The next wave

Which golfers will step up and lead their teams in 2010?

Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2009

With the departure of several seniors from local high school golf teams, the question begs to be asked: Who will be the next big thing to hit the links in and around Calvert County? Here are some answers.

At Huntingtown High, several players including Joe Stallings, the All-County player of the year, will leave high school and that means more playing time for players such as as Jarrett Turner.

But those will be big shoes to fill as Stallings helped lead the Hurricanes to a regular season record of 14-10 and no worse than second at the three postseason tournaments, including second place (by three strokes) at the county tournament.

"He needs to find a way to develop consistency," Huntingtown head coach Jim Hall said of Turner, a junior, "and establish himself as a force for Huntingtown."

Calvert also graduated several players and will be looking at players to help fill the void vacated by Matthew Fox, Taylor Peed et al.

The Cavaliers had a successful season in 2009, which was highlighted with a county championship tournament win. Calvert also placed in the top 10 at the SMAC and district tourneys.

One option to step up and deliver next season is sophomore Eddie Shifflett.

"If he learns to manage the course with shots he has in his bag, he can eliminate the bad holes and stay low," Calvert head coach Jeremy Kurutz said. "He also loves to play and has his nerves on ice. This is a good temperament to have in competitive golf."

Patuxent is in the same situation after watching James Courtney, the team's only 12th-grader, leave the hallowed halls of Patuxent High.

"I'm excited to see who else will step up and fill those big shoes of James'," Patuxent head coach Kevin Conlon said.

Two options could possibly be current juniors Nate Inman or Samantha Hill.

"I think he's heading down the correct path already," Conlon said, referring to Inman. "If he puts in the amount of work I know he's capable of doing during the offseason, it wouldn't surprise me at all to see Nate become one of the best players in the SMAC next year."

As for Hill, she was unable to qualify for any matches last year but qualified to play in each match and tournament this season and tied for seventh place at the country tournament with a 92.

"I was excited to see Sam's progress just this past year," Conlon said of Hill, who posted one of the team's best scoring averages in 2009. "She's been fantastic so I'm excited to have Samantha back [next year] as well."

Under first-year head coach Mickey Norfolk, the Patriots racked up 10 wins and placed third at the county tournament.

But Norfolk is about to get ravaged by the departure of seven seniors, including All-County first-teamers Cary O'Kane and Alex Hoffer. Though the Patriots will return five players, two did not start a match this fall.

"We'll be building from the ground up, literally," Norfolk said.

So what is Norfolk hoping will happen by next season?

"That Tiger Woods will have a child we don't know about that is about 13 [years old]," he said with a laugh.

But Norfolk admitted that barring that, he is looking toward now-freshman Jacob Benish to help lead the team next year.

"He was one of our best this year for sure just because he's so consistent," Norfolk said. "He's not long [off the tee] but as he grows into his body, we expect real big things. His joy is everything you want from a high school player."

At The Calverton School, head coach Dan Coffin is looking for more out of a couple of his players.

"I expect Nick Mazza, Teddy Secor, Ryan Jenkens and David Goodwin to all be shooting in the low 40s consistently next season," said Coffin, who led his team to a record of 6-4 and the MISAL tournament title this year. "They need more out-of-season play, like playing junior tournaments during the summer and practicing a lot more so they're not coming into the season cold. We also have [junior] Jordan Washington who stepped in late in the season to provide us with some valuable scores."

Coffin also mentioned next season up-and-comers freshman Zach Kuderski, sophomore Will Bragunier and junior Andrew Ahrnsbrak, who are viable options to start next season.

mreid@somdnews.com