DELTA DENTAL OF
VIRGINIA SIGNS ON
AS EVENT SPONSOR
MARK MORROW
certain spots, if you catch the wrong tier, the
ball can spin off the green. Or [shots] can go
long and put you in spots that can make a
double bogey happen really fast.
“You have to have full control of your
game if you’re going to win. The winner on
that course is going to be somebody who
played very nicely and putted well. It’s not
going to be a fluke winner. You have to have
everything at Ballyhack.”
‘MICKELSON MOMENTS,’ NEXT-LEVEL
ASPIRATIONS
Of course, it won’t hurt to be sleeping in his
home bed in the family’s home in Troutville.
Like some other players, Sullivan will be
driving home from Rockville, Md., site of
the Maryland Open, which runs July 14-16.
“Chip will benefit from coming off a
MAPGA major and going right into another
one,” Kari says. “Hopefully, the momentum
will be good. But he will also have already
played three rounds of championship golf.
So either you’re going to ride that horse and
keep on going or you’re going to come in
tired and a little distressed.
“I think Chip is going to rise to the
occasion on this one. He’s been the Phil
Mickelson of the State Open too many
times. Just like when people thought that
Phil was never going to win that [Masters]
green jacket, in 2004 he just plowed right
through and has won it two more times.”
Sullivan, who earned his PGA T
our card
and played 27 events on the major league
circuit in 1997, realizes this may be his best
shot at finally completing the MarylandVirginia open double.
“Sure, sure!” he says. “It’s interesting. At
every level I’ve competed at, I feel like I’ve
finally won something that was a big deal for
me. For instance, in college I won the SEC
Championship. Then as a club professional
I won the national championship, and I won
the Maryland championship.
“So I would love to win something big in
this state. And this would be it. I’m not getting
any younger. I can go to [Champions] T
our
qualifying school this year. So depending on
how I do this summer will dictate if I want to
pursue trying to get my [Champions] T
our
card. The way I always look at things is, I’m
not going to [Champions] T Q-School if I
our
can’t win the Virginia State Open.”
The last time Roanoke played host to the State
Open of Virginia? Try 1982, at the now nonexistent
Ballyhack’s layout
Countryside Golf Club.
will test players’
The victor? How about Bobby Wadkins, who not
shotmaking acumen.
only captured the title but also met his wife, Barbara,
on the trip.
Thirty-two years later, the championship will be
staged at Roanoke’s award-winning Ballyhack Golf Club.
Additionally, the event will mark the first year of a three-year
deal with Dental Dental of Virginia as title sponsor.
“To have Delta Dental of Virginia to come on board as the title
sponsor is a huge benefit,” says Jonathan Ireland, Ballyhack’s director of
operations. “We’re thrilled to have them as a partner along with the VSGA and the Middle
Atlantic PGA to put this event on. And we're thrilled to have it here in southwest Virginia
and Ballyhack.
“Delta Dental of Virginia has a great golf culture in their company. They support golf and
they support the area. With their headquarters here in Roanoke, offices in Richmond and a
presence in northern Virginia and Virginia Beach, it's a wonderful fit and a great partnership.”
With an ongoing project taking Midlothian’s Independence Golf Club out of the mix
after a seven-year run as host, the VSGA and MAPGA elected to take the event to fiveyear-old Ballyhack.
“We’re all thrilled to be able to put the best amateur and professional golfers in Virginia
and the Middle Atlantic Section to the test on this golf course,” Ireland says. “This is the
first year it’s been a 54-hole event, so it’s a three-day championship. With the flexibility we
have at Ballyhack, we really have a chance to set up three different golf courses in those
three days, which should be a lot of fun for players of this caliber.”
—Randy King
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Author Randy King is a sp