Past VSGA president and longtime Danville member Harry Lea won the VSGA ’ s Super Senior Stroke Play 75 + championship on his home course in 2020 .
model and patient mentor for a generation of fine professional and amateur Danville golfers , including Rick Bendall , Wright Garrett , Lea , Mac Main and Ray Womack .
Smith ’ s greatest protege was Bobby Mitchell . The Danville GC pro took young Mitchell under his wing after noticing the young caddie ’ s natural swing . Not an academic , Mitchell turned professional at 15 and he turned his love of golf into triumphs in the VSGA Open , the Virginia State PGA Open and the Carolinas PGA Championship . These wins gave him the confidence to tackle the PGA Tour , tallying an unlikely T-2 in the 1972 Masters behind Jack Nicklaus .
However , Mitchell ’ s real moment in the sun came later that same month in the PGA Tour ’ s Tournament of Champions . Trailing Jack again with just a few holes to go , Mitchell made up the difference in regulation , then beat Nicklaus on the playoff ’ s first extra hole with a 20-foot birdie putt . Bobby must have had Jack wondering , “ Who is this guy ?”
Mitchell was part of the PGA Tour full time from 1967-76 , played in 407 PGA Tour and Champions Tour events , won twice and finished in the top 10 34 times . But when he came off tour , he was either in Danville or ( oddly enough ) Finland , mentoring another stream of fine young golfers .
Al Smith would have been proud .
some of the organizers considered renaming the event .
Quality engagement takes other forms . Two members , Lea ( 1987-88 ) and Barry Shea ( 2006-07 ), have served as president of the VSGA , while Jan Sutherland presided over the VSGA Women ’ s Division from 2000-01 . They ’ re also among the club leaders over the years that leave the club today with no debt .
Danville GC ’ s current head professional ( and 1992 VSGA Open champion ), Craig Gunn , speaks with pride of the club ’ s culture of excellence , including the standards profiled by Al Smith . “ It ’ s a pleasure to be in a place where the values are high and we are expected to do more . Challenges will always there , but we try to meet them head on , learn from them and continually improve our club .”
Truth is , there are many courses and clubs in the Commonwealth that met the challenges of the last century with excellence . Like Danville GC , they are more than ready for the next 100 years .
For more details check out www . LurayCaverns . com or call ( 888 ) 443-6551 .
3 Day / 2 Night Packages from
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DANVILLE GOLF CLUB VIRGINIA STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS HOSTED
CHAMPIONSHIPS
State Open of Virginia
VSGA Amateur
VSGA Mid-Amateur
VSGA Senior Women ' s Amateur
VSGA Junior Stroke Play
VSGA Super Senior Stroke Play
VSGA Senior Four-Ball
More Green . Less Fee .
Per person , double occupancy , plus tax
YEARS / WINNERS
1939 / Bobby Cruickshank 1950 / Jack Issacs 1960 / Al Smith 1974 / Vinny Giles 1984 / Mark Carnevale
1981 / George MacDonald 1988 / Keith Decker
1998 / Charles Green III
2001 / Dot Bolling 1990 / Simon Cooke
2020 / 65 + Jack Allara , 70 + Terry Towler , 75 + Harry Lea 2005 / Bill Chase
2001 / Dave King and Tom Flory
THOMAS DEWALT
QUALITY ENGAGEMENT Danville GC ’ s quality shows up in other ways . The club has hosted 14 state championships ( see table ) won by players like former U . S . Amateur champion Vinny Giles , former PGA Tour winner Mark Carnevale and Dot Bolling , who captured seven individual VSGA women ’ s championships in five seasons ( 1998-2002 ). Virginia Golf Hall of Famer Keith Decker won the club ’ s Men ’ s Invitational so often — nine times — that
vsga . org M AY / J UNE 2022 | V IRGINIA G OLFER 9