Around The Commonwealth
from Virginia and West Virginia and a team
from North and South Carolina. The Carolinas broke a 12-all tie after the first day of
foursome and four-ball play at Old Town
Club in Winston-Salem, N.C. The Carolinas
won the singles matches 14½-9½ to seal
the win.
FALL CHAMPIONSHIP ROUNDUP
1st VSGA Four-Ball Match Play
Championship: Keith Decker’s name is
all over the VSGA record book, in individual,
partner and team events. But he had never
won an inaugural championship until pairing with Jon Hurst to claim the title in the
first Four-Ball Match Play at Keswick Golf
Club on the last weekend of October. Decker
(Chatmoss CC) and Hurst (Fredericksburg CC) posted a 2 and 1 win over Vincent
Nadeau (Spring Creek GC) and Kyle Bailey
(Roanoke CC) in the championship match.
Decker and Hurst made birdies on the first
two holes during the title match to grab a
2-up lead and held on for the win. Decker
clinched the match with a birdie putt on No.
17. The winning side trailed for just one hole
in its three matches. Decker has been part of
six winning sides in VSGA Four-Ball Stroke
Play events. Hurst earned a title in a VSGA
Four-Ball event for the first time.
1st VSGA Junior Golf Circuit Championship: Kurtis Grant (Army Navy CC)
and Rory Weinfurther (Salisbury CC) won
titles in the season-ending Junior Golf
Circuit event. Grant, who also has AJGA
and Hurricane Junior Tour event titles on
6
his 2015 resume, shot a 2-under 70 in the
final round at The Country Club of Virginia’s Tuckahoe Creek Course. He posted
a two-day 145 and finished a shot clear of
Jack Sweeney (The Dominion Club). Weinfurther needed a playoff to top Amber Liu
(VSGA Junior Golf Circuit) in the girls division. Both players posted rounds of 76-81
to reach the playoff, and Weinfurther made
par on the first playoff hole to seal her win.
7th Mid-Atlantic Junior Invitational: The eight-member Virginia team rallied
from a 15-stroke deficit after the first round
to top Maryland by one stroke for its second
straight Invitational win. The event was
cut from 36 holes to 27 due to impending
darkness at King Carter Golf Club. Virginia
shot 665. Maryland finished at 666 and
West Virginia finished third at 692. Jimmie
Massie (Boonsboro CC) and Maryland’s
Bennett Buch shot 109 to tie for individual
medalist honors.
70th Captain’s Putter Matches: The
24-member Carolinas’ squad beat the Virginias 26½-21½ to end a four-year losing streak in the series of all-star matches
between a team of regulars and seniors
V I R G I N I A G O L F E R | J A N UA R Y / F E B R UA R Y 2 0 1 6
GALLAGHER
CLAIMS
GOLFWEEK
CROWN
James Gallagher
(Tidewater Amateur
Golf Association)
capped a strong
2015 season with
a four-stroke victory in the Golfweek
Senior Tour National Championship
in mid-November in Hilton Head, S.C.
Gallagher shot a 4-under 68 in the second
round to finish ahead of Cory Walker of
Orlando. Gallagher made three straight
birdies on the back nine to take control
of the final round. “I don’t know that it
was my best back nine of the season,”
Gallagher told the Daily Press newspaper.
“But it was the best in a final round of a
major tournament with the competition
breathing right down my neck.”
vsga.org
TOP: MAGGIE WATTS/VSGA; VSGA FILE PHOTO (2)
NEWS &
NOTES
GRIFFIN WINS
IN URUGUAY
Lanto Griffin, a former Virginia Commonwealth University standout and the
winner of the 2015
Delta Dental State
Open of Virginia,
earned his first title on the PGA Tour Latinoamerica circuit in November, shooting a
9-under 271 to win the Roberto de Cenzo
Punta del Este Open. Griffin finished two
strokes clear of Rafael Campos, who was
his roommate during his freshman year
at VCU. Griffin tapped in for par on No. 18
in the final round to seal the win, a victory
worth $31,000.
“When I get under pressure, I get a little
quick,” Griffin said. “I’m starting to learn
how to manage that. You’re never going
to perfect it. You’re never going to swing
it great under pressure every time. You’re
going to have bad shots. But mentally, I’ve
kind of learned to manage it better in the
last three or four months for some reason.
It’s clicked, and I’m just really excited.”