Virginia Golfer July/August 2025 | Page 31

HERMITAGE COUNTRY CLUB TIMELINE
1900 Berkely Williams helps organize Hermitage Golf Club; golf course at Broad Street opens
1916 Hermitage Country Club, Inc. receives charter; moves to Hilliard Road; A. W. Tillinghast designs 18-hole course
1924 Inaugural VSGA event held at Hilliard Road 1928 Tommy Galloway begins career at HCC as golf professional 1931 Galloway organizes and hosts inaugural Valentine Invitational
1937 Galloway starts a Father-Son Golf Tournament that remains a preeminent, statewide event
1949 HCC hosts PGA Championship won by Sam Snead 1958 HCC acquires land for Ethelwood golf course 1971 HCC closes on Goochland Broad Run property 1972 Ed Ault designs three nines; golf operations move in 1977 1983 HCC hosts first of seven Senior PGA Tour Crestar Classics 1988 At Hermitage, Arnold Palmer wins his last PGA tournament 1990 Arthur Hills designs final nine
1998 HCC hosts first of three Trigon Tennis Championships( Senior men)
2005 Keith Foster renovates what is now the Manakin course 2025 April HCC begins 125th anniversary gala celebrations
2025 In August HCC hosts 79th VSGA Women’ s State Team Matches
No. 14 on the Sabot Course at Hermitage Country Club.
HERMITAGE COUNTRY CLUB
How elite is the tourney? For starters it is a World Amateur Golf Ranking( WAGR) and Virginia State Golf Association( VSGA) points event. Many past participants have competed in the Masters, U. S. Open, U. S. Senior Open, U. S. Am, U. S. Mid-Am and countless other USGA, VSGA and national amateur golf functions.
Past Valentine champions include Virginia Golf Hall of Famers David Partridge( 5 Championship, 2 Senior), Keith Decker( 4), Wayne Jackson( 3), Vinny Giles( 2), Richard Smith( 1) and Wynsol Spencer( 1). While not a Virginia Golf HOF member, eleven-time Richmond City Amateur champion Nelson Broach garnered five Valentine titles.
As of late, the Valentine committee has moved to expand the tourney from
a Richmond-based amateur competition to a national Mid-Am event.“ Our goal remains to showcase Hermitage’ s premier facilities,” said Valentine tournament chairmen Jordan Utley.“ Shifting to the Mid-Am game( players 25 and older) signals our commitment to a segment in amateur golf that has skyrocketed in popularity. Mid- Am golf celebrates camaraderie over professional golf ambitions, and values the balance between competitive passion for the game and work / family life,” he said.“ The Mid-Am ideals match well with Hermitage and our current membership composition.
“ As a result, we’ ve experienced a dramatic increase in participation and interest from players nationwide. Player
retention is very high, and we anticipate continued growth as word of mouth spreads in Mid-Am circles. The Valentine Committee now operates twelve months a year as we continue to promote the Valentine and Hermitage as one of the best places for Mid-Am golf.
“ The welcoming environment created by the Hermitage membership and the club’ s leadership team on and off the course for players has allowed the Valentine to gain positive momentum,” Utley added.
In short“ the Valentine is an integral part of Hermitage’ s DNA,” according to Partridge. That said, the Valentine’ s 83rd iteration takes place August 22-24 with 2024 champion Christian Brand looking to defend his title.
vsga. org J ULY / A UGUST 2025 | V IRGINIA G OLFER 29