Virginia Golfer Nov / Dec 2017 | Page 10

( atc ) 70TH VSGA SENIOR AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP One competitor fought memories of a sting- ing defeat in the previous year’s Senior Amateur championship match. Another was participating in his first VSGA cham- pionship. In the end, Rich Buckner’s moti- vation and stellar play won out. Buckner (Robert Trent Jones GC) surged around the turn in the 18-hole championship match against Duncan Hardcastle (Magnolia Green GC), built a huge lead and closed out a 5-and-4 victory at Keswick Golf Club with a kick-in birdie on 14. Buckner, who lost 6 and 5 to Keith Decker in 2016’s champion- ship match, took a 1-up lead with a par on No. 4 and never trailed against Hardcastle. 12TH SENIOR OPEN OF VIRGINIA Amateur Buck Brittain, a 50-year-old senior circuit rookie, was steady down the stretch, and that demeanor served him well at Two Rivers Country Club. Brittain (The Virginian GC) has been a mainstay near the top of leaderboards in VSGA championships, and he reached the title match at the 2012 VSGA Amateur. But he had never broken through until this year’s Senior Open, where he shot a two-day aggregate 138 to finish a stroke clear of professional Rick Schuller for his first title in a VSGA sanctioned championship. “I thought I could get there, but I just never had,” Brittain said afterward. 23RD VSGA SUPER SENIOR AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP Three past VSGA champions added to “I thought I could get there, but I just never had.” Buck Brittain their resumes at James River Country Club, as Mike McDonald (Two Rivers CC), Bill Engel (Army Navy CC) and Ned Baber (Roanoke CC) won their respec- tive age divisions. McDonald defeated Mike Ancel (Newport News GC at Deer Run) 2 and 1 in the 65-69 championship match. Engel held off 2016 champion Jim Hudson (Salisbury CC) 1 up in the 70-74 title match. Baber jumped to an early lead in the 75-over age group and defeated O.D. Gardner (The Woodlands GC) 4 and 3 in the title match. Baber earned his sixth VSGA title, 57 years after he won his first champi- onship at the 1960 VSGA Amateur. From left, Leon Roday, Mike McDonald, Bill Engel and Ned Baber. 8 V I R G I N I A G O L F E R | N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R 2 0 17 2ND VSGA MID-SENIOR AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP Leon Roday (Kin- loch GC), who has spent most of the l a st t w o s e a s o n s near the top of the VSGA senior player rankings, earned his first championship, defeating Jim Wright (Roanoke CC) 6 and 5 in the Mid-Senior Amateur, created for players ages 60-64. Roday birdied the first hole of the title match and made the turn with a 3-up lead before rolling to the win. 5TH VSGA SUPER SENIOR FOUR- BALL CHAMPIONSHIP Longtime friends Charles Green III (The Virginian GC) and Bob Rotella (Glenmore CC) tied a tournament record by shooting a bogey-free, two-day aggregate 129 to win the championship by four strokes over Peter Jacobi and Bill Engel (Army Navy CC). Green won his sixth VSGA championship, while Rotella claimed his first. Jacobi and Engel made 16 birdies over the tournament’s 36 holes but five bogeys were their undoing. Also OTHER ACHIEVEMENTS The Virginia team posted a three-day 445 and tied for 10th at the final playing of the U.S. Women’s State Team Championship in Santa Fe, N.M. Team members were Lauren Greenlief (International CC), vsga.org Seniors Buck Brittain carded a two-day aggregate 138 to win his first VSGA crown at the 12th Senior Open of Virginia.