V S G A GOLFERS OF THE YEAR
VSGA SENIOR MEN ’ S GOLFER OF THE YEAR
Jim Gallagher
HOME CLUB : Tidewater Amateur Golf Tour
QUICK TIP Gallagher ’ s best advice to competitive players : play , anywhere and everywhere . Sounds simple , right ?
“ What has matured for me in the last two years is the portability of my game ,” Gallagher said . “ I ’ ve learned to play a lot of different golf courses , courses that aren ’ t necessarily familiar to me , and it ’ s made my game really portable . You can go somewhere else and play and execute your shots . You ’ re executing your shot , not necessarily doing something that you ’ ve done with a lot of repetition on your home course .”
Considering Gallagher ’ s success both locally and away from Virginia — he played well in big-time events in Canada and the United Kingdom — that ’ s advice worth taking .
CHAMPIONSHIP MOMENT Gallagher turned the page to 2016 in the fall of 2015 , when he traveled to South Carolina to win the Golfweek Senior Amateur Tour Championship . That victory helped him get off to a strong start in ’ 16 . Though he didn ’ t win any VSGA championships last year , he was in the hunt in nearly every one of them , including the VSGA Senior Stroke Play and Senior Amateur championships , the
VSGA Senior Four-Ball Championship and the Senior Open of Virginia .
Even so , he dealt with a little adversity come mid-summer .
Because of injuries sustained while serving in the U . S . Air Force , Gallagher has always had to work around issues with his lower back . They flared up big time this summer , yet Gallagher was still able to qualify for both the U . S . Mid-Amateur and U . S . Senior Amateur Championships , reaching match play in the latter .
“ That was a confidence booster ,” Gallagher said . “ Because I realized that even if I was dealing with my back , I could grit it out and still be competitive . So it was a good season from a lot of perspectives .”
OFF THE COURSE Ever wonder why Gallagher grows his hair long at the end of the year ? He ’ s a regular in AMC ’ s television show Turn . That makes sense considering Gallagher ’ s big off-course passion .
“ I ’ m a pretty avid historian , focused on the American Revolutionary War ,” Gallagher said . “ I volunteer at the Yorktown Victory Center and I ’ m on the board of directors for the Williamsburg-Yorktown Revolutionary War roundtable . I do some
2016 ACCOMPLISHMENTS
» No . 1 in VSGA Senior Men ’ s Player Rankings by 110 points over runner-up Keith Decker .
» Tied for third at the 31st VSGA Senior Stroke Play Championship , finishing one shot out of a playoff ; tied for fourth at 11th Senior Open of Virginia .
» Reached match play at the 69th VSGA Senior Amateur Championship before falling in the round of 32 to David Partridge , who won the 2015 Senior Amateur title .
» Reached match play at the 2016 U . S . Senior Amateur Championship and took second at the Canadian Men ’ s Senior Amateur Golf Championship . Made the cut at the British Senior Amateur . Qualified for the 2016 U . S . Mid-Amateur .
» Won Golfweek Senior Amateur Golf Tour championship in Hilton Head , S . C ., for the second straight year , shooting 144 to finish two shots clear of Rich Campbell of Columbus , Ohio .
re-enacting . … There have been 30 episodes ( of Turn ) so far and I ’ ve been in 23 of them . And we ’ re ready to start filming on season four now .”
30 V IRGINIA G OLFER | J ANUARY / F EBRUARY 2017 vsga . org