The secret to improving is to do a little something every day . The secret to tournament golf is knowing yourself and managing your game . No instructor can tell you how you feel and how to manage those thoughts ...” — Scott Bemberis
CHRIS LANG ( 2 )
✱ SCOTT BEMBERIS Creative practice habits breed competitive success
Richmond-based attorney Scott Bemberis says a common theme for getting hooked on a sport “ is get in with a good group of friends that play .”
Tennis was Bemberis ’ s sport in high school . He earned a scholarship to play at the University of Richmond , but a shoulder injury kept him from competing . Law school buddies coaxed him to the golf course . “ We played almost daily during the month-long bar review course . It kept me sane ,” Bemberis recalled .
He began practicing law in 1993 after graduating from the University of Richmond School of Law . He joined the men ’ s association at The Crossings Golf Course for the years right out of law school and served as president of the group . He won the club championship five times .
Bemberis , who served on the Richmond Golf Association board of directors and was the association ’ s president in 2007 , wanted to get better as a player . He joined Lakeside Park Club after the first of his three children was born . His law practice was growing as well .
To take his game to a higher competitive level , Bemberis had to get creative . He played in the first group off the tee on weekends to get home by 10:30 a . m . and played from 5 p . m . until dark in the summer months one day a week . Providence Golf Course was on his way home from the office so he could stop , hit a bucket of balls or chip and putt .
“ The secret to improving is to do a little something every day . The secret to tournament golf is knowing yourself and managing your game . No instructor can tell you how you feel and how to manage those thoughts . Years of competing in tennis helped me there . A supportive wife ( synchronized swimmer in college ) allowed me the time to play tournaments ,” Bemberis said .
Playing with better players was another way for him to improve . Lakeside ’ s Saturday group included Richmond Golf Association champions such as Glenn Mullian , Tim and Brock Kelley , Tony Aguiar , Chuck Taylor , Bert Wilson and Rusty Breeden .
“ I wouldn ’ t have been medalist [ and quarterfinalist ] at the VSGA Senior Amateur last August if I hadn ’ t played all those rounds with Glenn , Tony , Tim …,” Bemberis said .
In addition to his success in the VSGA Senior Amateur , Bemberis qualified for the U . S . Mid-Amateur in 2012 . He won the 2014 RGA Mid-Amateur and paired with Paras Pandya to win the 2010 and 2012 RGA Four-Ball .
“ The VSGA [ and RGA ] has allowed me to meet so many good people and make good lifelong friends , given me the chance to compete , measure my game and improve . You don ’ t just have to win the tournament to challenge yourself ,” Bemberis said .
Andrea Miller , kneeling , and partner Cindy
Thompson at the VSGA Women ’ s Four-Ball
Championship .
✱ ANDREA MILLER New friends , rewarding experiences
Two-time VSGA Senior Women ’ s Golfer of the Year Andrea Miller wasn ’ t a child prodigy golfer even though her avid golfer father put a club in her hand when she was 6 months old .
She started competing in her hometown of Houston , Texas , when she was 10 . The club where her family played had an excellent junior program .
“ I remember my first group lesson . It was really just about hanging out with friends and being outdoors . I was a kid who loved being outdoors . I remember all summer long spending basically sunrise to sunset at the golf course ,” Miller said during a 2021 Golf in the Commonwealth podcast . “ Even on the weekends , when we weren ’ t allowed to play , I would spend all morning on the putting green waiting for my dad to finish playing golf .”
Miller described her junior career as “ pretty uneventful .” She focused on her education in college
vsga . org M ARCH / A PRIL 2023 | V IRGINIA G OLFER
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