First they dominated the conference team tournament, then the Potomac School Panthers did the same in the individual golf competition a week later.
At the 18-hole Mid-Atlantic Athletic Conference individual tourney Wednesday (Oct. 23), Panthers’ freshman Colton Rodgers was the champion of the private high-school golf event with a 7-under-par 64 on the Blue Mash Golf Course in Montgomery County.
Also for Potomac School, senior Connor Wood was second with a 1-under 70, junior Jack Smith was third with a 73, freshman Ben Spencer shot 78 to finish fifth, sophomore Michael Dillow was sixth with an 80 and junior Katie Lee tied for ninth with an 83.
Lee was the only female player in the competition. She and her five teammates were chosen All-MAC by virtue of placing in the top 12.
Wood and Smith each made four birdies, Dillow had two and Spencer and Lee one each. Combined, the five Potomac School players made 20 birdies.
Rodgers’ standout performance included eight birdies with just one bogey. He birdied the final four holes and five of the last seven and made three birdies on the front nine after parring the first four holes.
“Colton just busts the ball off the tee, hits terrific iron shots and has a great short game and putts well,” Potomac School coach Mike Hutton said. “It was a special day for all of our players.”
Rodgers’ only bogey was a five on the 10th hole, when he hit his approach shot to within three feet of the hole. With backspin on it, the ball rolled backward quite a distance, and he three-putted.
In the earlier MAC team tournament, Potomac School won by 42 strokes at Blue Mash. Rodgers, Spencer and Smith finished first, second and third individually, Lee placed fifth and Wood sixth.
That title, its second in a row, followed a perfect 10-0 record in regular-season dual matches, including a victory over Virginia High School League Class 6 public-school state champion Langley.
During regular-season play, Rodgers defeated two-time VHSL Class 6 individual state champion Owen Love of Edison High School in match-play competition.
“The team played well right from the start of the season and all the way through,” Hutton said. “The season couldn’t have worked out better.”
Potomac School does not play in the private-school state tournament because it is held during the spring, when the majority of independent-school teams in Virginia hold their golf seasons.
