The Bowie High golf team wrapped another successful season following last week's state tournament at Potomac Ridge Golf Course in Waldorf. The Bulldogs played the same course a week prior and defeated Eleanor Roosevelt by two strokes to win the county 4A tournament.

The state tournament results did not return as favorably for Bowie as the team failed to place, but the season accolades continued to roll in despite the obstacles the team overcame this fall. Paul Dorsey assumed the coaching duties for the Bulldogs after coach Martin Kasner was forced to take time off for personal reasons.

"(Dorsey) did wonderfully this year," said senior Gabriella Sinkovic, who shot a 168 at the state tournament. "He had so many good words of wisdom and was just a great support for the team. We couldn't ask for much more."

Sinkovic placed sixth among girls during the two-day state tournament but, after shooting in the 70s for most of the season, she said she was not happy with her final performance as a high school golfer. "It was very disappointing," said Sinkovic, who is looking to study in the professional golf management program at either North Carolina State or Florida State universities next fall. "I had some 3-putts the first day. ... But we had a good time playing."

Fellow senior Steven Hyre finally made it to the big stage of the state tournament after three years of trials and tribulations. He missed the tournament by one stroke in each of his first two years at BHS and then was hammered by an elbow injury that forced him to miss his junior year. Hyre placed fourth overall and third among boys at the county tournament and placed first with a 37.1 stroke average.

"I was very excited to be playing in my first high school state tournament," said Hyre, who is also a member of the Bulldogs' varsity spring tennis team. "It was just a relief to be out there playing with the whole team after being out for a season with a broken (elbow)."

Sinkovic said she was happy to finally get to play alongside her childhood friend during his first state tournament appearance. "I've known Steven since kindergarten or first grade," said Sinkovic. "We bounce off each other on the golf course."

The Bulldogs as a team, which included James Martinez (third place at county tournament) and Joseph Ward, did not qualify for the second day of team competition mainly because of a poor shooting day on Day 1 where the team shot in the high 300s, according to Sinkovic. The low round of the day came from Urbana (327), which won the overall team competition by an eight-stroke margin over Churchill.

"I putted very well," said Hyre, "however I had a poor ball-striking day as my irons and wedges were inaccurate. Potomac Ridge has tighter fairways and quicker greens, and that's why the overall scores were higher than normal."

With the 2009 season in the books, seniors reflect and soak in what they've accomplished in four years of high school. Sinkovic said that after shooting in the 100s as a freshman, she is proud to have scored consistently in the 70s this year. Improving 10 strokes per year is nothing to sneeze at to be sure.

She said that she is optimistic that Bowie could have a really successful team in 2010, but she cautioned that the entire county will see a rebuilding period due to the amount of seniors that participated in 2009. "But that still makes it competitive," she said, noting that next year's team will be led by Ward and Andrew Brow. "If they all practice hard, they could have a good year again."

Ward and Brow and their fellow 2010 seniors should take notice of the efforts put in by dedicated golfers such as Sinkovic and Hyre, the latter of whom not only battled back from injury, but took on additional activities during the season and still found success. And Hyre credited his coach for keeping the team focused.

"The season was a hectic one for me because towards the end of the season, I had full-time practices for the high school production of 'Grease,' " said Hyre, whose brother Ray is a member of the Mount St. Mary's College golf team. "So golf had to take a back seat to theater, but I still managed to play well by practicing on weekends. Coach Dorsey stepped up to the plate and was a driving force to our (success)."