Gonzaga junior Phil Doyle has battled a growth spurt much of the past year that has seen him shoot up almost eight inches and messed with the mechanics of his golf swing.
But in thepast few weeks Doyle has felt more and more confident as his comfort level returned. Monday afternoon at Congressional Country Club everything came together for him.
Doyle finished with a 2-over par 74 to win the Metropolitan Golf Championship, a four-team event featuring the top two squads in both the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference and the Interstate Athletic Conference. Doyle’s round helped Gonzaga to the team title as well. The Eagles’ top five golfers totaled 391, well in front of runner-up Georgetown Prep (409).
“I just felt something today,” said Doyle, who finished two shots in front of DeMatha junior Joey Rice. “I was mysteriously confident. And it’s great because going into this year we knew we had four No. 1 golfers. We showed our depth today.”
DeMatha was third in the team standings at 424. Landon placed fourth at 426. Only five golfers broke 80 during a long afternoon of golf. Gonzaga junior Ryan McCarthy, last week’s WCAC individual champ, shot a 77. Teammate Jay Mulieri came in at 79, tied with Georgetown Prep’s Wes Strang.
Doyle’s putting was shaky, early. But a birdie on the sixth hole brought him back into the round. He also birdied the par-3 13th hole and shot par on 18. The only hiccup was his double-bogey at 17.
