James Wood Golfer Repasky Wins Inaugural Conference 21 Tournament

Posted: September 25, 2013
By ROBERT NIEDZWIECKI

WINCHESTER — Just in case there was any doubt that the first-ever Conference 21 Tournament was in fact the start of the golf postseason, James Wood junior Roger Repasky answered that when he was asked how he did after sitting down at the scorer’s table.

“Two-under par.”

Following a regular season in which Sherando freshman Brett Loy and James Wood senior Will Holmes generated most of the highlights locally, Repasky reminded everyone Tuesday afternoon at Rock Harbor Golf Course that there was a reason why he was the only Northwestern District golfer to make the state tournament last year.

Repasky’s 2-under 70 won the Conference 21 Tournament by three strokes over Loy and propelled James Wood to a second-place, four-player team score of 322.

Tournament champion Loudoun County (314) and James Wood will be the only two teams that advance out of the eight-team Conference 21 to the Group 4A North Region Tournament, which will take place Oct. 8 at Heritage Oaks Golf Course in Harrisonburg.

The top six individuals outside of the top two teams also advance to Harrisonburg, and Loy was the only local golfer among those six. Loy led Sherando (329) to fourth, and Millbrook finished seventh (345).

Had Repasky turned in a round like the two previous 18-hole competition scores that he has had at Rock Harbor this season, the Colonel entourage heading to Harrisonburg would definitely be smaller. Repasky shot 82 and 84 in his two earlier rounds at Rock Harbor, and the Colonels’ 322 was just three strokes better than Dominion’s 325.

“Roger and Will have been very close to posting a number in the red all year,” James Wood coach David Oates said. “Thankfully today, we got that round.”

Based on the regular season, Holmes — who tied for sixth with a 76 — would have been the more obvious pick to do so. He’s posted James Wood’s lowest score in almost every competition this year.

But the postseason seems to bring out the best in Repasky. A year ago, Repasky took second at the Northwestern District tournament in a playoff after tying for first in regulation, and he shot a 74 at the Region II tournament to qualify for the Group AA state tournament. Just prior to the district tournament, he won a four-hole playoff at the Skyline Invitational.

“Absolutely everything,” said Repasky when he was asked what was working best for him Tuesday. “Everything was on. My driving, my putting. I made an iron switch, and that seemed to work out.”

The “iron switch” was Repasky asking his older brother and former James Wood golfer Russell if he could borrow his iron clubs, and that move helped Repasky put himself in position for numerous birdies Tuesday. Repasky birdied the first hole and finished with “five or six” birdies en route to recording his best high school golf score ever. Repasky said his favorite birdie was the chip-in from 20 yards on the sixth hole.

Given how Repasky finished last year, he understandably thought that he might record some scores similar to Tuesday’s early in the season. But even though he didn’t, he didn’t allow himself to get frustrated, believing that everything would eventually come together.

“I’ve been working so hard,” Repasky said. “The 70 really shows how hard I’ve been working.

“This gives me a lot of confidence. It’s a great score to take into regionals, and the next two weeks are just going to be non-stop practice.”

In addition to Repasky and Holmes, James Wood was also led by Jake Akeley (85) and Hunter Hall (91), and the two other scores were 93 and 94.

Oates said he knows his Colonels are capable of shooting better, and they’ll work to do so for the regional tournament. But the bottom line was James Wood got the job done Tuesday.

“I didn’t think our fourth score would be 91 today,” Oates said. “That was a little surprising, and that just left the door open. But overall, we played well. Postseason is about surviving and moving on, and that’s what we did.”

Though Sherando coach Rob Wright wanted his team to keep playing, he felt his young team came a long way. The Warriors had one junior, three sophomores and two freshmen in their top six Tuesday.

“We got consistent finally,” Wright said. “We’d like to drop about 10 strokes — that’s what we were shooting for today — but some of them said they had a little trouble putting.

“But Brett shot a great round, and Josh Hogue shot an 82, which is the best he’s shot all year, and he picked a great time to do it. For the most part, we’re building for next year.”

Loy is still looking to finish out his remarkable debut season with a flourish, and Tuesday was a good start to his postseason. He was among those who struggled with putting because of aeration, which leaves small holes on the greens. Loy said he missed three four-foot putts.

“I struck the ball very well and my driver was working very good,” Loy said. “The aerified greens just hurt your putts, but I still managed to get three birdies.”

Millbrook was led by sophomore Ryan McCarty, who shot an 84.

McCarty is one of three players in the Pioneers’ top six who will be back next year for a Millbrook team that Pioneers coach Mark Manspile said showed progress this season.

“I would have liked us to do a little better today, but we had a good record in the minis and we beat Sherando [in a dual match],” he said. “Overall, I was pleased with what we were able to do this year.”

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