Fueled by bogey, McCarthy finishes with a flourish in Frank Emmett Schoolboy

Wednesday at Montgomery Country Club, Denny McCarthy made good use of his brief bout with rage to win the Frank Emmett Schoolboy for the second straight year.

After making a frustrating bogey at the 15th hole and seeing his lead reduced to two shots, McCarthy finished with three straight birdies to close out the tournament in spectacular fashion.

McCarthy, a senior this fall at Georgetown Prep, shot 67-68-70 – 205 for a 5-stroke victory over Ryan Cole (Linganore) and a 6-stroke margin on Ben Warnquist (DeMatha).

A decisive finish was appropriate for a player who has dominated locally. Last June, McCarthy won the Emmett, a tournament that draws the Washington area’s best high players, by 14 strokes.

“He’s so tough to beat,” said Warnquist, who will play at Maryland next fall. “Even when hits a bad stretch, he follows it up with birdies. His ability to run with the momentum sets him apart. He takes it and runs with it.”

With a win in the tournament next year, in his final summer of eligibility, McCarthy would become the first three-time champion in the 77-year history of the event.

“Obviously that would be great, but I’m not thinking about that right now,” said McCarthy, a Burtonsville resident. “That’s a year away. Next year, we’ll see where it is. Hopefully I’m playing well.”

Don’t bet against it.

Last week in the FootJoy Invitational in Greensboro, an American Junior Golf Association event, that drew 98 of the world’s best players, McCarthy shot 68-69-66-75 – 276, leading through three rounds before finishing five strokes back. The winner, Tanner Kesterson of Plano, Tex., will receive a sponsor’s exemption to the PGA Tour’s Wyndham Championship on the same course in August.

“I didn’t really think about that,” said McCarthy, 17. “Last day I played really well, putted well. I just made a couple bad swings that cost me a couple shots. I hit a lot of good putts, but not a lot of them fell the last day.”

Last week was busy for McCarthy, a member at Argyle Country Club. It started Monday at the Naval Academy Golf Club, where McCarthy shot a 4-under 67-71 — 138 to share the medal with Caleb Sturgeon (Laurens, S.C.) and qualify for the U.S. Junior Amateur for the second straight time. The championship will be contested July 19-24 in Ada. Mich.

Among juniors, McCarthy is ranked No. 7 in the world (Golfweek). He said Wednesday that he expects to make his college choice within the next few weeks. He will decide between Virginia, Wake Forest, and North Carolina.

After he made his bogey at the 15th hole from a tough greenside lie Wednesday, McCarthy demonstrated the power he packs in his compact 5-foot-8, 150-pound frame.

At No. 16, a 330-yard par 4, McCarthy hit his drive under a bush hole high, chipped to within 8 feet, and made the putt for a birdie. At No. 17, McCarthy blasted his drive 320 yards down the middle of the fairway then hit a wedge to within 5 feet for another birdie.

At No. 18, a 561-yard par 5, a drive and a 3-wood left him 20 yards short of the green. From the rough, McCarthy hit a flop shot over a bunker and to within a foot for a tap-in birdie. 

It was the third straight day that McCarthy birdied Nos. 16, 17, and 18.

“I guess I like those holes a little bit,” said McCarthy. “I just ripped driver all three days on those holes. If you hit your driver well out here you can really shoot a good number.”

All three days, McCarthy’s closing birdie runs came after making bogey on No. 15. In the first two rounds, he three-putted.

“I guess you could say it got me a little motivated,” McCarthy said with a smile.

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