Great Scores @ Greystone

Baltimore Junior Golf Shootout

                   White Hall, MD, October 17th, 2022 — Buckeye Junior Golf Tour held its first ever tournament at the beautiful Greystone Golf Course in White Hall, Maryland. This local Baltimore County course features a ton of elevation change over it’s 18-holes, along with lots of water hazard to watch out for. Let’s see who was able to turn Greystone into a Goldstone with a Championship performance below.

                  Round 1 – Saturday, October 15th — The weather is slowly starting to turn to Fall in the Mid-Atlantic. We have some of the last great days of golf for the year and starting in the late morning we were able to have cool temperatures but otherwise sunshine for most of the day.

                The hardest hole for the Boys 15-19 in Round 1 was the hardest handicap hole on the golf course. The long 424-Yard, Par-4, 9th-Hole. This hole features 3 ponds on it. Thankfully, the pond on the right does not come into play but the 2 ponds on the left might swallow up a ball or two if you are not accurate with your tee shot. There is also a pesky bunker that sits right in driving range, sitting at 260-yards from the tee that can eat up stray drives that flail right. The green is surrounded by two giant bunkers on either side and fescue in the back, so it is better to play this hole short rather than long. Ryan Durborow from Sykesville, MD was the only player that was able to pick up a much-deserved Par on the hole. The easiest hole for the Boys 15-19 in Round 1 was actually one of the hardest holes on the golf course, Hole-4. Playing to just a bit over Par this long 416-Yard, Par-4 features 5 Bunkers and a dog-leg to add some distance. Once again, the key is to keep your drive in the fairway as all the bunkers on this hole are designed to cost you a stroke, whether that is off the tee or your approach to the green. About 15% of the field picked up Birdies on the hole. Ryan Hoffner from Parkton, MD was our Round 1 Leader shooting an amazing +2, 74. Ryan was followed closely behind by Alex Yong from Stockton, NJ with a 76.

                 The Boys 10-14 were struggling the most with the short 128-yard, Par-3, 8th-hole. Extreme accuracy is needed for a good score on this hole like most Par-3’s. There is a major twist with this one though, especially depending on the location of the flagstick, as one of the aforementioned ponds sits on the entire left side of the hole. Best to draw your ball in and even short if need be to make sure you score well. Jameson Greenwood from Hampstead, MD played the hole in fantastic fashion being the only player in the field to par the hole. The Boys flipped the Par-3’s on the back though finding Hole-16 a longer and arguably harder Par-3 the best in Round 1. The only real trouble on this hole is playing it to long where 3 bunkers sit. If you club down and aim for the front of the green you should roll up to the hole nicely for a Birdie or Par chance. Jameson Greenwood once again showed off his short range and accuracy skills being the only player to Par the hole. Great job playing the hardest and easiest holes the best on the day Jameson. Justin Oler from Sparks, MD came in as our Round 1 Leader for the Boys 10-14. He was followed closely behind by Noah Westermann from Millersville, PA.

                   Round 2 – October 16th – The Fall weather made a second appearance for us. Let’s hope it sticks around for another couple weeks before the 2022 Season ends!

                   Once Again, it was Hole-9 that was playing the toughest for the Boys 15-19 in Round 2. Around 20% of the players were able to play the hole well and pick up Pars. Hole-5 a long Par-5 but one of the easiest holes on the course was playing the easiest for the Boys 15-19 in Round 2. A huge dog-leg sits right in the middle of the hole to add some distance along with an astonishing 9 Bunkers. A good 220-250 yard drive is the sweet spot here to land at the dog-leg bend. You have a couple of choices after that of trying to attack the green with a 3 wood or play a nice safe shot about 180-yards with good accuracy as not to contend with any of the bunkers. All that’s left to do after that is get it on the green and putt-in. About 15% of the field were able to pick up some much needed Birdies on this easy hole. Ryan Hoffner would go wire-to-wire to finish out as our Champion. Ryan should be playing in the Boys 10-14 he challenged himself this season to move up and play with the Boys 15-19. Ryan led the Division with the Most Pars or Better, 26. Ryan also led all players on Par-4’s going an amazing +2 on those holes. Congratulations on a great tournament Ryan! Adam Green from Freeland, MD continued his strong season and came in as our Runner-Up. Adam now moves into 1st place for our Player of the Year Standings for Boys 15-19. He finished the tournament with the Most Pars, 22. Congratulations on a great tournament and season Adam!
                  The Boys 10-14 found Hole-7 to be playing the hardest in Round 2. This hole is listed as one of the easiest on the golf course but I am guessing that is just because of its short 335-yard distance. There is trouble everywhere. Most notable the giant pond that sits in front of the green. Sitting at 105-yards long there is no easy approach to the green. Not only that there are 3 greenside bunkers ready to swallow up any balls that you try to power over. Double Bogeys from Noah Westermann and Justin Oler led the Division. The Boys 10-14 continued their dominance of the Par-3’s throughout the tournament. The played Hole-3 under-par in Round 2! This is no easy bout as you have to clear a large area of fescue to even get to the green on this Par-3. Once again, Greystone continues its trend of guarding power shots by placing 3 large bunkers behind the green on the hole. Noah Westermann continued a strong Round 2 performance to help the group get to that below average mark with his Birdie. In the end Noah was just to strong, with his amazing 80 in Round 2, to secure the Champion flag. Noah’s 14 Pars or Better led the division. This seemed to be a key stat this weekend as you had to take you chances when you could get them at Greystone. Noah also was extremely consistent leading the Par-4’s. He started off Round 2 extremely strong as well with his back-to-back Birdies on Holes 2-3. Congratulations on a great tournament and your first Champion Flag with BJGT, Noah! Justin Oler was our Runner-Up. Justin was extremely strong on the harder Front-9 out at Greystone showing off his skills with 4 Pars on those holes. Congratulations on a great tournament Justin!
                   Greystone is an extremely tough course and we cannot be prouder of our players for playing so great. Just two more tournaments left in our 2022 Season. Hershey Country Club-East which is a great course at an awesome facility and the 2nd Annual Buckeye Cup which just has a couple of spots remaining. Our 2023 Schedule should be going live sometime in late November or early December.