It is as sure a sign of spring as baseball or cherry blossoms. They may end up playing in rain, hail or snow. But no matter what the weather conditions, the amateur golf season begins in earnest this weekend with a pair of team tournaments in Maryland and Virginia.
The Northern Region “A” team tournament quarterfinals begin Saturday and are comprised of eight Northern Virginia country clubs playing to determine the best club in Northern Virginia.
The Maryland State Golf Association team championship, a 64-team knockout tournament, is slated to begin Saturday as well. Both tournaments were supposed to begin last week, but postponed due to poor weather.
“It’s a great way to start the golf season,” said Scott Inman, who helped Springfield Country Club capture last year’s Northern Region “A” team title. “Most years you don’t get a lot of golf in before these tournaments so we may be a little rusty out there. But you need to find your game pretty quick to beat this kind of competition.”
The Maryland team tournament enters its 77th year. Breton Bay Country Club was the surprise winner last season, outlasting powerhouse Congressional CC in the semifinals and Baltimore CC in the championship round.
Events later in the summer may have deeper fields (the Washington Metropolitan Golf Association “A” team tournament) or feature a prestigious individual trophy (the Virginia State Golf Association Amateur) but for Virginia country clubs nothing is better than beating the best teams in their own back yard.
The “A” team tournament began last month by crowning seven division champions. Each division consists of four teams. Top teams in each advance to the quarterfinal knockout stage, which also features one wild card.The semifinal round starts on Sunday with the final on April 21.
About the tourneys
» In Maryland, the inter-club team championship consists of 11 amateurs and the club pro from each country club. The 12 singles matches, half played at home and half away, employ a Nassau format. Players receive one point for winning the front nine, one for winning the back nine and another point for low-score after 18 holes. Ties give each team 1.5 points.
» Virginia’s tournament is similar, except there are six matches played between two golfers from each club in a best ball format. Point totals are the same.
