Seahawks, Mallards Close Out Ryder Cup In Tie

BERLIN- It came down to the last hole in the last match, but the Stephen Decatur and Worcester Prep varsity golf teams played to a dead heat in the final leg of their friendly Ryder Cup-style tournament on Tuesday and the Seahawks retained the cup.

Two matches last week in the Ryder Cup-style tournament between the neighborhood rivals ended in a virtual tie, setting up a dramatic finale at Eagle’s Landing on Tuesday in head-to-head match play. Worcester and Decatur meet almost every year in a Ryder Cup tournament to determine bragging rights in the neighborhood. The two teams played back-to-back matches last week in different formats and after 10 holes of extremely competitive golf, the Mallards and Seahawks were tied with four wins each.

On Tuesday, the final leg was played at Eagle’s Landing and the tournament came down to the last hole of the last match, but neither team gained an advantage and the 2015 Ryder Cup ended in a dead heat. Decatur’s Matt Kristick beat Worcester’s Jason Cook, Seahawk Matt Kinsey beat Mallard John Meakin, and Austin Taylor and Hayden Snelsire played to a tie. Tanner Leonard beat Jon Ruddo, Grant Brown beat Bailey Warren, Bennett Truitt beat Hailey Brown, Zach Wilson beat Jamie Wilkinson and Reid Carey and Emily Malinowski played to a tie.

“All of the players gave it their all today from both sides despite the nerves of the friendly competition,” said Worcester Coach Scot Dailey. “This is a great experience for all involved, the ups and downs of a match play and a Ryder Cup format are almost too much to bear. Worcester was down early and it did not look good for our team, but our kids battled back and turned the match around to make it very interesting until the final match.”

Dailey said the Mallards were a little disappointed to settle for a tie, but would use the experience as a springboard of the rest of the season.

“We at Worcester are trying to close the gap on the success that Decatur has demonstrated in the past almost decade,” he said. “We were close to getting over the hump today, but we will settle for a tie with a great program. We have to continue to get better and close out our ESIAC schedule tough and on a high note.”