Washington's de Perrot misses a trip to state by two strokes

Washington senior Dillon de Perrot had an ?uncharacteristic performance? at Friday?s Class 3A district tournament at the Stone Creek Golf Club in Williamsburg, and he missed qualifying for the state tournament by two strokes.

De Perrot, who had shot a 73 at the same course in a meet just a week earlier, carded a 9-over-par 80 to finish sixth individually. The top four individuals qualify for the state tournament.

?The timing of his uncharacteristic performance was unfortunate,? Washington head boys? golf coach Mark Berhow said. ?He had been playing so well, hitting the ball so accurately and putting so true until Friday.?

De Perrot?s first nine-hole round was a bit of a struggle, but he got an eagle on the par-5 ninth hole to finish with a 39.

?We were all hoping that would be the turning point that would propel him to a lower score in the second round,? Berhow said. ?Unfortunately, he began the second round with two double bogeys.?

De Perrot battled back to finish with a 41 on the back nine. Then he had to sit and wait for the other groups to come in. In the end, he missed a trip to state by a slim margin.

?He was disappointed,? Berhow said.

It was a tough ending to a fantastic prep career for de Perrot, who was a two-time sectional champion and a member of three Washington teams that qualified for the state tournament.

?Dillon had a memorable and fantastic career as a Washington golfer,? Berhow said. ?He displayed integrity and high character as a model for the other golfers throughout his four years. He will be greatly missed from our program and by me as a coach.?

Berhow was proud of how de Perrot went down swinging in his final high school tournament.

?He had three double bogeys. He had an out of bounds. He just had a lot of uncharacteristic miscues that he hadn?t experienced this year. But I was proud of him because he battled the entire round. He really scrambled,? Berhow said of de Perrot. ?That was a key to his game that he never gave up.?