Golf: Knights Win on Quasi-Senior Night

By Ben Spector
Winning After MidKnight

 

The Middletown High School Knights Golf team knew that when they played the Governor Thomas Johnson High School Patriots, for Middletown to pick up a win it wouldn’t necessarily be a huge struggle.

So Middletown head coach Ed Roark decided to use the opportunity of an easier game to do something different and use the match against TJ as a gesture of good faith towards his senior class as Roark would play all of his seniors against the Patriots in what became kind of a quasi senior night.

Even though this was Middletown’s final game before the district tournament, it wasn’t a game with a ton of meaning for Middletown as it appeared that Roark had a pretty solid idea of what his lineup for districts would be. On top of that, this match wasn’t vastly important for the standings of the Central Maryland Conference as the Conference Championship at Maryland National Golf Course will determine who will be the winner of the Central Maryland Conference.

So, Roark allowed all of the seniors to get a competitive round in and it became one of the touching moments of the season for the Knights and that moment would still correlate into success for Middletown as the Knights took down the Patriots by a 168-196 score.

Noah Leidig would shoot one of his better rounds of the year for Middletown and Connor Stevens, getting some experience in competitive matches would drive the ball well for Middletown as Stevens showed off a powerful drive and a good long game for the Knights.

And, the seniors who had already seen a good degree of action in matches before were just as on point for Middletown.

Robbie Houck, who has made a living shooting consistently in the low 40’s, did just that again as he would put up a 43 for Middletown and help to spur them to the win. Houck will be a crucial cog for Middletown at Districts as he is Middletown’s #3 golfer and has had a tendency to dictate how the Knights will finish as a team.

When Houck succeeds it usually sets the table for the other Middletown golfers, especially the golfers in the #4 and #5 slots for Middletown which has led to the golfers in those slots shooting low as well leading to a low team score for Middletown, something that has helped them to the record that they carry with them.

On top of those golfers all doing well in the match against the Patriots, Andrew Heon would shoot well for Middletown during the match which helped the Knights win rather easily over the Patriots.

Still, the game took on a lighthearted sincere moment after Roark made the decision to let all the seniors play as the match then took on the emotional feel of a senior night with one look across the course revealing all the seniors who have dedicated a large amount of time to the athletes.

In the end, Middletown would pick up the win but that would be secondary as the five seniors golfing for Middletown will remember this match for something other than the win.