BERLIN — The Ocean Pines Golf Members’ Council recently awarded $7,000 in scholarships to six local high school students.
The scholarships are given each year in the name of Ocean Pines Golf Club members who support the scholarship fund throughout the year.
Last year, $5,000 in scholarships were awarded and in 2017 the Golf Members’ Council awarded $4,000.
Three scholarships were presented during an awards night at Stephen Decatur High School (SDHS) on May 22, and three additional scholarships were given out during commencement services for Worcester Preparatory School (WPS), on May 24.
An eight-member committee comprised of Sally Stafford, Don McMullen, Walt Lischak, George Solyak, Scotty Wheatley, MaryAnn O’Malley, Olga Novy and Council Scholarship Chairman Bob Long reviewed the applications and recommended the following students for awards:
Emily Malinowski (SDHS): Malinowski is an Ocean Pines resident and started playing in Ocean Pines’ junior golf tournaments at the age of 6. She works at the club as a bag girl and is an instructor in the junior camps. Malinowski has been a four-year participant on the Stephen Decatur golf team and was co-captain this year. Her strong academic record caught the eye of the committee. Malinowski plans to attend the University of Maryland and study engineering. She was awarded $1,600 in scholarship aid.
Hayden Snelsire (SDHS): Snelsire is an Ocean Pines resident and four-year participant on the Stephen Decatur golf team. He was co-captain of the team this year as well as an All-Conference golfer. Snelsire won the team’s Sportsmanship Award in both his junior and senior years. He was also a pitcher on the Decatur baseball team and plans to play baseball at Randolph Macon College in Virginia. He ranks at the top of his class academically. Snelsire was awarded $1,100 in scholarship aid.
Joseph Beck (SDHS): Beck is an Ocean Pines resident and has participated on the JV and varsity golf teams at Stephen Decatur for four years. He hopes to play Division III golf at Stevenson University next year. Beck has a strong academic record and is involved in several extracurricular activities. He was awarded $1,100 in scholarship aid.
Long is pictured with Stephen Decatur High School scholarship recipients Joseph Beck, Emily Malinowski and Hayden Snelsire.
Colin Miller (WPS): An Ocean Pines resident, Miller only played one year of competitive golf, having played for the school’s soccer, basketball and tennis teams before joining the golf team his senior year. Miller received team MVP and Eastern Shore Interstate Athletic Conference Player of the Year honors this year. He has an exceptional academic record and will attend the University of Maryland. He was awarded $1,100.
Matthew Durkin (WPS): Durkin, who lives in West Ocean City, has played golf at Worcester Prep since eighth grade and has been on the JV and varsity teams all four years of high school. Durkin was co-captain of his team this past year and plays on the tennis team. He has been described as a quiet leader and has significant involvement in service activities. Durkin has an outstanding academic record and will attend the University of Maryland. He was awarded $1,100 in scholarship aid.
Jacob Meakin (WPS): Meakin lives in Salisbury and has played golf for WPS since seventh grade. He has been on the varsity team each year of high school and plays on the tennis team as well. Meakin has a strong academic record, including many AP science courses and extensive study in fine arts. Meakin plans to study bio-engineering at the University of Maryland. He was awarded $1,000 in scholarship aid.
The average SAT scores of the six recipients was 1,370 out of 1600, which would qualify an individual for the top 7% of students, nationally.
“The membership should be very proud of their efforts to provide this aid and should be very proud of this year’s recipients,” Long said.