The picture-perfect 18th hole at Evergreen Country Club graces the Web page of the Virginia State Golf Association’s Northeast Section. With a sprawling green framed by a wraparound lake and a downhill, tree-lined fairway that emerges from the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, this is a golfer’s stairway to heaven.
Iconic? Yes. Quintessential? No. Finding a similar golf scene in saturated, suburban Northern Virginia is next to impossible. But it is the view members of the Haymarket club have every time they step out of the grill and gaze upon their course, an under-the-radar gem.
“The best kept secret in Washington area,” member Dave Wood said.
Another well-kept secret is the loaded lineup of standout players who delivered Evergreen its first Northern Virginia A-Team championship earlier this month. In the finals, Evergreen toppled six-time champion Chantilly 12-6, getting a 9-0 sweep of three matches at home.
In the competition, which features 12 players from each club split into two-man teams in a better-ball format, Evergreen’s winners at home were the teams of Andy Harris-Jack Ferraro, Jeffrey Long-Jimmy Frank and Wood-Scott Shingler. Evergreen triumphed after four runner-up showings, the most recent coming in 1998.
“It was a big deal, especially for our players who have been with us for a long time,” said Wood, a 53-year-old air traffic control specialist. “Our membership doesn’t change as much as other clubs.”
Wood knows what it’s like to wait a long time for success. A member since the club was established in 1968, Wood won his first club championship in 2004, then successfully defended the title the next two years.
On its way to the title, Evergreen won six matches over three weekends. Wood, who captained the team and formulated pairings, mixed and matched 17 different players, including former club champions Frank (four titles), Harris (two), Boney Hoffman (two), Ferraro (one) and Dick Bowen (three).
“There are a lot of guys who couldn’t play in all the matches,” Wood said. “But that’s where our depth came in. You have to have a lot of strong players. You can’t win with just seven or eight.”
In addition to his leadership, Wood contributed outstanding play as he and four different partners accumulated 15 of a possible 18 points. Other mainstays during the championship run were Long (16 of 18 points), Hoffman (14 of 18 points), Bowen (12 of 15), Shingler (12 of 15) and Harris (12.5 of 18).
Long, a recent graduate of Old Dominion, and Trey Compton (George Mason), provided an injection of talent in their first year of eligibility. Long was clutch in the semifinals. His birdie on the second playoff hole was the difference as Evergreen edged defending champion International after the teams tied 9-9.
“The young players added a lot,” Wood said. “That’s one of the fun things about the A-Team matches. These are kids we’ve watched growing up. Now they’re playing with us and helping us win.”
