George Williamson was prepared to accept defeat. After narrowly missing a birdie putt on the 18th hole, he tossed his hat to the side in disgust.
The Marriotts Ridge senior hit a few putts on the University of Maryland golf course practice green to prepare for a potential playoff. Williamson was tied with Broadneck junior Ben Coe at 1-under-par.
Coe’s final hole was No. 17, one of the easiest on the course. Williamson had previously birdied that same hole.
But Coe’s approach shot sailed past the green and he narrowly missed a 12-foot putt for par, granting Williamson the Maryland Class 4A/3A state title. It was Williamson’s first high school championship.
He found out on the putting green when a friend told him that Coe bogeyed. Williamson almost didn’t believe it at first.
“It was a weird feeling. I was fully in the mental space for a playoff,” Williamson said.
“I thought when George missed that last putt [for birdie], ‘Oh man we’re going to leave it just hanging,” Marriotts Ridge coach Mark Dubbs said.
The Saint Joseph’s commit shot a 73 in the championship’s first round on Monday, placing him four strokes off the lead. Williamson tried to reset on Tuesday by attending a Marriotts Ridge soccer game.
It paid off. The senior was honed in on his driver and iron play on Wednesday, hitting 16 greens in regulation. The lanky senior’s ball striking ability was on full display, consistently out-driving everyone in his group. He was the only golfer to drive the green on the 17th hole, setting him up for an easy birdie, Dubbs said.
“I was in the middle of every fairway. I was hitting every green. I was just really patient,” Williamson said.
Coe matched him on nearly every hole. He collected three birdies and avoided a bogey for 17 holes. When Coe realized that his bogey cost him a chance at a title, he put both hands above his head and repeatedly muttered “so close.”
“It’s going to haunt me a little bit,” Coe said.
The two golfers embraced after the round. They each laughed about how nervous they were entering the final hole, before Williamson told Coe that he had another chance at a championship next year.
Williamson totaled 141 for the two-round tournament; Coe 142. Northern-Calvert’s Jack Gladfelter, the first-round leader, finished third at 6-over-par 148. Rounding out the top five were River Hill’s Mark Berg in fourth (149) and a three-way tie for fifth between Crofton’s Owen Newberry, Dulaney’s Ryan Dannenfelser and Walt Whitman’s Kavi Varma (150).
The 4A/3A girls finish was just as close as the boys. Winston Churchill’s Zoe Cusack narrowly defeated River Hill’s Michelle Yeung by two strokes. The third-place finisher, Marriotts Ridge Lila Becker, was 10 strokes behind Cusack.
A pair of bogeys within the first five holes doomed Yeung, who recovered to shoot a 34 on the back nine. It’s the first time in three years that a Yeung hasn’t won the state title. Michelle Yeung’s older sister, Helen Yeung, won three consecutive championships from 2021 to 2023.
Michelle Yeung announced her presence as a future state-contender, shooting a sizzling 69 on Wednesday.
The sophomore’s effort wasn’t enough to best Cusack, who’s 5-under-par 66 was one stroke away from tying the girls tournament record. Cusack’s performance helped Winston Churchill (598) clinch the team championship, with River Hill (602) and Marriotts Ridge (603) narrowly trailing.