2024 State Golf Championships

Queenstown Harbor Golf Course hosted the 2024 Special Olympics Maryland State Golf Championship Tournament on Sunday, September 22^nd. The tournament featured 150 Special Olympics golfers and 78 Unified teammates. These 258 golfers and Unified teammates displayed a wide range of abilities and demonstrated how Special Olympics modifies sports to create pathways for meaningful experiences for all ability levels. Golf offers five levels of play which allows beginners who have never played before the opportunity to join a golf team and start by developing fundamental skills. The season concludes with a “test” of those skills through our Individual Skills competition. From there golfers can progress through four additional levels of play.

This year’s state competition included golfers in all five levels of competition.

• Seventy-four athletes competing in Level 1, testing their skills in the individual golf skills competition, featuring wood shots, iron shots, pitch shots, chip shots, and both long and short putts.
• Fifty-nine teams competing in Level 2, 9-hole alternate shot, pairing one Special Olympics Maryland golfer with a non-SOMD golfer/Unified teammate.
• Twenty teams participating in the Level 3, 18-hole Unified team alternate shot competition.
• Seven athletes in Level 4, the 9-hole individual stroke play format.
• Two athletes in Level 5, 18-hole individual stroke play, where Matthew Snowden posted a 76 and Rusty Buchanan shot a 114.

Special thanks go out to Queenstown Harbor Golf Course for hosting our players, and to the Maryland State Golf Association for providing rules officials. We also extend our deep gratitude to golf program and tournament sponsors, year-round partners, Caves Valley Golf Club Foundation, Wadsworth Golf Charities Foundation, and presenting sponsor Jersey Mike’s Subs along with year-round partners including Allegis Group,  BGE, Constellation, Wawa, Baltimore Area Chick-fil-A Restaurants, SECU – Maryland, and Graul’s Markets.

As always, we are proud to recognize each player and unified team for their performance by presenting them with a gold, silver and bronze medals and fourth – 8^th place ribbons. Law Enforcement representatives from the Queen Anne’s County Sheriff’s Office presented awards to all 241 golfers, adding a special touch to an already unforgettable day.

Thank you to all the coaches, families, volunteers, and supporters who made the entire season and this tournament possible. Together, we continue to build interactive inclusive communities of dignity and respect. Through golf and all the sports SOMD offers, we are creating a world where opportunity is not limited by disability.

#ExperienceInclusion

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