( )
Virginia Golfer
A R O U N D T H E
COMMON
WEALTH
DANIELLE SUH
SURVIVED A
PLAYOFF TO WIN
THE 51ST VSGA
JUNIOR GIRLS'
CHAMPIONSHIP.
P.8
compiled by CHRIS LANG
» Virginia golf & the people who make it great
5 TOURNEY RECAPS 6 OPENING DRIVE 10 NEWS & NOTES 12 VSGA AMATEUR 14 RULES
The
Summer
Return
The novel coronavirus has been
an exhausting, all-consuming
endeavor in everyday life for
the better part of six months
now, which made the simple joy of watching
a player sink a 20-footer for birdie
even sweeter this summer.
On July 7, the Virginia State Golf Association
championship season teed off
(finally!) with the opening of the 38th
VSGA Senior Four-Ball Championship,
at the Golden Horseshoe’s venerable Gold
Course in Williamsburg. The overall sentiment
from participants, volunteers and
any spectators who ventured out:
We’re so happy to be back.
A quick look at the VSGA’s July championships
follows:
CHRIS LANG
DELTA DENTAL STATE OPEN
OF VIRGINIA
Winner: Mark Lawrence Jr.
(63-68-69—200)
Low professional: John O’Leary, PGA
(74-69-66—207)
The story: The final chapter of the
Delta Dental State Open of Virginia’s
seven-year run at Roanoke’s Ballyhack
Golf Club began with an encore performance.
Richmond’s Mark Lawrence Jr.
(Independence GC) opened the championship
with a 9-under-par 63, a Ballyhack
State Open single-round record.
Lawrence has returned 63 twice. Ballyhack
member Justin Young has shot 63
on his home course in a State Open once.
Lawrence set a major tone, and when
no one in the afternoon came close to
matching him, it was clear the challenge
the rest of the field had in trying to catch
the Virginia Tech standout. Lawrence,
twice a runner-up via playoff defeat at
Mark Lawrence Jr., twice a runner-up at the Delta
Dental State Open of Virginia, broke through with
a dominating victory at Ballyhack.
Ballyhack, crushed the field, winning by
seven strokes over Young to claim his first
State Open title. He also joined an ultraelite
group of Virginia golfers who have won
the State Open, VSGA Amateur and VSGA
Junior Stroke Play championships. Lanny
Wadkins and Steve Smith are the others.
vsga.org S EPTEMBER/O CTOBER 2020 | V IRGINIA G OLFER 5