Plenty of golf action in Cape Region
April 19, 2002
A strong mix of high school and college golf action filled Cape Region calendars this past week.
On Thursday, April 11, the Cape Henlopen Vikings squad traveled to Shawnee Country Club in Milford to face Lake Forest, winning 166-211. Tyler Witman led all scorers with his 38, 2 over par. “I played bad,” the perfectionist Witman said. “I missed three putts inside five feet.”
Brad Schneider shot a 40 that pleased him. “I was putting well. I found the trees a couple times, but got myself out of trouble.”
Brett Hertel posted his first varsity score for Cape with a 42, and was happy to contribute. Christina Wagamon completed the scoring for the Vikings with her 46. “I tripled the second hole, and parred the 9th. It was a little tough for me today.”
Mike Schneider suffered an unusual disqualification incident. “I went to putt the ball out, and it became stuck on the putter. Really weird.” Fortunately, even without the disqualification his score would not have counted toward the team total.
On Monday, April 15, Cape traveled to Seaford Country Club to play their previously-delayed match with Laurel. The Vikings won easily, 167-195. Witman took medalist honors again with a 37, one over par. Brad Schneider shot well with a 39, followed by Hertel’s 45 and Wagamon’s 46. Several members of the squad expressed frustration at the difficult greens at the Seaford club.
In recent years, Milford High School has fielded strong teams, especially in the conference and state championship tournaments. Last year Cape had four golfers score in the 30s in their match with the Buccaneers. On Tuesday, April 16, Milford returned the favor, beating Cape 150-169 at Shawnee Country Club. Four Milford players posted two rounds of 37 and two rounds of 38.
Witman again won medalist credits for the day, shooting a par 36. “I birdied one hole, number 5, with a lob wedge to five feet. I three-putted number 4 for a bogey. I drove the [par-4] seventh with my driver, and then three-putted for par.”
The rest of the Vikings looked a bit shell-shocked. Brad Schneider said his 41 was just “alright. I bogeyed 1, birdied 2, tripled 3, doubled 7, and parred the rest.”
Mike Schneider’s 46 was “pretty straightforward. I had 5 bogeys, 2 doubles, and 2 pars.”
Wagamon appeared to be frustrated about her 47. “I couldn’t get it together on any hole today.”
Hertel also shot a 47, and blamed it on “some terrible swings” with his pitching wedge. “I mis-hit three or four of them from 80 yards out.”
Kings Creek Country Club again played host to a college golf tournament, with the April 15 Rehoboth Beach Invitational. George Washington University’s golf coach, Scott Allen, organized the event, taking advantage of his parents’ decision to live at Kings Creek. It was rescheduled from last October’s rainout, and this time the teams were blessed with great weather for the practice round Sunday and the 36-hole tournament on Monday.
GW’s Thomas Blankvoort, from the Netherlands Antilles, broke a long-time school record with his opening round 66 on the par 72 course. Blankvoort hung on in the second round with a 75 for medalist honors for the day, and his team finished sixth overall.
Rutgers University won the tournament with a 602 score, only one stroke better than Iona College. Other participating schools included American University, Columbia University, Colgate University, Temple University, Towson University, the University of Virginia, two teams from Villanova University, Mount St. Mary’s College, Long Island University-Brooklyn, and Monmouth University.
Kings Creek members volunteered to help golfers with cart trips between the longer stretches, and were again dazzled with what they saw. Gail Petren said, “It was really impressive to see what these kids were doing with irons off the tees. It was beautiful to watch what they could do.”