River Hill dominates on Day 1 of 3A/4A state golf tournament

River Hill took center stage in more ways than one during the opening round of the 3A/4A state championship golf tournament on Monday at the University of Maryland golf course in College Park.

With defending individual state champions Benjamin Siriboury (64) and Helen Yeung (68) producing career-best days to race out to big leads, the River Hill team posted a combined total of 284 (even par) to open up its own 14-shot advantage over second-place Sherwood (298).

The four-player Hawks total — which also included rounds of 75 from Mark Berg and 77 from Justin Choi — is just one shot shy of the all-time one-day state record score of 283 that Churchill posted in 2015.

“Everything came together for one of those days you only dream about. Honestly, our score today was well [better than] any number I ever thought possible,” River Hill coach Matt Graves said. “But it’s one of those things where you get those special rounds from your two horses out front and then your three and four deliver some of their best golf as well, and suddenly everything aligns.”

Siriboury’s magical day certainly went a long way toward putting the Hawks out in front. The junior set a one-day state record with his 7-under-par round of 64, breaking the previous state tournament mark by three shots.

He made seven birdies and an eagle during his round to help make up for a relatively slow start that included two bogeys in his first five holes.

It was an eagle on the par 5 16th hole, his eighth hole of the day, that sparked history. Hitting a 60-degree wedge from 36 yards away, Siriboury’s third shot bounced once and then went in the hole to get him under par for the first time.

He never slowed down from there, making three more birdies in his next four holes to catapult himself into the lead.

“After that hole out, it made me play more aggressive,” Siriboury said. “Everything just seemed to click and I felt like I had the chance to shoot something really low.”

Last year, Siriboury won the state championship with a two-day total of 138 (-4) — tying the boys state tournament record for overall score. He said those positive memories served him well in terms of getting off to an even stronger start this year.

“Last year I played well, but there were still some holes where I made some easy mistakes,” Siriboury said. “So being able to look back coming into this year and realize what I needed to correct and what holes I could attack, I thought that really helped me today.”

Sherwood’s Bryan Kim, the District II champion earlier this month, is three shots back of Siriboury in second place after a round of 67. His round included a string of three straight birdies between the 15th and 17th holes.

Crofton’s Owen Newberry and Centennial’s Dustin Stocksdale find themselves in a tie for third after posting even-par rounds of 71. They will both be in the final group, alongside Siriboury and Kim, when the 3A/4A golfers return on Wednesday for the final round of the state championship tournament.

On the girls side, Yeung was just as impressive on her way to opening up a five-shot lead on the field. The junior made three birdies and no bogeys, playing the same kind of steady golf that helped her win the Howard County championship tournament last week.

“My game was really consistent throughout the entire day,” Yeung said. “My driver and longer irons were going really straight and I attacked the pins with my shorter wedges. I felt like I had a good, positive outlook.”

Yeung won last year’s state championship tournament by one stroke with a two-day total of 145. Her lead following that first round when she shot a 70 was one stroke, compared to the five-shot lead she currently holds over Churchill freshman Zoe Cusack (73).

Still, she says she doesn’t plan to change her approach.

“I’m just going to stick to my own game plan,” Yeung said. “I’m focusing on positive emotions and not stressing over the little things.”

Rounding out the current top five among girls in 3A/4A is Marriotts Ridge’s Alana Alexander-Giles, Northwest’s Julia Hua and Chuchill’s Leela Kenwood — all of which shot 3-over rounds of 75 on Monday.

In the team competition behind River Hill and Sherwood, Churchill (305), Marriotts Ridge (307) and Urbana (320) are also currently in the top five.

Graves said that as River Hill chases the golf program’s first state championship, he knows no lead is safe. He just hopes his players can enjoy the moment and bounce back in the final round if, and when, things go wrong.

Berg perfectly encapsulated that ability to regroup when things are going in the wrong direction on Monday, as he played his first three holes in 5-over par. After that, he played his last 15 holes in 1-under par.

“Golf is all mental and, as a coach, I want them to feel as little extra pressure as possible. So we aren’t going to talk about anything other than ‘what outfit do you want to wear for Wednesday?’” Graves said. “We didn’t talk much about expectations before today, so my theory is why change that now?”

The opening round for golfers in the 1A/2A classification is Tuesday at the University of Maryland, while the final round for all qualifying golfers in all classifications is Wednesday at the same location.

The cut line for individual golfers in 3A/4A is 85 for boys and 87 for girls. There were 10 teams that made the cut for the final round by shooting 330 or better.

Top teams:

1. River Hill, 284; 2. Sherwood, 298; 3. Churchill, 305; 4. Marriotts Ridge, 307; 5. Urbana, 320; 6. Crofton, 321; 7. Montgomery Blair, 326; T8. Broadneck, 330; T8. Dulaney, 330; T8. Walt Whitman 330.

Top 10 boys players:

1. Benjamin Siriboury, River Hill, 64; 2. Bryan Kim, Sherwood, 67; T3. Owen Newberry, Crofton, 71; T3. Dustin Stocksdale, Centennial, 71; T5. Sangmin Lee, Marriotts Ridge, 73; T5. Jimmy Goldsborough, North Hagerstown, 73; 7. Rylan Bravin, Urbana, 74; T8. Mark Berg, River Hill, 75; T8. Mihn Le, Urbana, 75; T8. Dimitri Townsend, Walter Johnson, 75.

Top 10 girls players:

1.Helen Yeung, River Hill, 68; 2. Zoe Cusack, Churchill, 73; T3. Alana Alexander-Giles, Marriotts Ridge, 75; T3. Julia Hua, Northwest, 75; T3. Leela Kenwood, Churchill, 75; T6. Lila Becker, Marriotts Ridge, 77; T6. Sukhumparnich, Walter Johnson, 77; 8. Victoria Diaz, Churchill, 79; T9. Cameron Freund, Walt Whitman, 80; T9. Erica Honadel, Aberdeen, 80; T9. Grace Oristian, Quince Orchard, 80; T9. Sady Shafie, Damascus, 80.