He played about as well as could be expected and in the process added another championship trophy to his resume.
But Chantilly senior Jake An couldn’t help but feel that if he raised his game even a little bit more at Wednesday’s Northern Region golf tournament, he and his Chargers teammates would have had two trophies to take home.
Instead, An left Fairfax National Golf Club with the individual title after posting back-to-back rounds of 69 for a final total of 138. That wasn’t quite enough to earn the team championship, however, which went to Concorde District rival Oakton.
The Cougars, who unseated Chantilly for the district title last week, rallied from a shot down after Tuesday’s first round to finish at 608, one stroke ahead of Chantilly’s 609. Both teams finished well ahead of third place Langley (625) and advanced to the Group AAA state tournament Tuesday in Portsmouth, Va.
“I’m happy with the way I played. But losing the team [title] by one shot is tough,” An said. “You think about all the little things you could have done that would have made the difference. But Oakton deserved it. They have a great team.”
An placed third at the state tournament last season. He was one of three Chantilly players to win a tournament title in 2005. He took the Concorde District championship, teammate Gabe Lainez won the region title and former teammate Joe Monte was the state champion.
Monte moved to Florida before the season. But, thanks to a scheduling switch, An still has a shot at keeping that trophy with the Chargers. He is slated to play in a junior tournament in Stillwater, Okla., on Saturday, Sunday and Monday and will only attend the state tournament because it was pushed back a day to Tuesday and Wednesday.
Team scores
1. Oakton 608
2. Chantilly 609
3. Langley 625
4. Loudoun Valley 640
5. Madison 641
6. West Springfield 657
7. Lake Braddock 660
8. Yorktown 680
