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HAYMARKET — For the fifth straight year, Mount Vernon Country Club and the Country Club of Virginia will meet at the Virginia State Golf Association Women’s State Team Matches.
This time, the meeting will come a little earlier than usual.
At Evergreen Country Club on Monday, defending champion Mount Vernon posted a 4-under-par 215 to earn medalist honors and the top seed for the four-team championship flight.
Alexandria’s Belle Haven Country Club shot 222 and finished second. Belle Haven will face Leesburg’s River Creek Club in Tuesday’s semifinals. River Creek finished at 226, four shots clear of CCV. The 13-time champions from Richmond will be the No. 4 seed and face Mount Vernon in a rematch of the last four championship matches.
“We love the challenge of facing CCV,” Mount Vernon captain Joan Gardner said. “They always bring it, whether it’s the first day or the last day. We’re looking forward to it.”
In Monday’s stroke-play qualifying round, each club featured three four-ball sides, with the combined total comprising the club’s overall score. In match play, which begins Tuesday with the semifinals and concludes Wednesday with the final matches, teams will face off in three four-ball matches, with one point available on each hole in each match.
Teams outside of the championship flight were first flighted by collective handicap index, then seeded based on their qualifying score on Monday.
Mount Vernon, which has also won 13 Women’s State Team titles, got a huge boost on Monday from the pairing of Linda DiVall and Kimberly Franks, who shot a 5-under 68 that featured seven birdies and two bogeys. Shawn McCullough and Susan Podolsky shot even-par 73, and Gardner and Katie Cox returned 1-over 74.
“We just had a great day,” DiVall said of her round with Franks, who was out of the country last year at this time and didn’t participate in the event. “We had a lot of confidence in each other and we were able to play our own games. It didn’t fall on one person to carry us. Great round, and we were able to stay in the fairway, which was huge because the rough is brutal.”
Belle Haven’s best side featured Kay Tyler and Ashley Suska, who shot a 1-under 72 that was aided greatly by Tyler’s hole-in-one on the par-3 3rd hole. Arline Hoffman and Maria Kirby shot 75, as did Mimi Hoffman and Nancy Duncan.
River Creek was paced by Allisyn Terry and Dolly Richards, which posted a 3-under 70 that included an eagle from Terry on the par-5 8th hole. CCV’s best side featured Didi Bowers and Lindsay Wortham, which returned 75. CCV finished two shots ahead of Army Navy Country Club to grab the final spot in the championship flight.
72nd VSGA Women’s State Team Matches
At Evergreen CC, Haymarket
Par 73, 5,573 yards
Monday’s stroke-play qualifying results
Mount Vernon CC 73-68-74—215
Belle Haven CC 75-71-75—222
River Creek Club 70-76-80—226
CC of Virginia 77-78-73—230
Army Navy CC 74-80-78—232
GC at the Highlands 80-75-81—236
Belmont GC 78-78-83—239
Williamsburg GC 78-84-77—239
Brandermill CC 80-80-81—241
Evergreen CC 83-75-83—241
Washington G&CC 77-81-83—241
Hermitage CC 82-83-83—248
Bayville GC 81-83-85—249
Ford’s Colony CC 85-85-79—249
Fort Belvoir GC 82-82-85—249
Ivy Hill GC 79-84-87—250
Willow Oaks CC 79-85-86—250
Greenbrier CC 81-85-87—253
International CC 83-90-89—262
Cavalier Y&GC 81-94-94—269
Tuesday’s semifinal matches
9 a.m. shotgun start
Championship flight
#1 Mount Vernon CC vs. #4 CC of Virginia
#2 Belle Haven CC vs. #3 River Creek Club
First flight
#1 Army Navy CC vs. #4 Bayville GC
#2 Brandermill CC vs. #3 GC at the Highlands
Second flight
#1 Belmont GC vs. #4 Cavalier G&YC
#2 Washington G&CC vs. #3 Evergreen CC
Third flight
#1 Williamsburg GC vs. #4 Greenbrier CC
#2 Ford’s Colony CC vs. #3 Ivy Hill GC
Fourth flight
#1 Hermitage CC vs. #4 International CC
#2 Fort Belvoir GC vs. #3 Willow Oaks CC