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Drive Chip & Putt
The Drive, Chip & Putt National Finals will be held Sunday, April 5, at Augusta National, ahead of Masters Week. VSGA member Tyler Fink advanced through final qualifying and will be making his National DCP debut. As always, the event will be televised during the morning on Golf Channel.
TYLER FINK Hometown / Club: Chesapeake / VSGA JGC Age group: 14-15 boys Age: 15 Qualifying site: Pinehurst Resort Scores: Drive, 68; Chip 36; Putt 65 – Total, 169( first by 15 points) Notable: Tied heading into putting and battling late-afternoon wind, Fink made his 6-footer and nearly converted from 15 and 30 feet to win the division.“ Honestly, I was pretty cold,” he said afterward.“ I was trying to stay warm and was just telling myself that I knew the break and that I just needed to get it started on the right line.”
There are all sorts of first-time participants at the Masters on a yearly basis— the hotshot rookie, the veteran who finally stamped his ticket due to a PGA Tour victory, the U. S. Amateur champion starting his journey toward professional glory, the mid-amateur pausing job responsibilities to enjoy the fruits of winning on the over- 25 circuit.
Making the cut is hard enough in a player’ s debut. Winning? Almost impossible. It’ s happened only three times— Horton Smith in 1934, the tournament’ s first year( by default), Gene Sarazen the following year, and Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979.
“ You never say never,” Zoeller, who died in 2025, told Golfweek in 2024.“ It is amazing when you think about all the talent that has walked through from that practice range to that first tee and it hasn’ t happened.
“ Can I explain why? No. Will it happen again? Somebody will do it.”
BECK’ S TRIP Beck’ s visit to Augusta was the culmination of a lifelong dream. After graduating from Wake Forest, Beck took the traditional mini-tour path in professional golf before recurring back injuries derailed him. A twotime State Open of Virginia champion, the grind of professional golf led him to fall out of love with the game. Once he regained his amateur status and returned as a mid-amateur competitor, he again found his spark.
The Princess Anne Country Club member won two VSGA Mid-Amateurs and found plenty of success at the national level. A stinging defeat to Stewart Hagestad in the 2023 U. S. Mid-Amateur final spurred him to greatness the following year, when he routed Bobby Massa to win the U. S. Mid-Amateur on home soil at Kinloch Golf Club, earning him a Masters invite and a U. S. Open exemption.
Prior to his opening round, Beck described his acclimation process.
“ So, I took advantage of the five days prior to the week and I was lucky to be invited by a member to come, so I got a couple additional days,” Beck said in Augusta’ s press tent last April.“ I feel like I did a lot of my learning in those, and now it’ s just kind of getting acclimated to the scene, all the people, and just the vibe of the Masters.”
One move Beck made was to take a local caddie, Brian Tam.“ He’ s great,” Beck said.
DRIVE, CHIP AND PUTT
12 V IRGINIA G OLFER | M ARCH / A PRIL 2026 vsga. org