Atholton's Bryana Nguyen and Wilde Lake's Tyler Silberberg each found themselves at a crossroads midway through their rounds at this year's county championship tournament Sept. 27.
Nguyen, who had started 2-under through her first six holes, bogeyed the seventh and tripled the eighth hole at the Timbers at Troy, in Elkridge, to lose a three-shot lead. Silberberg, meanwhile, squandered a two-shot advantage by making back-to-back bogeys on Nos. 9 and 10.
Neither panicked.
Nguyen responded by playing her final 10 holes in 2-under par to finish with a round of 54 points (even par) and win by six shots. Silberberg played his final eight holes in 2-under to shoot 55 points and win by two.
"You just have to be able to easily forget the bad holes and just keep doing what you know you can do," Silberberg said. "It only takes one shot to bounce back."
For Silberberg that one shot came on No. 11, where he stuck it close on the par-3 hole and then sunk the putt for birdie. He didn't make a bogey the rest of the way and added another birdie on No. 17.
Nguyen's bounce-back hole came on No. 10, where she stuck her approach within 10 feet and converted a birdie of her own. She later added an eagle on the par-5 17th hole.
"I stuck to my plan, which I set before I came here today," Nguyen said. "Eight was a bad hole, but that didn't change anything. I went to nine feeling like I needed a birdie … I ended up getting it on 10, instead. That got me back on track."
In the team competition, Wilde Lake pulled out the boys title thanks to Silberberg and teammate David Yancich (53 points) finishing one-two. The Wildecats scored 181 points to edge Marriotts Ridge (175) by six.
The Marriotts Ridge girls earned their second straight county championship tournament title on the back of Rachel Lee's second-place effort of 48 points. The Mustangs scored 118 points to overcome Nguyen and Atholton (114) by four.
For Silberberg and Wilde Lake, this year's victories served as sweet redemption. Last year, he finished as the regular-season scoring leader and the Wildecats had the county's best record, but neither finished inside the top two at the county championship tournament.
This time, they lived up to expectations.
"I think a lot of it had to do with our attitude and our experience," Wilde Lake coach Diane Caporaletti said. "These guys all played last year in competitive situations between counties and districts, so they've been through this. They came out today and took care of business."
Silberberg's round included five birdies and four bogies, a rather up-and-down day by his standards. His putting, though, stayed consistent throughout.
"It took me a little while to get the speed (of the greens) down, but once I figured that out, I was able to make putts because I had them on line all day," Silberberg said.
Yancich ended up being Silberberg's closest pursuer, although not many would have predicted that after he played his first five holes in 3-over par. From there, however, he was lights out.
Yancich made four birdies, including three in a four-hole stretch from Nos. 13-16, and had just two bogies over his final 13 holes. He actually had an opportunity to tie Silberberg for first if he could have birdied his final hole, No. 17.
After a long drive down the right side on the par 5, however, he hit his second shot from 160 yards out into the water. He ended up making a bogey and settling for second.
"I knew where I was, but I actually wasn't nervous until that second shot on 17. I tried to stay calm, but I chunked it. Not a lot more I can say," said Yancich, whose 1-over par round still stands as the best round of his career. "I'm still so happy. It was my lowest round ever to help my team win the county … it's great."
Marriotts Ridge's Chris Yoo, who finished with birdies on Nos. 16 and 17, was third with 50 points. The Mustangs also got rounds of 44 points from Michael Dorsch and 42 from Joe Dorsch to keep things interesting in the team competition.
Centennial's Connor Flach was fourth with 49. Flach, who made two birdies on the front nine, was actually tied for the lead after No. 10. A double-bogey on No. 12, however, derailed his title hopes.
In the girls individual competition, it was a two-horse race from the very beginning. Nguyen started out hot with birdies on two of her first four holes and Lee was close behind at even par through that same early stretch.
When Lee made a bogey on No. 8, the same hole Nguyen tripled, the duo was tied for the lead.
On the next hole, though, Lee hit her second shot out of bounds and that led to a double bogey. She never got closer than two shots the rest of the way.
"I was aware that we were tied and actually that's when I hit that bad tee shot and then my next shot went out of bounds," Lee said. "She's really good and I couldn't catch her after that."
Nguyen sealed the deal with her eagle on No. 17, where she hit the green in two and sunk a right-to-left breaking putt.
"That kind of secured it and I was really excited actually with that putt," Nguyen said.
While Lee fell short in the individual competition, her Mustangs prevailed as a team. Marissa Davey put up 35 points to finish second on the team, while Ariel Biegel (24) and Michelle Kim (11) rounded out the scoring.
That turned out to be enough to hold off Atholton and it's final three scorers of Amanda Peterson (25 points), McKenzie Fields (22) and Jenny Tae (13).
"We're all so excited, because it was so close and we actually thought for a second we were going to lose to Atholton," Lee said. "Marissa played really well and that was what put us ahead."
Individually, Long Reach's Ellisa Lee was third with a round of 41 points and Oakland Mills' Samyra Lewis was fourth with 39.