Flint Hill Golf Eyes Repeat MAC Title

After losing one senior, returning its top golfer and adding a strong freshmen class, the Flint Hill golf team feels confident it can make a run for its second straight Mid-Atlantic Athletic Championship this year.

Last season, the Huskies took the title from four-year champions St. Andrew's Episcopal by a dominant 19 strokes — a margin Coach Jeff Sealy calls an "anomaly," but one built on genuine talent.

"To say we'll win by 19 strokes again is probably a stretch, but I do think our team is stronger this year than we were last year," Sealy said. "I think we will be considered the favorite going into the tournament."

Joey Lane, who returns as a senior, has been the MAC medal winner for the past two seasons, last year shooting a 71 in the championship match.

"As Joey goes, the team will go," Sealy said of Lane, who he expects will be highly recruited among Division I programs.

The Huskies will also rely on two other top golfers: junior Bryce Johnson and sophomore Will Snyder, both of whom shot in the top 10 in last year's MAC Championship.

Snyder, bursting with talent early into his high school career, is just one of many young golfers on the team who show signs the program will be strong beyond Lane's graduation.

"We have a couple freshmen who I have high expectations for. The team has gotten better, and I think we'll have a good program for a few years," said Sealy, who enters his fifth year as the golf team's head coach.

Sealy, who picked up golf in his 20s and never played competitively, believes it is his role to be a facilitator in unifying the golfers into a team unit, as golf is largely an individual sport. 

With Flint Hill's small community and low turnover from last year's squad, he feels the team is starting the year already unified.

"When it comes to instruction, most of my players have their own private coaches. I see myself more as a manager and facilitator to keep the group together and make sure they're pushing each other and practicing hard," Sealy said. 

Sealy involves himself in more instruction with the junior varsity team, a new addition to the Flint Hill golf program this year that has eight students who range from freshmen to juniors.

As the team's popularity and notoriety grew within the school, so did the number of students interested in trying their hand at golf. 

"I had to cut so many kids last year that I asked the school to add a JV program, and they approved the money for a coach," he said. "It's a real sign of the buzz of the golf team amongst the Flint Hill students."

The Huskies start their season with a match against Maret at 3:50 p.m. Wednesday at Westfields Golf Club in Clifton.

They do not face St. Andrew's, expected to be their strongest competition, until Oct. 9. The MAC Championship is scheduled for Oct. 16.