Gonzaga junior Ryan McCarthy has played baseball and golf almost since he could walk. But for his first two years of high school, baseball was the focus, golf relegated to junior tournaments in the offseason.
Last summer, though, McCarthy saw flashes in his golf game that showed him the talent was there. With his classmates again begging McCarthy to join Gonzaga’s golf team he finally made a decision that’s paid off handsomely.
In his first year with the Eagles, McCarthy outlasted a competitive field to win the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference golf championship on Tuesday at Potomac Ridge Golf Course in Waldorf, Md.
McCarthy was the only player to find a level of consistency over the two-day event, which began with the first round last week. He entered the final round tied for fourth at 74 and matched that total on Tuesday for a tournament-best 148. No other golfer shot below 76 in the final round.
“I saw glimpses of what I could do with golf,” McCarthy said. “That kind of made my decision for me. So I put the time in and my game eventually came around. It took a while, but I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out.”
McCarthy’s victory capped a perfect day for Gonzaga, which won its third consecutive team title. The Eagles, who also won the regular season championship, advance to next week’s Metro Championship at Congressional Country Club along with DeMatha. The Stags were third in the tournament’s team standings at 808, just behind second-place Paul VI (806), but advance because they finished second during the regular season. They join Landon and Georgetown Prep, the top two teams from the Interstate Athletic Conference.
DeMatha junior Joey Rice almost matched McCarthy’s consistency with a 75-76 (151) for second place. St. John’s junior Chris Miller and Good Counsel junior Ryan Moran each shot 73-79 (152) to tie for third.
McCarthy battled back after starting 4-over par on the first three holes. Birdies at the 10th and 12th holes were followed by putt-induced bogeys on 14, 15 and 17. But a pitching wedge 112-yards into the wind on the par-4 18th landed just six inches from the hole
“It was just one of those days were you had to play smart,” McCarthy said. “If you hit a tough shot you had to take your medicine and just try for par. I was just able to get in a groove on the back nine.”
