Virginia Golfer July / August 2022 | Page 9

Around The Commonwealth

Championship Recaps

Compiled by CHRIS LANG
LEFT : Jessica Spicer sinks the winning putt at the 6th VSGA Women ' s Four-Ball Championship . ABOVE : VSGA Four-Ball champions Blake Carter and Adam Houck .
CHRIS LANG ( 3 )
57 TH VSGA FOUR-BALL CHAMPIONSHIP Winners : Adam Houck and Blake Carter ( 66-64 — 129 ) Site : Bay Creek Resort , Cape Charles Key stat : Houck carried the side with seven birdies in round one ; Carter returned the favor with six in round two . Career VSGA titles : Carter ( 2 ), Houck ( 1 ). Quoting : “ You ’ re always in the fight . The only thing you ’ re trying to do when you ’ re not playing well is doing anything you can to help your friend . If it ’ s on a ( putt ) read , or if it ’ s on reading the wind direction . Anything . Hitting a putt so they can see the line . Anything , because it ’ s the two of us out there .” – Adam Houck The number : 4 — Consecutive years the winning score has been 129 or lower .
6 TH VSGA WOMEN ’ S FOUR-BALL CHAMPIONSHIP Open winners : Jessica and Sarah Spicer ( 62-70 — 132 , won in playoff ) Senior winners : Natalie Easterly and Amy Ellertson ( 72-68 — 140 ) Site : Fawn Lake CC Key stat : Easterly and Ellertson ’ s six victories in the senior division have come by a combined 37 strokes . Career VSGA titles : J . Spicer ( 2 ), S . Spicer ( 1 ), Easterly ( 11 ), Ellertson ( 8 ). Quoting : Sarah Spicer hit a 5-hybrid to three feet in the playoff , but it was Jessica who hit a 15-foot birdie putt to clinch the title . Was she trying to upstage her sister ? “ You could see it that way ,” Jessica said .
“ Or you could say I was just trying to keep the pressure off her , trying to be nice .” The number : 62 — The Spicers ’ firstround score , best in tournament history .
40 TH VSGA SENIOR FOUR-BALL CHAMPIONSHIP Winners : Buck Brittain and Jon Hurst ( 63-62 — 125 ) Site : Washington G & CC Key stat : The winners were five shots ahead of runners-up Jay and Steve Serrao after the first round , a key cushion as the Serrao brothers rolled to a second-round 60 to put a late scare into the champs .
Jon Hurst and Buck Brittain celebrate after Brittain chipped in for birdie at the 40th VSGA Senior Four-Ball Championship .
Career VSGA titles : Brittain ( 7 ), Hurst ( 8 ). Quoting : “ We just pick each other up when we ’ re down . ( In the second round ), I was hot at the start . Then I kind of faded a little bit and Buck showed up on the back nine . We ’ ve just been able to pick each other up when the other is out of the hole . It ’ s nice knowing you ’ ve got a partner where if you hit a bad shot , he ’ s got your back .” – Jon Hurst The number : 6 – Number of repeat champions at the Senior Four-Ball . Brittain and Hurst were the first to go back-to-back since Keith Decker and Pat Tallent in 2014-15 .
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