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VIRGINIA GOLFER
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DELTA DENTAL STATE OPEN OF VIRGINIA LOW AMATEURS MICHAEL BRENNAN AND JI SOO PARK , PAGE 8
compiled by CHRIS LANG
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CHAMPIONSHIP ROUNDUP | 11 MEMBER CLUBS | 12 THE RULES | 14 IN MEMORIAM
104th VSGA Amateur Championship
The Club at Creighton Farms , Aldie | June 27 – July 1
AS THE SUN BEAT DOWN on a steamy Saturday at Creighton Farms , Mark Lawrence Jr .’ s victory in the 104th VSGA Amateur had yet to sink in . Just before the awards ceremony began , Lawrence picked up the Schwarszchild Brothers Trophy and looked for one name in particular — his father ’ s .
Mark Lawrence Sr ., who was the first to give his son a bear hug near the 16th green after his son clinched his 3-and-2 victory over Jordan Utley ( Independence GC ), won his championship 37 years prior at Willow Oaks Country Club in Richmond . In the heart of Loudoun County horse country , the younger Lawrence used a workhorse-like performance to add his name to the trophy .
A stunning 10 on the par-5 3rd hole in the second round of stroke-play qualifying didn ’ t sink Lawrence , instead emboldening him . Still , he needed to survive a 5-for-1 playoff just to reach the round of 32 thanks to that tough hole . Once there , Lawrence ousted stroke-play medalist Michael Brennan , Lee Fisher , three-time finalist
Ji Soo Park and surprise semifinalist Steve Serrao in succession to get to the final .
Utley had defeated Lawrence in 2014 at Spring Creek in the quarterfinals , one of a series of near misses for Lawrence , a finalist in 2015 and a semifinalist in 2016 . One of Lawrence ’ s biggest keys was his ability to play deliberate , thoughtful golf , a lesson learned from his assistant coach at Virginia Tech , Brian Sharp .
“ He said it seemed like I was going a little quick ,” Lawrence said . “ Quick hitting my range balls , stuff like that . He got me to realize that I needed to slow down everything . Not just slow down your swing . I had to slow down my routine and slow down everything . Not try to play too fast . Not try to get ahead of yourself .”
He never did . He handled some opponents with ease . He grinded through matches against others . And at the end , he joined his father as a VSGA Amateur champion .
“ I ’ m so pumped to have my name on the trophy with my dad ,” Mark Jr . said . “ I ’ ve wanted to do that for a long time .”
QUICK FACTS :
Field and format : 132 players who were either exempt or advanced through qualifiers played 36 holes of stroke play , with the field cut to 32 players for five rounds of match play , culminating with a 36-hole championship match .
Stroke-play medalist : Michael Brennan ( 138 )
It was over when : After an hourlong rain delay in the title match , Lawrence made a birdie on No . 11 in the afternoon round to push his lead back to 3 up .
Quotable : “ I ’ ve been here over and over again , whether it ’ s been at this tournament , the Mid-Am , the Valentine [ Invitational ], whatever . At some point , you ’ ve just got to push through the door . Mark could have said the exact same thing today . But he got to the door before me today .” — Utley
Mark Lawrence Jr .
CHRIS LANG
VSGA Summer Rewind
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