SUMMER
specials
Get primed for the 2018 VSGA men’s and women’s
Amateur championships
by CHRIS LANG
O
n a steamy summer afternoon at The Club at
Creighton Farms in 2017, Mark Lawrence Jr.
hugged his parents near the 16th green after
defeating Jordan Utley to claim his first VSGA
Amateur championship. Two weeks later, the
scene played out again near the 16th green
at Laurel Hill Golf Club in Lorton. Lauren
Greenlief shared a hug with her father after beating Caroline
Curtis for her first VSGA Women’s Amateur title.
Lawrence and Greenlief have long been two of Virginia’s
top amateur players. But until last year, they had struggled
to break through at the VSGA’s biggest championships.
Lawrence had played in the quarterfinals, semifinals and
championship match before his victory in 2017. Greenlief’s
title was her first in four championship-match appearances.
They’ll undoubtedly be among the favorites again this
summer as the VSGA amateurs move south to central Virgin-
ia. The Federal Club in Glen Allen outside of Richmond will
host the 105th VSGA Amateur Championship June 26-30.
Charlottesville’s Farmington Country Club will be the site
of the 93rd VSGA Women’s Amateur Championship from
July 9-12.
What can players expect when those championships tee
off this summer?
THE VENUE
The Federal Club has hosted a VSGA championship in each
of the last three years, starting with the Senior Four-Ball in
2015, followed by the Junior Stroke Play in ’16 and the Four-
Ball Match Play in the fall of ’17. It also hosts one of the top
amateur invitationals in the state—The Signature at The
Federal Club. The Arnold Palmer signature design is long
and demanding, starting with a tough uphill par-4 and ending
with a tricky downhill par-4 featuring a lakeside green.