LC Cruises to Dulles District Golf Title while Potomac Falls Shocks Field to Claim Region Bid

By Dan Sousa
VivaLoudoun.com Editor

South Riding (Sept. 24, 2009) – The Dulles District 2009 golf tournament Wednesday featured the expected and unexpected as regular-season champion Loudoun County ran away with the title, but Potomac Falls stole the spotlight by earning a regional bid after a dramatic one-hole playoff with Briar Woods at the South Riding Golf Club.

“We wanted to come out and win this and send a little message,” said Loudoun County junior Brantley Kushner who won the individual title with a one-under par 71 after finishing runner-up as a sophomore.


The Raiders ran away with the tournament title -- their second straight and third since 2005, with a 297 score -- some 18 strokes better than Briar Woods and Potomac Falls.

Kevin Cook was one shot behind his teammate Kushner at 72 and Jon Youst shot a 76 for LC and finished fourth overall. LC’s team depth was evident as they had two 78s to choose from for their fourth score with Andrew Brenneman and Michael Linville.

“It’s been a pretty exciting day. The kids did real well. I’m obviously real proud of them and most of the parents are out here too. It’s a good day to be a Raider,” said Loudoun County coach John Laycock, who hasn’t returned to work this year after two heart attacks but couldn’t be kept away Wednesday. “I feel great, maybe not 100 percent yet. It was going to take a lot more than a couple of heart attacks to keep me off of this golf course.”

Briar Woods sophomore Adam Ochs finished third with a 74 and it appeared that the Falcons – expected to challenge the Raiders Wednesday along with host Freedom – would hang onto the runner-up spot and the second bid to the Region II tournament.

Falcons coach Bob Vitti had his team shooting around four over par on the front nine which would have had them finishing sub-300 but things turned ugly on the back nine and Ochs was the only BW golfer to break 80.

Potomac Falls, meanwhile, started a buzz in the results tent as Christian Fortier (77), Brett Johnson (78) and Scott Trump (79) all carded under 80. The Panthers still needed to shave five strokes to catch the Falcons as they were trailing, 315-320 with only the last groups to come off the course.

Senior Steven Lasik played the hero for the Panthers … twice!

First Lasik birdied the 18th hole to finish with an 81 that put the Panthers in a tie with BW. After consulting the district handbook it was determined that a team playoff would be held with both squads fielding four players. The playoff so took some players by surprise that one Falcon had to have his clubs rushed back to the course after they had been taken home by his mother.

In the playoff, the first four players matched scorecards as each team turned in a birdie and par on the par 5 No. 1 hole. PF’s Fortier and Briar Woods freshman Nick Vazzana owned the birdies earned in front of a big crowd of parents as well as coaches and golfers from the other schools.

In the second group of the playoff, both teams found trouble with Lasik nearly out of bounds off the tee, but his shot from the edge of the woods landed in a great approach position. Ochs, meanwhile, had a second shot that had the distance to make the green in two, only to find an unplayable lie in the high stuff to the right. He had to go way back and took a drop on the 9th tee box and did a nice bit of work from there to shoot a six. Och’s teammate, Jon Howard, had a go at birdie but settled for par.

That left Lasik and teammate Johnson needing to two-putt for the win and regional bid. Johnson was in first and all eyes were on Lasik with just a couple of feet to finish. Lasik admitted he felt the pressure of making the putt, but the apprehension gave away to euphoria as the ball dropped in and the Panthers celebrated.

“Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson … bring it on!,” said Lasik as he teammates laughed. “I’ll beat the greatest!”

Lasik and the Panthers had to feel like world beaters as they weren’t given much of a shot to advance from Wednesday’s tournament after an uneven season.

“They didn’t shoot numbers that were unexpected in terms of capability,” said Potomac Falls first year golf coach Ken Johnson. “We have been erratic this season. Last week here at South Riding we had 16 penalty strokes and lost to Freedom by one stroke.”

The playoffs weren’t over after the Panthers team win over the Falcons as a tie needed to broken by Briar Woods teammates Howard (80) and Vazzana (80) for the sixth and final individual spot at regionals. Vazzana won with a par on the second playoff hole to join Ochs, Tyler Blake (77) and Alex Choi (78) of Freedom, Shelby Shote (79) of Dominion and Sloan Meadows (79) of Broad Run.

Fortier also won a one-hole playoff to claim the fifth medalist spot over Blake.

The players moving on now have two weeks until Regioals which will be hosted at Shenandoah Golf Club in Front Royal. LC is the defending champion.

“We snuck up on some people last year, I’m guessing this year we will be a team that a lot of people will be looking at. So that is a different role for us so I’m anxious to see how we handle it,” said Laycock.

Laycock will look to have coach John Brown back for regionals as Brown, who has filled in for Laycock as he recovers from his heart attacks, had to miss Wednesday after his wife broke her arm the day before.

Team Results:

1. Loudoun County - 297
2. Potomac Falls - 315
3. Briar Woods - 315
4. Freedom - 321
5. Broad Run - 329
6. Dominion - 335
7. Park View - 355

* Potomac Falls defeated Briar Woods in first hole of team playoff 19-20.

Medalists:
1. Brantley Kushner - 71 (LC)
2. Kevin Cook - 72 (LC)
3. Adam Ochs - 74 (BW)
4. Jon Youst - 76 (LC)
5. Christian Fortier - 77 (PF)
6. Tyler Blake - 77 (F)

* Christian Fortier defeated Tyler Blake on first hole of individual playoff 4-5.

Regional Qualifiers:
Loudoun County (TEAM)
Brantley Kushner
Andrew Brenneman
Kevin Cook
Jon Youst
Matt Tommasone
Michael Linville

Potomac Falls (TEAM)
Christian Fortier
Scott Trump
Brett Johnson
Sean Raven
Steven Lasik
Matthew Byrd

Region II Qualifiers
1. Adam Ochs (BW) 74
2. Tyler Blake (F) 77
3. Alex Choi (F) 78
4. Shelby Shote (D) 79
5. Sloan Meadows (BR) 79
6. Nick Vazzana (BW) 80

Nick Vazzana defeated Jonathan Howard (BW) on second playoff hole with a par.

Past Dulles District Champions
Regular Season - District Tournament
2009: Loudoun County – Loudoun County
2008: Briar Woods - Loudoun County
2007: Briar Woods - Briar Woods
2006: Potomac Falls - Briar Woods
2005: Heritage - Loudoun County
2004 - Loudoun Valley - Heritage
2003 - Loudoun Valley - Loudoun Valley
2002 - Potomac Falls - Potomac Falls
2001 - Potomac Falls - Potomac Falls