Falcon Overcomes It All To Take Title
Cox’s Moss Clark (center) is congratulated by his teammates after sinking a putt that won him the medalist honor and his team the Eastern Region title Tuesday at Sleepy Hole Golf Course. Photos by Jason Norman
From left, Kevin McCracken (First Colonial), Kevin Phelps (Princess Anne), Walter Smith (Green Run), Ryan Phelps (Churchland), Lauren Coughlin (Hickory), and John Dawson (Hickory) were the region’s top six individual qualifiers, winning them a place in state competition.
Four feet might not seem like a long distance. But when it's the length of a putt that could bring home two titles, it might seem like a mile.
Imagine standing there, trying to keep control, knowing that if the small white ball ends up at the bottom of the hole, its owner's name goes at the top of the Eastern Region leaderboard and stays there forever. Beyond that, his team moves on to the next round of competition, ready to take on the state's finest.
Sounds pretty stressful, doesn't it? But as tough as that situation was for Cox senior Moss Clark on Tuesday, it was nothing compared to what he'd been through over the past week.
In the first weeks of 2009's fall high school sports season, Clark and his teammates tied with Kellam for the Beach District regular season title, then slipped past the Knights in a title-deciding playoff. Kellam got revenge in the district tournament, charging past the Falcons for a 39-stroke victory and setting the stage for a monster showdown at the regional tournament.
Through it all, Clark's father Butch was a common sight among Cox parents at the edge of the links, cheering on their sons and daughters. An avid golfer himself, Butch had been one of the guiding forces in Clark's journey to the top of the Cox ranks in his senior year.
Last Wednesday, Clark wasn't in school, and when his teammates headed out for practice, they didn't expect him to show.
Then he appeared, clubs and cleats intact, ready to help his squad get ready for the regional event. Surprised, his teammates tried to comfort him and let him know they were there as more than just fellow golfers.
That's because Clark was facing something that no one can ever prepare for; the night before, Butch had died from a stroke.
"For the kids, especially Moss, golf was kind of an escape," said coach Brian Allard. "They were able to focus in on that. Moss told me on more than one occasion, 'Golf is all I have, and it's keeping me going.'"
But over the next few days, Moss would have more help than he expected, support from more unlikely sources.
Cox parents and faculty helped out the family. Players from other teams called to offer their condolences. The Kellam squad, Cox's biggest rivals, sent the Clark family a floral arrangement.
"The support has been tremendous," said Allard, who lost his own father last year. "I'm not sure you get that in other sports. The kids are friends. They all know each other, and it's so nice to see that kind of camaraderie; even though they're going head to head, they're still pulling for each other. It's been a wonderful experience in the sense that we've seen so much outpouring and caring from other kids."
On Monday, Hampton Roads' top link stars headed to Suffolk's Sleepy Hole Golf Course to see who'd get to represent their area in the state tournament. Finishing out the first day, the Falcons held a 300-308 lead over Kellam, and were at least 20 strokes ahead of every other team. With a 72, Clark had the lowest individual score.
But so did teammate Chris Valianos, Kellam's Alex Lloyd, and First Colonial's Kevin McCracken - and five other players were within four strokes.
"I didn't sleep last night," Allard admitted. "I'm sure I was more nervous than they were. We were confident and determined. The guys believed that we could win; we'd beaten Kellam in the past. We had a good feeling all week."
As the final round kicked off Tuesday, the players tried to maintain their optimism. It wasn't easy; hindered by new pin placement, fast greens, and some wind and rain, Valianos and Lloyd fell back, and no other player came too close.
Winding down the last night holes, it was all up to Clark and McCracken. For the first three-fourths of the course, the two were even. Then McCracken double-bogeyed the 13th hole, leaving Clark up by a stroke.
Fittingly, one of the toughest holes in the area would be the setting for the finale; with two ominous bunkers on one side of the green and a huge lake on the other, Sleepy Hole's 18th hole beckons its visitors like the gateway to a haunted house.
Both players landed near the green in two, and McCracken's third shot put him about six feet from the hole. After Clark's third one stopped four feet away, McCracken went to hole out for a par.
His putt rimmed out to the left, leaving him with a bogey and Clark with a two-stroke cushion to take the title.
Standing a few dozen feet from the green, a group of spectators pretended to be stoic. Some held hands, while others crossed their arms to keep them from leaping out to either side. Everyone stood as still as they could - and it was clear that all of them, even parents and coaches from other squads, wanted his putt to fall.
Clark lined up his shot, then walked around behind his ball. Taking a quick look at the fans, he glanced over everyone that was there, and remembered one who had been for so long. Glancing at his ball, he saw his father's initials written there, something he'd done before the tourney.
"Do it for your dad, Moss!" one woman whispered. "For your dad!"
Stepping behind his ball, Clark steadied his putter. Just as he'd done so many times for the past few years, he calmly sank the putt. With a repeat performance of 72, he'd taken the championship.
As cheers rained down the hill, Clark was swarmed with handshakes and hugs from teammates and competitors. Trying to keep his emotions in check, he saw teammates wiping their eyes, and couldn't keep from doing so himself. With teammates' congratulatory arms around his shoulders, he made his way through the crowd.
"We decided that we were going to make it to state, and Moss deserved everything that he had," said Valianos. "We came in today knowing that we wanted to fight." He, Clark, Jonathan Harris, and Andrew Becraft combined for a two-day total of 607, ten strokes ahead of Kellam, which will also head to state play Oct. 19 at Smith Mountain Lake's Waterfront Country Club, near Roanoke.
"My stomach was turning," Allard said of his feeling during the final putt. "I was just hoping that he would come through and win it. It's a plus for him to be able to play, and for him and the team to win is just icing on the cake."
Lloyd finished the day with a 76 and a two-day total of 146, and his teammate Trey Smith was a stroke behind.
"We'll go back and practice," said Kellam coach Jason Copeland. "The ultimate goal was to win, but at worst we wanted to advance, so we'll just let it go and hope to come back and play better."
McCracken, whose team took third, finished with a 146, putting him at the front of the region's six qualifying individuals from outside the top two teams.
"I missed a couple short ones that I needed to have," said the senior Patriot, who missed state competition last year after qualifying as a sophomore. "It was a lot of fun. It was great competition, and Moss just came through in the end."
Hickory's John Dawson and Lauren Coughlin, who finished first and second in the Southeastern District last season (their squad took third overall), qualified second and third on the individual list.
"There was a little more pressure, because I knew I had to play somewhat decent to qualify for the state tournament," said Dawson, who tied Cox grad Brinson Paolini for the regional title last season and overcame a rough early start to finish the 2009 event with a 149. "I'd rate myself a six out of 10 today."
Coughlin led Hickory with four individual medalist honors this season.
"I'm definitely going to work on my game, because I didn't play real well," said the region's only female representative. "I was putting pretty good, but my timing was off on my swing, and I wasn't hitting it very good." Her 152 left her a stroke ahead of Ryan Phelps, who helped Churchland to its third consecutive Eastern District tournament last season.
"It means a lot," he said of going to state. "I was giving up at the end, because I didn't think I would make it. It feels good to get more experience, playing with better players."
Green Run's Walter Smith edged Kevin Phelps of Princess Anne for the fifth spot in a playoff, putting away the two-hole event with a birdie on the 18th hole.
"I really wasn't nervous, knowing that I was going to state anyway," said Smith, the only local sophomore making the trip. "It feels good to actually make it to state as a sophomore is a big achievement."
Gearing up for state, the Falcons hope to re-start one tradition and continue another; Cox won the Old Dominion title in 2006 and 2007 before falling to seventh last year (Kellam was second in the 2008 event, finishing just six strokes behind state champ James River). However, Paolini (now at Duke University) made sure his school got one trophy case addition, snaring his second state title in three seasons.
Even after competition officially ended Tuesday, players still couldn't get enough of their course time; putting greens were swarmed, while some players celebrated with their teammates. Looking over it all, Clark still seemed a bit overwhelmed with his loss - and his victories.
"It's been amazing, especially from Kellam," he said. "I respect every one of those guys. They're all amazing golfers. Everyone's been so amazing. Before my dad passed away, I was practicing all the time, trying to get my round straight. Everything came together today. I felt like I owed it to him."
As he and his teammates took a multitude of photos on the 18th green, Clark remembered his final shot.
"I went through the routine that I've been going through all my life - just to pick a spot on the green and hit it there. You focus on that one thing so much that nothing else matters.
"I was happy that I read it right," he said. "I was happy that I made the hole. I was happy that I made it for the team. I was happy that I did it for my dad."
