CHRIS LANG( SUGHRUE AND TALLENT) more than 200 VSGA tournaments since 1922.“ The Homestead was to amateur golf what Pinehurst or Pebble Beach were to professional golf,” he said.“ We hosted the Men’ s Amateur, Senior Amateur, Super Seniors, Women’ s Amateur, Senior Women’ s Amateur and nine USGA championships. It was always about welcoming top amateur players to our courses.”
Career Highlights
• Won Middle Atlantic PGA Senior Championship
• Won MAPGA Southern Chapter Senior Championship
• Won MAPGA Senior-Junior Championship
• Recipient of VSGA President’ s Award( 2016)
• Member of VGHOF inaugural selection committee( 2016-18)
Matt Sughrue
The telephone call left its recipient, Matt Sughrue, speechless. He had just been informed he was to be a member of the VGHOF class of 2025.“ A wave of emotion stopped me in my tracks,” Sughrue recalled.
Reflecting on his competitive golf journey, particularly over the past 15 years, he said,“ I knew I was accomplishing some things that were praiseworthy and had earned the respect of some of the best amateur golfers in the world. However, to be a member of the Virginia Golf Hall of Fame and have my name placed next to the likes of Snead, Giles, Decker, Wadkins and Strange is an honor I will cherish to the last day I live on Earth.”
Such an honor wasn’ t always a possibility.“ I used to hate the game of golf,” Sughrue noted.“ I used to play for the wrong reasons. I got discouraged and angry, so I put the clubs away.”
A change of vocations provided him with clarity of purpose. Sughrue left the insurance business, went back to graduate school to become a mental health clinician.“ This changed my outlook on life and my relationship with golf … I learned to love the process of improvement, which demanded physical conditioning and practice,” he said.“ The results followed. I only have one goal when it comes to golf. I just wanted to see how good I can get.”
If the VGHOF has anything to say about it, Sughrue has already made his mark in the world of Virginia golf.
Career Highlights
• Won Senior Open of Virginia
• Won Maryland Senior Open
• Won inaugural Giles Invitational, senior division
• Won Crump Cup, senior division
• Teamed with Brandon Cigna to win VSGA Four-Ball Championship in 2019
• Played in two U. S. Amateurs and three U. S. Senior Opens
• Competed in 25 USGA championships, including eight consecutive U. S. Senior Amateurs
Pat Tallent
Perseverance and tenacity have long been hallmarks of Pat Tallent’ s success— first on college basketball courts, then in elite golf competitions worldwide.
Growing up in tiny Maytown, Kentucky, as the youngest of four brothers, Tallent learned early what it meant to compete.“ They all were great basketball players. I was always striving really hard to be competitive with them, and that really helped me,” he recalled.
That effort paid off. Coached by his older brother Bob, Tallent racked up 1,725 points and averaged 20.8 per game in three seasons at George Washington University. But he knew basketball wasn’ t his long-term path, so he turned his attention to golf.
Tallent’ s ball striking was always a strength, but putting held him back— until a long putter changed everything.“ All of a sudden, I was a good putter,” he said.“ All that ball striking put me in position to play very well, and I did.”
As for his induction into the VGHOF, Tallent shared,“ They certainly have a fine Hall of Fame roster. It’ s an honor to be included among all those people.”
Though back and knee issues now limit his play, Tallent remains deeply involved in the game. He’ s helping restore a municipal course built on a former strip mine in eastern Kentucky, near his hometown— lending time, funding and guidance to keep it open for the next generation of golfers.
Scan the QR code to learn about the municipal course restoration project.
Career Highlights
• Won Virginia Amateur and recognized as 2007 VSGA Golfer of the Year
• Teamed with both Bob Morris and Keith Decker to win four VSGA Senior Four-Ball titles
• Competed in 35 USGA Championships, including the U. S. Senior Amateur( won once, runner-up once) and U. S. Senior Open( low amateur)
• Won British Senior Amateur
• Won Hugh Wilson Invitational, the Walter Travis Invitational and the Crump Cup
• Member of Middle Atlantic Golf Association Hall of Fame, National Senior Amateur Hall of Fame and George Washington Athletics Hall of Fame
vsga. org S EPTEMBER / O CTOBER 2025 | V IRGINIA G OLFER 21