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compiled by CHRIS LANG
V IRGINIA
G OLFER
A R O U N D
THE USGA AND R&A
HAVE PLANS TO MAKE
SWEEPING CHANGES
TO THE RULES OF
GOLF. PAGE 12.
T H E
COMMON
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» Virginia golf & the folks who make it great
7 NEWS & NOTES 9 TOP SCHOLARS 10 MEMBER CLUBS 12 THE RULES
USGA RETIRES
STATE TEAM
CHAMPIONSHIPS
Tom McKnight (standing), Keith Decker (kneeling left) and David Partridge brought
the inaugural State Team Championship trophy home to Virginia in 1995.
vsga.org
T
he USGA State Team Championship
was supposed to be a one-time event
celebrating the USGA’s centennial in
1995, but it became a biennial affair.
Keith Decker was there for every one of them.
And now that the USGA has retired the event,
Decker (Chatmoss CC) will be the only player
in the United States—man or woman—to hold
that distinction. Decker was a member of the
VSGA’s three-man entry for the 2016 State
Team Championship in Alabama, the final time
the men’s event was contested. The ladies will
get one last chance at state pride when the final
Women’s State Championship is held from Sept.
26–28 in Santa Fe, N.M.
“The USGA continually evaluates its champi-
onships and the way in which they are conduct-
ed,” USGA Championship Committee chairman
Stuart Francis said in a USGA release. “The
decision to discontinue the State Team Champi-
onships follows a thorough review and analysis,
including consultation with representatives
from state and regional golf associations.”
The State Team Championships began in
1995, with both men and women competing.
The three-person competition, held that year
in Orlando, Fla., was intended to be a one-off
event patterned after the World Amateur Team
Championships. But it was such a success that
the USGA decided to keep contesting it.
The three-person teams featured elite
non-collegian amateurs, since NCAA rules
forbid any current college players from par-
ticipating.
“It’s our Olympics, playing for the USGA
title,” Decker said before last year’s champion-
ship. “There are not many people who have a
gold USGA medal, or a silver USGA medal, or
a bronze USGA medal. You know, Virginia has
won a gold, they’ve won two silver and a bronze,
through the years. And I can tell you, I know
exactly where each one of them is. They’re in my
house, right there, in the trophy room.”
Decker’s first teammates in 1995, w hen Vir-
ginia finished nine strokes clear of Florida to
win its lone title, were David Partridge and
Tom McKnight. His final teammates, in 2016,
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