Good luck taking the conference golf championship away from the Potomac School Panthers anytime soon.
With two talented freshmen on this season’s team, the high-school squad dominated and won the Oct. 9 one-day, 18-hole Mid-Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament title by 42 strokes with 229 team total. Sidwell Friends was second at 341.
The Panthers were led by freshman and individual tournament champion Colton Rodgers with a 1-over 72. Another freshman, Ben Spencer, tied for second with a 74, with junior teammate Jack Smith. Junior Katie Lee was fifth (79), senior Connor Wood sixth (80) and sophomore Michael Dillow tied for eighth (82).
The private-school tournament was played on the Blue Mash Golf Course in Laytonsville, Md.
The championship was the team’s second straight and fourth in five years. The Panthers were second in 2022.
Prior to the MAC tournament, Potomac School finished the regular season with a 10-0 record in dual matches. That included a victory over the perennial public-school power and multi-time state champion Langley Saxons by a decisive 142-164 score.
“We’ve had a very good season,” Potomac School coach Dave Hutton said. “The two freshmen have taken our program to another level. We are so deep, with a lot of talent.”
Next for many of Potomac School’s golfers is the individual MAC tournament, slated for Wednesday, Oct. 23 on the same Blue Mash course.
The Panthers’ closest regular-season match was a one-stroke victory over their MAC rival Flint Hill Huskies, just days prior to the conference tournament. Smith made a four-foot putt on the final hole to clinch the victory.
“That match was a wakeup call for us to play better in the MAC tourney, and we did,” Hutton said.
Flint Hill finished fifth in the MAC tournament with a 361 total. The Huskies were led by Xihao Yang with an 88 and Jae Chung and Aarav Shah with 89s.
Potomac School won last season’s MAC tournament with a much higher score of 325. Smith had the team’s lowest individual total, finishing third with a 79.
