101st VSGA Amateur Championship
Jon Hurst has emerged as one
of the commonwealth’s premier
amateurs and has carried on despite
dealing with the death of his wife.
Mid-amateur has traversed circuitous path to golf stardom and
overcome personal tragedy in becoming one of the commonwealth’s top amateurs | by LEONARD SHAPIRO
J
Jon Hurst’s often
distinguished amateur golf
career has been marked by
triumph, trepidation and
even a life-altering loss. Now,
as he prepares for the 101st VSGA Amateur
C hampionship set for June 24-28 at Spring
Creek Golf Club in Gordonsville, he’d like
to think only the best is yet to come.
In an event dominated by players 25 and
under in recent years, the 44-year-old Hurst
still must be considered among the favorites,
particularly after a strong performance in
the second half of the 2013 campaign. The
Fredericksburg golfer prevailed in the VSGA
Mid-Amateur at The Foundry Golf Club in
the Richmond area, and led season-ending
points’ leaders in the VSGA player rankings.
“We definitely play with a lot of young
kids in the [VSGA] Amateur, the State
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Open and some of the invitational events,”
Hurst says. “They should be winning
these [championships] if they want to turn
professional. But there’s a bunch of older
guys who can still play at this level, and
definitely still win.”
The VSGA Amateur has been trending
younger over the last dozen years, both in
the field and at the championship trophy
presentation. Last year, there were 19 junior
golfers (18 and under) and 26 college players
competing for the title. Since the 2002
event, 10 of the 12 winners have been 23
or younger, including precocious Brinson
Paolini of Virginia Beach, who won four of
the six Amateurs between 2008 and 2013.
Paolini, 22 when he prevailed last year at
The Homestead. He played his college golf
at Duke and won his first VSGA Amateur
at age 16. Earlier this year Paolini earned
regular status on the European T
our.
LIFE-SHAPING DECISIONS
Hurst also has a special story of his own.
He started playing at age 10 on a visit to his
grandmother’s home in Largo, Fla., which
was fortuitously located on a golf course.
When his father retired from the military,
they started playing together at Montclair
Country Club in Dumfries. Hurst also
honed his game with a neighborhood buddy,
Chuck Laughinghouse, pounding practice
balls at a nearby vacant field.
At Potomac High School in Dumfries,
Hurst performed well enough to earn a golf
scholarship to Old Dominion University.
By his senior year, he had won eight college
events and was named an All-American in
a class that included Phil Mickelson, Justin
Leonard and David Duval, all future major
championship winners.
Hurst got married at age 19 during his
sophomore season, and also became a father
later that year. After his eligibility ended, he
needed another year to graduate. His college
coach, Murray Rudisill, did him a huge favor
by keeping him on scholarship and asking
him to help with the team.
“That fifth year kind of hurt my
momentum a little as far as turning pro,” he
says, “but I had a child, I was working and I
couldn’t afford to stay in school and graduate
without that scholarship. I did turn pro after
I graduated and played the mini-tours for
about a year and a half. I had a couple of
sponsors who helped me out. But I came
home one night and my wife said she wanted
a divorce. I had to put the clubs away for a
while at that point.”
Hurst took a job at Montclair and
eventually became the head professional,
then moved to Patuxent Greens Golf Club
in Laurel, Md., for another 18 months. Over
that span, he remarried, and at one point,
several friends convince