Augusta
Beckons For
Virginia Drive,
Chip & Putt
Finalists
BRIAN FEINSTEIN
by CHRIS LANG
26
qualifiers to advance to Georgia. How
special is that? Consider last year, when
two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson
took time out from practice to greet a group
of kids with high fives. One of those youths
was International CC member George
Duangmanee, who won the national title
in the boys 12-13 age division.
Contestants earned points in each of the
three skill disciplines. For the driving portion of the event, distance and the ability to
keep the ball in the fairway are paramount.
In the chipping and putting competitions,
the closer to the hole the competitor gets
the ball, the better the score.
Both made it to Augusta out of Congressional. Fieldings won the girls 10-11 division
thanks to wins in driving and putting.
“Chipping?,” she quipped in an interview
with DCP after the event. “I barely made it,
but I did it.”
Feinstein tried to qualify in 2014 but didn’t
make it out of the first round. He performed
well in his local qualifier but didn’t advance
automatically, instead earning his subregional spot as an alternate. He finished in
second place to earn a spot at Congressional,
and he took advantage of the opportunity.
Feinstein won the boys 14-15 division with
56 points, a day that included a drive of more
than 250 yards.
As for making it to Augusta, he
told DCP afterward, “It’s never
been a thought besides going to
watch the Masters.”
Bright, 11, has been to the Masters as a spectator four times, but
this is his first trip as a competitor. He qualified locally at The
Virginian in Bristol and made it
through sub-regional qualifying
at Tennessee National. Once at
Valhalla CC, Bright used his short
OWEN BRIGHT
PARIS FIELDINGS
game to claim the boys 10-11 division title. He scored 40 points in
All three of Virginia’s 2016 qualifiers have
chipping and 42 more in putting on his way
either spent time on the VSGA’s Junior Golf
to 110 points.
Circuit or played in VSGA junior chamMaybe Bright, a huge University of Georpionship events. Fieldings, 11, began her
gia fan, might even run into his favorite playqualifying road last summer at the Golden
er, former Bulldog Harris English, who has
Horseshoe in Williamsburg before making
qualified for the event. That’s just one potenthe cut at a sub-regional at Salisbury CC in
tial highlight in what should be an amazing
Midlothian. Feinstein, 14, started with local
day for the three VSGA contestants.
qualifying at the University of Maryland GC
before getting through a sub-regional at his
Chris Lang is the editor of Virginia Golfer
home club, River Bend G&CC in Great Falls.
magazine.
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PGA MIDDLE ATLANTIC SECTION
S
ome will go a lifetime without
experiencing what it’s like to
visit some of golf’s hallowed venues. Think of Valhalla Country
Club in Kentucky, host of three
PGA Championships and a Ryder Cup.
Or maybe Congressional Country Club in
Maryland, the site of three U.S. Opens and
many PGA Tour events. And then there’s
the most sacred grounds of all in American
golf: Augusta National Golf Club, home of
the Masters.
Three young Virginians have experienced a lifetime of such memories before
even earning their drivers’ licenses, thanks
to the Drive, Chip & Putt Championship (DCP), a nationwide
free skills competition that was
established in 2013 by the Masters Tournament Foundation,
the USGA and the PGA of America. VSGA members Owen Bright
(Roanoke CC), Paris Fieldings
(Cahoon Plantation) and Brian
Feinstein (River Bend G&CC)
will all get the opportunity to visit
Augusta for the 2016 DCP finals,
set for the Sunday before the start
of the Masters (April 3) at Augusta
National. The Golf Channel will
televise the event.
In Virginia alone, 832 youngsters competed for the chance to be one of the 80
national finalists in four age brackets. The
nationwide competition started at 253
local qualifying spots, with three players
from each age bracket advancing to one of
50 sub-regional qualifiers and, eventually,
one of 10 regional qualifiers.
The three VSGA Junior members had
to survive local, sub-regional and regional