| Herndon Centennial |
| Herndon, VA, 20170 |
| May 2-3 2009 |
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| Director: Gelenberg |
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Each May, television goes out with some season-ending drama. Herndon turned out to deliver more drama than any season-ending TV show, with 72 players battling the rain and throwing darts at soft, receptive greens.
FAQ
Q: Were the Boys 14-15 playing off the cones? Those were crazy scores!
A: They were playing off the proper tees, but the scores in this age group were amazing! 28 players in this age group came to test their skills at Herndon. Zack Henry, Mitchell Buccelli, Brantley Kushner, Scott Davidson, Nate Cohan and Andrew Lister all shot at least one sub-par round, with Andrew carding 66-69 and earning first. Nate’s 68-71 and Scott’s 70-71 earned second and third, while Brantley’s 73-71 grabbed fourth. Alex Church put together strong rounds of 73-72 to round out the top five. Other notables included personal best two-day totals on Tour by Michael Chanaud, Robbie Taylor, Mick Hazen, Christian Fortier, Thomas Cave, Matt DiSalvo, Andrew Brenneman, Landon Weis, Constantine Valanos, Jake Brawley, Mason Stutler, Alex Lu, Eric Sawchak and Ian Robertson. Impressive!
Q: Any eagles this weekend?
A: Two! John Conley bagged one on the 8th hole, and Cody Lissner grabbed one on 17.
Q: With late tee times, did the 12-14 and 15-19 Girls finish before dark on Saturday?
A: They did! Alex White (G12-14) grabbed another victory with rounds of 77-75, with Julia Bowling earning second. Brigitte Baker’s (G15-19) 72-75 gave her the win, with Hasamone Nimjareansuk and Olivia Bowling taking second and third respectively. Great job!
Q: What about the 8-11 Girls?
A: All four girls played well! Delaney Shah improved by 7 strokes on Sunday with a terrific 81 and Amber Liu (80-79) played solidly both days and earned third. Shannon Brooks, in her final Virginia tournament as an 8-11 player, shot impressive rounds of 75-76 and took second. Alex Wright pounded her drives and grabbed first with rounds of 71-74. Well done, girls!
Q: How did the Boys 16-19 play?
A: Despite the bad weather, some good scores were recorded. Ryan Rettberg and Spencer Bowling were the only players in this age group that actually improved their scores on Sunday, with Ryan shooting 75-74 and taking second & Spencer’s 73 on Sunday moving him into fifth. Alex Kamargo finished his season with solid rounds of 78-78 and a fourth place finish. But it was Blake Forst’s rounds of 72-73 that took the top slot. Congrats!
Q: The Boys 12-13 usually play well at Herndon. How about this time?
A: They delivered again. After a Saturday round that had over half the field breaking 80 (Zach Weaver, Cody Lissner, Brett Rinker, Bennett Wisner, Jackson Lizardo, Brent Bubes, Aaron Staley, Ryan Douglass & Loren Dukate), Sunday’s rain somewhat cooled the scores. Zach Weaver, Brett Rinker and Mark Porter all improved their scores on Sunday, with Zach taking first and Brett going to a playoff with Cody Lissner. Two rounds later and Cody was up and down for second, with Brett earning third. Bennett Wisner took fourth with strong rounds of 76-77. Nice!
Q: Who’s left? Oh, yeah – 10-11 Boys.
A: Kyle Berkshire and Chris Navarro ended Saturday with a pair of 74s, with Ben Gelenberg (79), Bennett Buch (83) and David Ross (88) rounding out the field. Sunday’s front nine showed Chris and Ben shooting twin 39s and Kyle carding a 40. A twisted ankle forced Ben to withdraw, but not without an impressive 27 hole score of 118. Kyle turned up the heat and bested Chris by one stroke for the win, with Chris taking second and Bennett grabbing third. Great shooting, guys!
Q: What’s next season look like?
A: Great! Wonderful! Exciting! Lots of changes for next season. You’ll see some old favorite Tour stops like Herndon Centennial, Reston National, Whiskey Creek and others, as well as new tournaments at Queenstown and others that are in the works. Keep an eye out for the official schedule and enter early. You’ll be surprised at how fast these will fill.
We’d like to thank everyone for an amazing first season as directors. We decided to become a part of the Plantations family because we loved being around junior golf, but we never realized how many other benefits we’d receive. We are proud to call so many of you friends, and it’s been our privilege to watch all of you play. We’ve seen some amazing transformations in so many players’ games and scores, and we can’t wait until the fall to see how all of you did in your summer tournaments. If you’ve made it a habit of finishing your round and leaving, we’d encourage you next season to stick around! Some of the closest friendships have been formed around the practice green after official play has ended, not to mention lots of golf tips being shared. Please keep in touch with us over the summer. We’d love to hear from you. See you in the fall! Very best regards,
Phil, Pené & Ben
philgel@gmail.com
