On Monday night, Churchill’s Karl Lindblad mass mailed his resume to college golf coaches. He should have waited a day.
Tuesday at Poolesville Golf Course, Lindblad claimed the biggest title of his career, winning the District 2 (Montgomery County) Championship. Lindblad shot an even-par 71 to beat Brian Hollins of Wootton by two strokes.
Last fall, Lindblad wasn’t even good enough to crack the stacked Churchill lineup. But after a year of hard work — on his game and head — he is oneof Churchill’s top ‘Dogs.
“I’m a range rat,” said the 6-foot-3 Lindblad. “In the summer, I’ll spend four or five hours hitting balls.”
Lindblad also led Churchill to its fifth straight District 2 team title. Seniors Joey Goldstein (74), Billy Peel (75) and junior Conor Wielgus (77) contributed as Churchill (297) won by a decisive margin over fellow state qualifiers Wootton (311) and Whitman (312).
At the University of Maryland Golf Course later this month, Churchill will attempt to add to its record string of consecutive state titles (four). One thing the Bulldogs will bring with them is confidence.
“The only way I would have been surprised, was if a Churchill player didn’t win today,” said Goldstein. “Karl didn’t surprise me at all. I’ve been waiting for him to have a breakout round.”
Lindblad jump-started the day with two birdies on the first four holes. So when he “rope hooked” a drive and lost his ball on No. 6, he wasn’t fazed. Later in the round, he missed three putts inside four feet. But he remained confident in his ball striking, as he hit 16 of 18 greens in regulation, on his way to five birdies.
