Wilde Lake's Tyler Silberberg sat in the University of Maryland clubhouse, state championship trophy in hand, and struggled for words.
He'd just earned himself a place in history, shooting back-to-back rounds of even par (142 total) to outdistance the field by a full three shots and become the county's first golfer since Atholton's Joe Venari in 1980 to win an individual state title.
Yet, even as he posed for pictures and fielded interviews, the reality of the situation still hadn't sunk in.
"It's weird, this has been my goal and what I've been working toward for so long, but it still doesn't feel real," Silberberg said. "I don't know what to say really. I'm sure it's going to hit me eventually, but right now I'm kind of still in shock."
Considering his round started with a double bogey to drop him four shots behind the leaders, Silberberg's post-round state was understandable.
Walking off that first green Wednesday, his state title hopes had been on life support.
"There is no worse way to start off the day than that," Silberberg said. "I remember thinking, 'oh god, this is going to be a long day.' "
But as would become a common theme, Silberberg stood tall in the face of adversity. After hitting his drive down the middle and his approach within 11 feet of the pin on No. 2, he sunk the putt for birdie to set the stage for his thrilling comeback.
By the time all was said and done the Wildecat junior had made five birdies, offsetting one bogey and two doubles, to leave the rest of the field in the rearview mirror.
While Silberberg's story had a happy ending, Marriotts Ridge wasn't so lucky in the 1A/2A team competition.
The Mustangs entered the final round Oct. 26 with a 16-shot lead, marking the third consecutive year that the program had been ahead after day one. But just like the previous two times, Marriotts Ridge simply couldn't hold on.
After shooting a 314 team total to start the tournament, the Mustangs shot a 337 on day two to finish with a 651 total. That left the door cracked just enough for McDonough (648) to sneak in and grab the championship by three shots.
In the girls individual competition, Atholton's Bryana Nguyen also ended up with a runner-up showing. A two-day total of 154 (76, 78) put her nine shots behind Arundel's Elyse Smidinger and in second place for the second straight year. Marriotts Ridge's Rachel Lee (fourth with a 161 total) and Oakland Mills' Samyra Lewis (tied for eighth, 173) joined Nguyen as county players in the top ten.
Centennial's Connor Flach, who shot a two-day score of 150, finished tied for ninth to join Silberberg as county boys in the top 10 overall. For complete county results see High School Wrap-Up.
Silberberg, who had finished tied for 11th at the state championship tournament as a sophomore, came out and fired an opening-round 71 this year to put himself just two shots behind North Point's Marcus Byrd and Linganore's Ryan Cole.
But that deficit doubled when a bad drive and two poor chip shots led to a double bogey to open the second round. It was what he did next, though, with that birdie on No. 2, that set the stage for a monumental comeback.
"I was definitely having some real negative thoughts after that first hole … but I just told myself to keep going and try to get myself back in it."
By playing his next 13 holes in 3-under par, Silberberg did indeed get himself back in the thick of things. In fact, following a par on No. 15, he had caught and passed the leaders - ahead of Byrd by two and Cole by four.
Silberberg stumbled on hole 16, hitting his second shot on the par 5 into a hazard left of the fairway and then taking three shots to get out. It led to a double-bogey seven.
The good news for him, however, was that Byrd doubled that hole as well to keep Silberberg ahead by two. Having escaped disaster, Silberberg promptly bounced back with a birdie on No. 17 to essentially seal the championship.
"I don't know what I was thinking on 16, I got caught up in the heat of the moment and didn't play smart," Silberberg said. "But I got a huge break that (Marcus) also had a bad hole. I was still in it.
"I just reminded myself I wasn't out there trying to shoot my best round ever. I was just trying to win."
With a four-shot lead, Silberberg was able to make a harmless bogey on the final hole to secure his title.
Byrd ended up three strokes behind at 145, while Cole tied for third with Walt Whitman's Brandon Eng at 146.
Centennial's Flach finished eight behind, but there was a point early on in the tournament that the Eagles' junior was tied for the lead. By opening his first round with 12 pars and a birdie, Flach was out in front when he stepped up to the par 3 14th hole the first day.
He made a bogey there, however, to start a string of three straight bogeys to finish the day at two-over (73).
The rough finish seemed to carry over into the final round, as Flach made two double bogeys in his first five holes to fall well behind the leaders. He did recover to shoot just one-over on the back nine and that's what helped him finish inside the top ten.
"By the time I settled in toward the end of the front nine today, I was just too far back." Flach said. "Top ten, I can't be too upset about that. It's just tough knowing I left a lot of shots out there."
Flach wasn't the only one, though, to leave shots out on the University of Maryland course. Marriotts Ridge, which had raced out to a huge first-day lead thanks to rounds in the 70s by Rachel Lee (76), Joe Dorsch (77) and Michael Dorsch (79), saw things unravel quickly during Wednesday's final 18 holes.
Everyone but Chris Yoo (82, 82) shot at least five shots worse for the Mustangs on day two.
"We were talking yesterday about how 16 is a lot of strokes, but I said 'you never know, it's not over yet.' We were only half way there," Yoo said.
It didn't help matters that McDonough, which shot a total of 331 on day one, had three of its four guys improve in the final round. Included among those three was Cas Dickerson, who shot the low round of the day (70) to lead the comeback charge.
For Yoo, who has a member of the Mustangs' team each of the last three years, falling short once again was heartbreaking.
"What sucks is that it's my senior year this year. There's no next year for me," he said. "It's not like we didn't try our best. We just came up short again."
For Nguyen, any hopes of winning a state title this year as a sophomore took a big hit after an opening round 76 left her six strokes behind Smidinger. Things only got worse at the beginning of the second round, with Smidinger birding her first hole on the way to a front nine score of 36.
Nguyen, meanwhile, stumbled out of the gates and finished with a 43 on that same nine-hole stretch.
"I definitely felt pressure going into my front nine when I was teeing off. I felt like I was going to have to make a ton of birdies," Nguyen said. "Obviously that didn't happen … maybe I was pressing a little too much."
Nguyen did recover to shoot an even-par 35 on the back nine to pass Westminster's Jordan McKelvin (third with a 158 total) and finish second.