Howard County 2023 high school golf season preview: River Hill returns pair of state champions
Aug. 23—With matches beginning this week, golf is the first high school fall sport to begin play in Howard County.
Howard County returns two of the state's top golfers in River Hill's Benjamin Siriboury and Helen Yeung. Both are coming off back-to-back state titles with Siriboury breaking his own state record last season, while Yeung played 36 holes of bogey-free golf at the 4A/3A state championship.
Glenelg's Megan Kirkpatrick also is one of the top returning golfers after leading the county in points last season, as well finishing second at districts and states.
The Hawks also captured the program's first state 4A/3A team title, while Marriotts Ridge is also expected to compete at the top, finishing as county champions and third at states. The county also welcomes a new addition as Guilford Park will be fielding a varsity team, just one of four sports where the new school will have varsity competition in its inaugural year.
For the postseason, teams are split among two classifications with 4A and 3A paired together and 2A and 1A. Teams are also divided into districts among their classifications. Atholton, Howard, Long Reach, Marriotts Ridge, Mt. Hebron, Oakland Mills, Reservoir and River Hill are all part of District 5 in 4A/3A. Meanwhile, Centennial, Glenelg, Guilford Park and Wilde Lake are part of District 5 in 2A/1A.
In the district and state tournaments, qualifying teams will field teams of five golfers with the four lowest scorers added to the team total. Those teams who don't qualify for districts can have individual players compete.
The district tournament is scheduled for Oct. 17 with the state championship Oct. 23-25 at the University of Maryland.
Here's a look at the county teams (Editor's note: not all teams responded to requests for information)
Glenelg
Coach: Chris Beil, 15th season
Last season: Boys: 3-3; Girls: 5-1, state qualifier
Top returners: Seniors Megan Kirkpatrick, Norah Vanderpool, Ellis Waak, Issa Mansour and Mark McAllister; junior Emme Glassman; sophomores Tyler Carl and Samadhi Tennakoon.
Newcomers to watch: Senior Iesha DeSilva; sophomore Jonah Taylor.
Coach's outlook: "For both teams, I feel we can contend for the county title. On the range we look good, we just need to carry that over to the course. I am looking to qualify for the state tournament as a team this year and make it to the second round. Individually, I would like to see a top ten in the state by several members of the team."
Guilford Park
Coach: Brent Kennedy
Last season: N/A
Players to watch: Sophomores Emery Kraeuter and Peyton Monson; freshmen Eamon Bloechi, Joey Dadurka, Alex Harkness and Gabrielle Walker
Coach's outlook: "Being the first year for the program and having only freshmen and sophomores, we are focusing as much on developing the players' fundamentals and enjoyment of the sport as we are on matches. Half of the players on the roster came into tryouts having never played on a golf course before. But they all have great attitudes and are eager to learn. It's been fun already seeing significant improvement in their skill level in just over a week together."
Hammond
Coach: Scott Osborne, 10th season
Last season: 1-6
Top returner: Junior Mason Walls.
Newcomers to watch: Senior Kevin Barry and sophomore Jon Louie.
Coach's outlook: "We're hoping to achieve five wins, which would match our school record for wins."
Howard
Coach: Joshua McGoun, 11th season
Last season: Boys 4-2; Girls 2-4
Top returners: Seniors Dev Sheth, Sean Dawes; juniors Ronan Menon and Krish Patel; sophomore Andie Chung.
Newcomers to watch: Sophomore Addison Courtemanche.
Coach's outlook: "We have five new girls on our team to complement our three returning players. We are looking for growth and success with our new additions. We hope to remain competitive in every match and participate as a team in the District Tournament."
Long Reach
Coach: Keith Gonsouland, second season
Last season: 6-2
Top returners: Seniors Jake Filler, Emma Keoch and Ethan Ahn; junior Amir Patel.
Newcomers to watch: Junior Zack Baille; sophomores Elliott Austraw and Russell Calkins.
Coach's outlook: "I think our team has the ability to compete with the teams in our league. The key will be for our golfers to be effective and efficient around the greens."
Marriotts Ridge
Coach: Mark Dubbs
Last season: Boys 6-0; Girls 6-0
Expected returners: Senior Charlene Park; juniors George Williamson, Jonathan Moon and Lila Becker.
On the course: The Mustangs graduated a pair of first team All-County performers last year in Alana Alexander-Giles and Sangmin Lee. The boys team has won 89 consecutive county matches, with both the boys and girls teams winning the 2022 Howard County title. Both Williamson and Becker were first team All-County last season. Becker placed third at counties and districts and second at states, while Williamson was sixth at counties and finished tied for eighth at districts.
Oakland Mills
Coach: Jon Browne, 19th season
Last season: Boys 0-6; Girls 2-4
Top returners: Seniors Chloe Koh and Cayden Mood.
Newcomers to watch: Senior Maks Schwartz; sophomore Tamia Mills.
On the course: Koh qualified for both counties and districts last season, while Mood enters his second season on varsity after being brand new to golf last season. The Scorpions have a smaller team with two boys and two girls, but have the opportunity for growth with a blend of older and newer players.
Reservoir
Coach: Dave Appleby, second season
Top returners: Seniors Riyana Patel and Payton Pullen.
Newcomers to watch: Dhillon Patel and Younus Azam.
Coach's Outlook: "We have two senior girls who should be top players. The boys are still young, having no seniors. Riyana was a state qualifier last year and Payton just missed states last year."
River Hill
Coach: Matt Graves, 19th season
Last season: Boys and Girls 5-1, district champions, 4A/3A state champions
Top returners: Seniors Benjamin Siriboury, Helen Yeung, Mark Berg, Justin Choi, Keagan Graves and Sydney Lynott.
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Newcomers to watch: Freshman Michelle Yeung
Coach's outlook: "We want to continue where we left off last season and be a threat not only in the county but trying to three-peat in districts and repeat in the 4A/3A state championship. We should have a solid boys and girls squad. We have everyone returning and add Michelle Yeung to the mix on the girls side. We hope to compete for a boys and girls championship this fall."
Wilde Lake
Coach: Kourtney Harrison, fifth season
Last season: Boys 2-4; Girls 3-3
Top returners: Senior Laurel Sands; juniors: Jane Mhonda and Antonio Hardy.
Newcomer to watch: Senior Sam Phelps
Coach's outlook: "We are working on building our program up and developing some new players. We are hoping to improve our record from last season."
