From Russia with touch
By: Kevin Dunleavy
Examiner Staff Writer
July 10, 2009
Chantilly’s Ritter wins Bobby Bowers Memorial
As an elementary schooler in Russia, Timur Khassanov’s favorite sport was soccer. But that was before he moved to the United States, acquired a new name and was introduced to golf.
A decade later, Khassanov, now known as Tim Ritter, is one of the best schoolboy players in the Washington area. Thursday the Chantilly resident proved it with a resounding victory over Sean Bosdosh of Clarksburg, 7 and 5, in the Bobby Bowers Memorial at Springfield Country Club.
Ritter’s domination of the 16-17 Division final was an appropriate conclusion. In winning six grueling rounds of match-play the last three days, the only time Ritter trailed was Thursday afternoon, and for just one hole.
“My goal was to win the next hole and not get down again. I accomplished that,” said Ritter. “This was my last chance to play the tournament, unless they change the [age]. So I’m very ecstatic.”
Ritter, a senior this fall at Westfield, has a homemade swing, short on aesthetic appeal. But his short game is pure. This week, he chipped in four times, and drained numerous long putts.
His handiwork around the greens was the difference on the back nine of the finals. At No. 10 he chipped in with his trusted 58-degree wedge, winning the hole with a birdie. At No. 11, he dropped a six-footer to save par. At No. 12, Ritter had a difficult chip, the ball a foot below his feet on a bunker ridge, but he rolled it to within 18-inches for the winning par. Then at No. 13, Ritter ended the match with a curling, 12-foot birdie putt.
“Around the greens is where I have an advantage on other guys,” said Ritter. “I don’t like to hit range balls, but I love to chip and putt. These greens are perfect. If you hit it on line, it’s going in the hole.”
When his uncle, Mike Ritter, introduced him to golf four years ago, Ritter was immediately hooked. One cold winter afternoon at Landsdowne, club personnel were anxious to go home, but one cart still was out of the barn. It was Ritter, hitting bunker shots in the snow.
“It’s my passion,” said Ritter. “I don’t want to go home. I’d rather stay out on the golf course. Sleep out here, if I could.”
14-15 Division
Down four in the 14-15 Division final, Jordan Sweet of Bowie was caught in a buzz saw. His opponent, Griffin Clark of Chester, Va., had just made three straight birdies with the scorecard-pleasing numbers 2-3-2.
But Sweet wasn’t discouraged, He wasn’t playing poorly. So he stayed patient and pounced when Clark returned to earth. Winning six of the final 12 holes, Sweet surged past Clark to win the biggest title of his career, 1 up.
“I was a bit tired and he was tearing it up,” said Sweet, a junior this fall at DeMatha. “But I kind of got a second wind and rolled in some putts.”
Clark, the champion last year in the 10-13 Division, was bidding to become the first repeat boys winner at the Bowers since Ryan Sypniewski won three straight (1998-2000). But leading 4 up, his fortunes turned at No. 7 with a four-putt. With pars on the next two holes, Sweet sliced the lead to 1 up.
The decisive hole on the back nine was No. 17. With the match all square, Sweet blasted his drive 290 yards, leaving himself a flop shot, over a bunker, to the pin. Sweet knocked it 10 feet past, but drained the putt for the go-ahead birdie. On No. 18, his par sealed the victory.
Sweet was bolstered by his caddie, sister Caroline Sweet, a player at William & Mary, who will attempt to win her second straight Maryland Women’s Amateur title later this month.
“She knows a lot. She knows what she’s talking about,” said Jordan Sweet, a member at Crofton. “I tend to be overly aggressive. She talks me out of some stupid things I might try. It’s just good having her out there with me.”
10-13 Division
After playing golf for a decade, Ryan Douglass of Leesburg finally got his first tournament win, defeating Eddie Wung of McLean in the 10-13 Division final, 4 and 3.
Douglass, a freshman this fall at Heritage High and a member at River Creek, thrived on the par 5s. Hitting wedges inside 10 feet on No, 2 and No. 14, Douglass made birdies to win holes. On the final hole of the match, No. 15, also a par 5, Douglass sewed it up with a routine par.
Girls Division
Alexandra White, 14, of Haymarket couldn’t get anything going in her match with Elyse Smidinger of Crofton. But after a lackluster front nine and trailing 2 down, White turned it around with an eagle at No. 10, then went on to win 3 and 2.
Earlier this summer, Smidinger, 15, won the Maryland Junior Girls Championship.
kdunleavy@washingtonexaminer.com
