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97 TH VSGA WOMEN ’ S AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP Winner : Kendall Turner ( def . Danielle Suh 5 and 4 ) Fun fact : Turner , who plays for James Madison University , defeated Amber Mackiewicz in the semifinals . Mackiewicz has one year left at Bayside High School but has verbally committed to play for the Dukes starting in 2023-24 .
The margin between a very good amateur golfer and an elite one is razor thin . It ’ s something that Kendall Turner came to realize in 2019 when she played in the U . S . Girls ’ Junior at SentryWorld in Wisconsin .
Turner had long been one of Virginia ’ s better junior players , a constant presence on all-star teams that represented the VSGA in interstate competition . But what she saw in Wisconsin was eye opening , according to her longtime coach , David Williams Jr .
“ As good as she was in the junior ranks , I think — and she believes — that she didn ’ t work as hard as she could have during that time ,” said Williams , who was on site at Meadowbrook CC for the final match to support Turner , with whom he has worked at Greenbrier CC since she was 9 years old . “ When we went to the U . S . Girls ’ Junior in Wisconsin , she saw how good everybody was , and she knew it was attainable for her . I think once she got through her freshman year of college , she realized she could be really , really good , and now she ’ s one of the hardest working people I ’ ve seen .”
Turner made an immediate impact for the Dukes , who now feature two VSGA Women ’ s Amateur champions on their squad ( 2020 winner Tatum Walsh is the other ). Turner set the Dukes ’ freshman
“ I honestly didn ’ t think about it much . I didn ’ t really realize how many birdies I made until you said something .”
— Turner on the zone she was in during her front-nine , 6-under 30 in the championship match .
scoring average record in 2019-20 . She was Colonial Athletic Association Player of the Year in 2020-21 . She set the program record for low round in spring 2022 , firing a 66 .
Now a confident Turner heads into her final two years in Harrisonburg with even more hardware in tow — her first VSGA championship .
109 TH VSGA AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP Winner : Ross Funderburke ( def . Grayson Wood 7 and 6 ) Fun fact : Funderburke became the first Roanoke-area player to win the Amateur since David Tolley in 1983 . Winner quote : “ It was nice getting out there and not having any nerves . But now that I ’ ve won , it ’ s good to know that I know how to win . So hopefully , the next time the opportunity comes around , I ’ m ready to take it again .”
Kendall Turner
Ross Funderburke enjoyed an early lunch on a Friday morning at Cedar Point Club , host of the 109th VSGA Amateur Championship . The food tasted a little better when he made a par on 18 in the first round of the championship match to go 3-up at the turn against Fredericksburg teenager Grayson Wood . And it seemed to energize him even more as he headed to the first tee for the second 18 holes .
Birdie . Birdie . Eagle . And just like that , the championship match was basically over .
“ I was telling him , I didn ’ t know what to do ,” Wood said . “ I didn ’ t really have a choice but to try to make birdie every single hole . … He just wasn ’ t allowing par to win holes .”
Funderburke , a member at Hidden Valley Country Club who plays at Furman University , has come close in the past to winning VSGA events but could never quite break through . He gained confidence by defeating two-time State Open champion Evan Beck in the semifinals . In the final match , he ran into a player on a serious hot streak . Wood had never played in a competitive match play tournament until the VSGA Junior Match Play Championship the week prior . He won all four matches there and won his first four matches at Cedar Point .
But it was clear from the start that Funderburke had everything working . Drives of 300-plus yards were the norm , not the exception . His iron and wedge play were on point , and he rolled in putts with regularity .
And now Funderburke has a win he can build on . He has two more years of eligibility at Furman and is coming off a season in which he received an individual bid to NCAA regionals . The best , it seems , is yet to come .
Ross Funderburke
CHRIS LANG ( TURNER ); BEN WALLS ( FUNDERBURKE )
8 V IRGINIA G OLFER | S EPTEMBER / O CTOBER 2022
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