the coed varsity golf team has put in the work to improve their skills to qualify for the State Championship at the University of Maryland. This work has paid off, as team members will be competing against schools from eight other districts.

According to the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association (MPSSAA), both individuals and teams will first compete in a one-day 18-hole semifinal round. Then, teams and individuals who qualify from the semifinal rounds will return on the last day for the State Final play. Players overall results will be a combination of their semifinal and final scores.

The first and second days of the tournament, Oct. 25 and Oct. 26 respectively, will be dedicated to the semifinal rounds. On Oct. 25, class 4A/3A teams will compete, and on Oct. 26, class 2A/1A teams will compete. The varsity team is 19th in District 2, and falls under the 4A/3A category. In order to qualify for the championship, a team in District 2 must shoot a score of 328 during the Coed District championship on Oct. 4. “In the championship match I think we will do relatively well but I’m not sure we are going to make it to the second day,” junior Tyler Cosgrove said.

Due to the organization of play for each day, individual players will be assigned to either day. Out of the 129 individuals who qualify for States, only eight are from District 2. In order to qualify for States, male players must shoot a target score of 70.0-81 during their district match in Poolesville. Female players who want to qualify for States also played in a district championship specifically for girls, which was held in Laytonsville on Sept. 29. In order to qualify, they either have to shoot a target score of 70.3-91 in during the coed match, or a target score of 71.3-92 during the girls championship. While these are qualifying scores, they do not guarantee that a player will be one of the eight chosen. 

The players hope that their hard work during practices and experiences playing in matches will help prepare them for playing at UMD’s course. Cosgrove is excited to be able to play at UMD. Due to the size of the tournament, he and other members of the team must overcome the fact that more people will be watching them during matches than they are used to. “The most challenging aspect of the season was getting used to playing in front of a lot of people at the matches,” Cosgrove said.

Cosgrove hopes that their consistency in matches will pay off. In the teams match on Sept. 28, the team got fourth, shooting a score of 185 points. In their coed district championship on Oct. 6, the team got third, shooting a score of 175 points. The team has been working hard during practices to improve their skills, including driving, putting, and chipping. Cosgrove has personally focused on his driving, which is when the players hit the ball off of the tee at the beginning of holes.