“ I can ’ t wait to come back next year at Pebble Beach and see what happens .” — Lawrence after the semifinal loss
V S The Golfers
Of The Year
G A
VSGA MEN ’ S GOLFER OF THE YEAR
Mark Lawrence Jr .
HOME CLUB : Hermitage Country Club
THOSE IN VIRGINIA GOLF CIRCLES have been well aware of Mark Lawrence Jr .’ s name for the better part of a decade now . One of the VSGA ’ s most accomplished junior golfers in recent memory , he racked up three Junior Match Play titles and a Junior Stroke Play Championship before heading first to Auburn and then to Virginia Tech . After an appearance in the 2015 VSGA Amateur Championship match and a spot in a three-man playoff at the 2016 Delta Dental State Open of Virginia , it was clear that Lawrence ’ s junior exploits were no fluke .
Lawrence ’ s victory at the 104th VSGA Amateur Championship cemented his standing as the commonwealth ’ s top male competitor . Yet when he shot 64 on the first day of the U . S . Amateur in California , it was like he burst onto the national scene out of nowhere . Players like Doug Ghim and Doc Redman , the U . S . Amateur finalists , spent their summer playing in high-level national events like the Western Amateur and Pacific Coast Amateur . Lawrence did not . No one in the national press seemed to know anything about Lawrence .
Rest assured , the rest of the country became quickly acclimated with him as he earned the No . 7 seed for match play and won four matches before falling in the semifinals on the final hole to Redman , who went on to beat Ghim the next day for the title . Lawrence was anonymous no longer .
“ It ’ s been an experience I ’ ll remember the rest of my life ,” Lawrence said after the semifinal loss . “ It ’ s taught me a lot ; showed me things I need to work on to get better . I mean , it ’ s a real honor to have gotten this far . I can ’ t wait to come back next year at Pebble Beach and see what happens .”
“ I can ’ t wait to come back next year at Pebble Beach and see what happens .” — Lawrence after the semifinal loss
2017 Highlights
» Reached the semifinals of the U . S . Amateur Championship before falling to eventual champion Doc Redman . It was Lawrence ’ s first appearance in a USGA championship .
» Won the 104th VSGA Amateur Championship after surviving a 5-for-1 playoff just to qualify for match play . Defeated Jordan Utley in the 36-hole final .
» Now a junior at Virginia Tech , Lawrence capped his sophomore season by being selected for the 2017 NCAA West Lafayette Regional as an individual . Finished the 2017 fall season with a teambest 71.42 stroke average .
» Finished fourth at the Delta Dental State Open of Virginia for his second straight top-five finish in the event .
» Finished No . 1 in the 2017 VSGA Player Rankings , well ahead of No . 2 finisher Scott Shingler .
USGA PHOTO
24 V IRGINIA G OLFER | N OVEMBER / D ECEMBER 2017 vsga . org