Golf struggles for second loss

The Blair golf team lost again to Paint Branch on Thursday, September 25 at the Montgomery Village Golf Club. Fortunately, the team was able to outshoot both Poolesville and Springbrook, improving their record to 11-2.

Blair shot a 245, two strokes more than Paint Branch's 243. Poolesville took third place finishing seven strokes back and Springbrook placed last. Senior Zach Mellman shot a 45 to lead Blair. Both junior Bill McManigle and sophmore Danny Gillen shot 49s, while junior Neal Vasilak shot a 50. In addition, Jake Riley shot a 52 while Neil Hoffman's score of 53 did not count towards the team score.

The team has both lost and beaten Paint Branch twice this season. Paint Branch is tied with Blair for first place in the Kohut division.

Gillen feels that the absence of Blair's number two player Ben Payes, due to sickness, hampered the team. "We played pretty well. It really hurt not having our number two player," said Gillen.

Mellman played a solid round as he shot near his season average. However, Vasilak and McManigle struggled in their worst rounds of the year, which hurt the team in this close match.

Blair's team score was their highest of the season. However, Paint Branch did not shoot well either. Many of the players struggled because no one had played at this course, a private country club before and they were not accustomed to the slick greens.

McManigle had trouble maintaining his focus and composure through all the nine holes in his worst round of the season. "I was playing well until the last two holes, I double pared them. I fell apart again," said McManigle.

The top five players from Blair will play Tuesday, September 30 at the county wide District tournament. The match canceled on Thursday, September 18 due to Hurricane Isabel may still be rescheduled after the District match.