FARMINGTON, PA – A mix of old stars and new blood powered a well-balanced Virginia Amateur Golf Team to a 7-5 lead over their hated rivals from Maryland after the first day of play at the Potomac Cup. Zimbabwean ex-pat Ross McIntosh won both his morning Captain’s Choice afternoon Best Ball matches to raise his lifetime Potomac Cup record to a sparking 8-3-1.
The affable McIntosh was humble afterward. “My partner helped alot” he said, nodding to cup newcomer Peter Badawy, who also won both his matches. “Peter played great today” McIntosh explained. “Peter had two eagles on two par-5s – 8 and 11 – and he rolled in the putts after our opponents made birdies. He really responded well.” Badawy won his morning match as well teaming with doubles partner Mark Vandegrift to best a pair of Maryland newcomers, Chris Drescher and Chris Taylor 2&1.
Another Virginia staple, Frank Romano raised his career cup record to 9-5-3, teaming with McIntosh on the morning match and cup newbie Matt Hines. Virginia eked out a 3.5 to 2.5 margins in each session during the today’s doubles play.
Yet Team Blue sputtered out of the gate initially. The leadoff team of Chris Huemmer and last year’s Most Outstanding Player Scott Inman, a combined 7-2-1 in last year’s Cup, were bested by rookies Michael and J.J. Occi 2&1, a father-and-son tandem.
Perhaps the worst embarassment may have triggered the awakening. With several groups yet to tee off, word filtered back that Virginia’s Buddy Patch – a cup first-timer already in deep water as he and partner Dan Derisio drew Maryland’s marquis player Vance Welch and Keith Wilson – had played the first three holes fifteen clubs in his bag.
“But it wasn’t just any club” chirped Maryland’s Ron Thomas gleefully. “It was ‘The Medicus!”
“Medicus?!?!” screeched Virginia captain Steve Czaban, who looked angry enough to stop a herd of charging rhinoceros. “I’m going to kill him.”
Then, with teammates already looking hawkishly at him, Patch mis-pronounced the name of the club, saying “I’m stupid, I can’t believe that I had to call a penalty on myself because of the Meniscus…”
“Meniscus?!” yelled the rest of the team as the Virginians met in their locker room for a pairings meeting. The room fell apart into pieces laughing while the genial Patch tried not to look mortified. “As punishment” began Badawy, cackling about it afterward, “we made Captain Czaban flog him with a rubber chicken.”
“How do you even have that in your bag?” asked Badawy, but Patch had an explanation – albeit a patchy one. “My partner has one too” he started before the room erupted in laughter again. Someone shouted “Meniscus!” as he tried to continue the interview. “Well I saw it in the car and swung it in the parking lot thinking it was mine, but it turned out to be his” he finished meekly.
Nevertheless, three Mcintosh birdies in a row at 13, 14 and 15 closed out the morning matches 4&3 over Maryland’s anchor team of Al Aldana and Co-Captain Pedro Carrasco, dubbed “The Spanish Armada by opponents, and gave Virginia an early 3-1/2 to 2-1/2 edge.
The groundswell continued early as Virginia jumped out to leads in all six matches. Moreover, Maryland looked listless. Welch and long-time doubles partner Dan Meyer were missing greens and hitting balls from all over the course. Ron Thomas and Michael Wah, another seasoned doubles team squandered an early lead to a pair of cup rookies. By 3:00 p.m. with the matches approaching the midpoint, Virginia was leading every contest.
“Things looked bleak, but we dug deep” remarked Aldana, who sat out the session, but provided inspiration to his teammates as they mounted a comeback. By 4:30, Welch and Meyer had taken the lead as did Thomas and Wah. Now they were down only by two and looking to tie the session as Michael Occi and Fred Ashby raced past Hummer and teammate Dan DeRisio.
As a sauna hot afternoon turned to a tolerable evening, Maryland steadied. John Rhodes and J.J. Occi, a senior on the University of Maryland golf team battled fiercely against Virginia’s Don Phattiyokel and Scott Inman. Birdie followed unlikely birdie as the teams traded uppercuts and roundhouses. “It was the most exciting match I have ever played in my life” Rhodes remarked energetically after the match. “Each team was 6-under on their round and every time one team tallied a bird, the other guys just came roaring back. On the 18th tee as we stood all square, we looked at each other and said, no matter how this turns out, this was the best match I’ve ever been a part of in my life. This is just a fantastic event.”
Appropriately, the match ended in a hard-fought draw as either team could tally a winning birdie. Moments before Virginia’s Mark Adams rolled in 20-foot birdie putt to power he and teammate Phil Goldberg – who refers to himself in the third person, as in “Hey Reporter! Goldberg just rolled in a birdie putt to tie the match!” – to a 1 up win over Wah and Thomas.
The teams re-tee at 7:00 a.m. Saturday for six alternate shot matches in the morning and six best ball matches in the afternoon. Virginia leads the series 4-2 and has claimed the last three cups. Nemacolin Woodlands Resort’s famous Mystic Rock Course plays host to its second consecutive Potomac Cup this year, with the players playing almost all of the same tees the PGA
Tour members used for the now defunct 84 Lumber Classic.
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