This year’s March 24 start of the Cape Henlopen High School golf team season has an awfully familiar ring to it.

For the fifth straight time, the Vikings lost to Caesar Rodney’s Riders, the pride of Camden/Wyoming.

This year’s loss was by a wide margin, 166-181. Except for a three-year win streak from 2001-2003, the Vikings have lost every year to the Riders since this column began in 1999.

Fortunately, a single loss does not a season make, and in past seasons the Viking squad has usually bounced back well from these opening matches.

Casey Anderson, who played well last year as a transfer from the Midwest, led Cape with his 43. "I parred the third, the sixth, and the eighth hole, and doubled the first. That was the last hole of the day for us. I had a hard time judging the greens. The turf was hard, and the ball was bouncing more. I tried to get the ball to run up onto the greens."

Dan Scrutchfield tied Anderson for best among the Vikings with his 43. "I was all over the place. I had a par on 1, 3, and 5, and birdied the ninth hole. I also tripled the second hole, and doubled the sixth. Other than that, I had a pretty good round," he laughed.

Tristan Karsnitz wasn’t in much of a mood to talk about his 46, because it was far below his usual standards. He was far more interested in talking about the hole-in-one he shot in practice the day before. "It was the third hole, and it was 165 yards out. I used my 6-iron, and there was a little wind with us. I didn’t see it go in, because I went down to pick up my tee. Devin Medd said it might have gone in, and we walked up to the green and it was in the hole," he smiled. Karsnitz then said he made sure to play all 18 holes, to make his hole-in-one "official."

So noted.

Devin Medd completed the Viking scores with his 49, and he was not at all pleased with it. "In practice I’ve been scoring 43s and 44s. Today I had an 8 on [hole number] 2, parred [number] 3, took another 8 on the fourth, and had two doubles after that. It was bad."

Shane Ghigliotty’s score was nothing like the 39s and 40s he had been putting up during the spring practices. Perhaps the fact that this was the ninth grader’s first varsity match had something to do with it. "It was the worst round of golf I could have ever shot," he said dejectedly. Coach Claudio Smarrelli told his young Viking to sleep it off and forget about it, which is probably the best advice he could have given.

The Vikings’ next match is an away meet with Delmar High School, scheduled for March 26.

On March 20-21, Bear Trap Dunes Golf Club in Ocean View hosted the 11th annual George Washington Invitational men's golf tournament. Originally scheduled as a 54-hole event, the cold weather and large contingent of 117 competitors from 20 colleges and universities combined to shorten the tournament to a 36-hole event.

The host Colonials placed sixth overall, while Justin Martinson (71-74) of the University of Delaware won individual medallist honors. The University of Rhode Island won the team tournament in the tough conditions.

Here are the final team standings:

1-Rhode Island 309 292--601 +25
2-Longwood 305 300--605 +29
3-Pennsylvania 303 303--606 +30
4-Skidmore 303 306--609 +33
5-Delaware 304 307--611 +35
6-George Washington 312 304--616 +40
7-Colgate 305 314--619 +43
8-Duquesne 310 310--620 +44
9-Villanova 314 308--622 +46
Binghamton 314 308--622 +46
11-Navy 'Blue' 317 306--623 +47
George Washington 'B' 323 300--623 +47
13-Bucknell 318 316--634 +58
14-High Point 313 323--636 +60
15-Boston College 314 324--638 +62
16-Navy 'Gold' 314 328--642 +66
17-St. Francis-PA 328 315--643 +67
18-Mount St. Mary's 321 326--647 +71
19-Holy Cross 334 315--649 +73
20-Niagara 334 329--663 +87
21-Quinnipiac 344 334--678 +102
22-Hofstra 354 334--688 +112