The CHS golf team won its 12th overall state title Oct. 29 at the University of Maryland golf course, its first since 2008.

Finishing with a final score of 603, the team took first place overall in the 3A/4A division, beating rival runner up Wootton, champion the previous two years, by ten strokes.

“The golf team has just become more serious this year,” junior Luke Schaap said. “Our goal was to win states before the season and we have been working hard all year to accomplish this.”

CHS took 12 golfers to the state championship, including nine girls, three boys and five freshmen.

“I knew the team was talented, and I can say comfortably that they exceeded my expectations,” head coach Mike Fisher said. “I expected to have maybe 10 golfers to make it to states, but I never expected a record 12.”

Freshman Dylan Rotter was the runner up in the boys individual competition with a final score of 145, only four strokes behind Whitman’s Graham Hutchinson, who won the title. On the girls side, freshman Lena Capoccia finished third overall with a final score of 156.

“I think a big part of CHS strength this year is the influx of talented freshmen that take the team to the next level,” senior captain Hanna Jia said. “Taking 12 players to states and five of them being freshmen is huge and unprecedented, but having really stable and dependable upperclassmen made the team consistently strong throughout the season.”

After dominating for the majority of the last year’s state tournament, but losing by a close margin of five strokes, the Bulldogs began the 2014 season with one goal in mind— a state title.

“The golf team has a strong work ethic this year which has led to us shooting some really low scores,” Schaap said. “The team’s strength is our confidence, as well as our drive to work hard on their games after suffering a heartbreaking loss last year.”

The team shot a collective score of 299 during the first day of the tournament, leaving it  tied for first with WJ going into the second day of competition. In the second day alone, Wootton outshot the Bulldogs 301 to 304, but it was not enough to overtake the Bulldog’s lead.

It was not only in the state tournament where the CHS golf team demonstrated its dominance. The team finished 17-1 in the regular season and won the Montgomery County District Tournament Oct. 1.

“We were not even our best at States, but we didn’t have to be because we outworked all the other teams,” Schaap said.

Not only was this state championship title the Bulldog’s first since 2008, but it was also Fisher’s last for his career, as he announced his retirement from coaching before the season.

“This was my last season as head coach, and the team accomplished more than I could have hoped,” Fisher said. “We set many records this season, and the team is set to succeed for many years.  Having the opportunity to know each team member and realize how unique and special they are is what made this season and coaching special.”

Although the team will not be under the guidance of Fisher next season, the Bulldogs still hope to be able to use the momentum from their state championship win and their0 strong underclassmen performance to build the program.

“When we talked about going into the season we wanted nothing less than to win states,” Schaap said. “That will be the same next year except next year we will want to win by a ridiculous margin, and break more records.”