Maryland Completes Day Two Comeback to Win 2021 Capital Cup

In possibly the tournament’s most dramatic finish to date, Team Maryland took back the MAPGA Capital Cup from Team Virginia by a final score of 12.5-11.5. Maryland took 7.5 of the possible 12 points in the Sunday Singles to win the event. Elizabeth Tucci (New Market, MD) from the Maryland team came back to tie Neil Kulkarni (Ashburn, VA) in the final match to complete the comeback.

This was Maryland’s first win since 2018 and Team Maryland leads the overall Cup standings, eight to five.

Fourballs: Maryland 3, Virginia 3

Day one’s morning four-ball session featured two wins for each side and two ties. Team Maryland jumped out of the gate with a strong start, and all Maryland sides led at some point during their matches. However, Team Virginia fought their way back in the morning matches, led by a back nine four-hole comeback by Brandon Sipe (Yorktown, VA) and Jackson Obie (Williamsburg, VA). Match 4 featured a long birdie putt by Tucci on 17 to tie the match, before Josh DiZinno (Alexandria, VA) made birdie on 18 to take the match for Virginia. Suneil Peruvemba’s (McLean, VA) clutch birdie on 18 secured the session split for team Virginia.

Foursomes: Maryland 2, Virginia 4

The afternoon foursomes commenced much like the morning, with Team Maryland being the first to win a hole in five of six matches. Four of the six matches went the distance. In Match 9, Team Virginia’s Brandon Sipe and Suneil Peruvemba came back to win from three down with five holes to play by winning holes 14, 15, 17 and 18. The next match featured a comeback from Maryland, as Bennett Espenshade (Baltimore, MD) and Luke Lombardo (Severna Park, MD) won five holes on the back nine to take the match, 2 up. Wins in the final two matches pushed Virginia into a session win and a 7-5 lead after play concluded for day one.

Sunday Singles: Maryland 7.5, Virginia 4.5

Maryland took the first three matches and an 8-7 lead as scores began to flow in from the session. A seesaw battle would soon follow as the overall point total would be tied 8-8, 9-9, and 10-10 before Team Maryland took a 12-11 lead as the final match remained on the course. Luke Lombardo and Alex Maloy (Potomac, MD) flipped their respective matches to take full points and give Maryland an opportunity to win. A pair of 8 & 7 victories were posted for the session – Alec Foxen’s (Severna Park, MD) victory for Maryland in Match 18 and Jackson Obie’s win for Virginia in Match 22.

The Final Match

Tucci needed a half-point in the final match to clinch the cup for Maryland, as a full point for Kulkarni would retain the cup for Virginia in an overall tie. Kulkarni made a long par putt on 13 to take a 2 up lead, but Tucci made a long birdie putt to cut the lead to one on 14, and won 16 to tie the match. Still tied on 18, Tucci’s downhill chip from just behind the green ended a few feet from the hole. Kulkarni hit a great drive and approach shot, and had a good look at birdie, but his putt lipped out. Tucci made the par putt, completing the comeback for team Maryland.

Other Notes

Bennett Espenshade was the only player in the field to win all three of his matches. Andrew Ludwin (Bethesda,MD) and Julie Shin (Brambleton,VA) picked up 2.5 points for their respective sides.

We would like to thank all staff at the Links at Perry Cabin in St. Michael’s, Md., who helped us put together a great tournament, including helping us get players inside as storms delayed play on Sunday. We would also like to thank Team Maryland captain John Mlynarski, PGA and Team Virginia captain Jay Hardwick, PGA for their leadership for both sides this week. The Capital Cup featured not only an impressive Ryder Cup style competition from both sides, but some outdoor camaraderie and fun as well.

The 2022 Capital Cup will return to Virginia with dates and location TBD.

Day 1

Fourball

Foursome

Day 2

Singles