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By Chris Lang
MIDLOTHIAN – After two rounds of match play on Tuesday at Salisbury Country Club, the Wednesday morning finals for the 5th Virginia State Golf Association Mid-Senior Amateur Championship and 26th VSGA Super Senior Amateur Championship are set.
In the Super Senior Amateur, the defending champions in the 70+ and 75+ age groups advanced to the finals, and there are first-time finalists in the Mid-Senior Amateur (age 60+) and the 65+ age division of the Super Senior Amateur.
The finals:
- Mid-Senior: Keith Decker (Martinsville) vs. Kent Erdahl (Williamsburg)
- Super Senior 65+: Jeff Flax (Virginia Beach) vs. Harry Thomas (McLean)
- 70+: John Cuomo (Richmond) vs. Patrick Gregory (Midlothian)
- 75+: George Owens (Virginia Beach) vs. Roger Pitkin (Springfield)
The 18-hole championship matches begin at 8 a.m. Wednesday at Salisbury, beginning with the Mid-Senior Amateur.
5th VSGA Mid-Senior Amateur Championship
Decker (Ballyhack GC) and David Partridge (Hermitage CC) each won their quarterfinal matches Tuesday morning, setting up a semifinal between two of the VSGA’s most decorated champions. Between them, Decker and Partridge have combined for 43 VSGA titles, including three Four-Ball titles playing as partners. Both were members of the first three-man team the VSGA sent to the USGA State Team Championship in the 1990s. (Tom McKnight was the other.)
So Decker, playing in his first Mid-Senior Amateur, knew just what he was getting into when he drew Partridge in Tuesday’s semifinals.
“David, he’s just mentally tough,” Decker said. “He’s a good ball striker and always has been. But he’s just mentally tough, and I know it’s going to be a grind for both of us from the first tee shot to the end of the day.”
Decker had the better of the play Tuesday and defeated Partridge 4 and 3. Partridge won the second hole to go 1 up, but Decker tied the match by winning No. 6 and won the next two holes to go 2 up. He won Nos. 10 and 14, but Partridge made birdie on No. 15 to force Decker to make his birdie putt to close out the match. Decker did just that.
“I’m lining my putt up, and I’m saying that I know champions make that putt, and I’m going to have to make this one to tie,” Decker said. “I knew that before I hit it. And he rolled it right in.”
Decker’s opponent on Wednesday with be Erdahl, who ousted fellow Two Rivers Country Club member and defending event champion Dave Pulk 2 and 1 in the semifinals. Erdahl said that Pulk probably beats him “9 out of 10 times,” but Erdahl played better down the stretch on Tuesday, making birdies on two par-5 holes (14 and 17) to eliminate Pulk.
“When you play Dave Pulk, and then you play Keith Decker, it certainly doesn’t get any easier,” Erdahl said. “I can only go out and play one round and play as well as I can. Obviously, Keith has won a ton, he’s a legend. But I’ll give it my best.”
Super Senior Amateur (65+)
Thomas (Kinloch GC) and Flax (Cavalier G&YC) are first-time finalists in the Super Senior Amateur, but both have advanced to the final match of the Mid-Senior Amateur in the past, Flax falling to George Kapetanakis in the inaugural event and Thomas losing to Partridge in 2018.
Flax’s road to the final was a bit smoother, as he ousted Salisbury member Jimmy Angel 2 and 1 in the morning before cruising past 2018 champion Dayton Slater of Richmond 7 and 6 in the afternoon. Thomas needed a late rally to eliminate defending champion Tim Vigotsky of Centreville, using a birdie on No. 18 to tie the match and a conceded birdie on the first extra hole to win in 19 holes.
Thomas knew he needed a great tee shot on the par-4 18th, and he responded with a drive that settled just 42 yards from the green. He got up and down for birdie, and when Vigotsky’s birdie putt came up short, the match was extended.
“I said, I’ve got to make a birdie, and the best way to do it is hit it over these trees and cut it, and I did, I got lucky,” Thomas said. “I don’t have Buck Brittain’s short game or anything, but I knew I had to hit it pretty far and then make a putt.”
Thomas piped another rocket down the middle on No. 1, and Vigotsky’s drive trailed to the right and settled in a fairway bunker. He barely escaped, leaving him a long third shot just to get to the green, which he didn’t reach. Thomas reached the green in regulation, and when Vigotsky couldn’t get up and down for bogey, he conceded.
As for what Thomas learned from his experience playing in a championship match in 2018?
“Stay within yourself and play your game,” Thomas said. “Keith (Decker) talked to me afterward and said, ‘You got a taste of it, and the next time you won’t make the same mistakes.’”
Super Senior Amateur (70+)
Much like last year at Indian Creek, Cuomo (Stonehenge G&CC) shot an unremarkable score in the qualifying round but advanced comfortably to match play, then ripped off a pair of workmanlike wins to reach the championship match. He knocked off Jim Malone 4 and 2 before beating Salisbury member Jim Hudson—who had defeated stroke-play medalist Mike Brown in the morning—4 and 3 in the semifinals.
Cuomo will have to take out another Salisbury member in Gregory to win his second straight title.
“I haven’t played much golf at all this summer, with the heat and the rain and everything,” Cuomo said. “So it’s just nice to go out there and compete again.”
Super Senior Amateur (75+)
Owens was the only No. 1 seed among the four age groups to survive on Tuesday, defeating Powhatan’s Tom Hackett 3 and 1 in the morning before topping Staunton’s Joe Cochran 4 and 3 in the afternoon. Because of increased participation this year, the match-play field in the division was expanded from four to eight players.
Owens will meet Pitkin (Army Navy CC), who had to grind out a 1-up win over John Casstevens in the quarterfinals before defeating Bill Smiley of North Chesterfield 2 up in the afternoon.
“I hit a lot of greens and had a lot of no-stress pars today,” Owens said. “It’s nice to play well, because tomorrow might be a different day in this thing here.”
Chris Lang is the Editor of Virginia Golfer magazine and the VSGA’s manager, digital media.
5th VSGA Mid-Senior Amateur Championship
At Salisbury Country Club, Midlothian
Par 72, 6,380 yards
Tuesday’s quarterfinal matches
#1 David Partridge (Manakin) def. #8 John Lombardozzi (Herndon), 4 and 3
#4 Keith Decker (Martinsville) def. #5 Hung Yim (Midlothian), 7 and 6
#2 Dave Pulk (Williamsburg) def. #7 Byron Ballard (Richmond), 1 up
#6 Kent Erdahl (Williamsburg) def. #3 Mike Krulich (Blacksburg), 4 and 3
Tuesday’s semifinal matches
#4 Decker def. #1 Partridge, 4 and 3
#6 Erdahl def. #2 Pulk, 2 and 1
Wednesday’s championship match
#4 Decker vs. #6 Erdahl, 8 a.m.
26th VSGA Super Senior Amateur Championship
At Salisbury Country Club, Midlothian
65+ age division
Par 72, 6,188 yards
Tuesday’s quarterfinal matches
#8 Dayton Slater (Richmond) def. #1 Leon Roday (Henrico), 2 and 1
#4 Jeff Flax (Virginia Beach) def. #5 Jimmy Angel (Midlothian), 2 and 1
#2 Tim Vigotsky (Centreville) def. #7 Randy Leyshon (Kents Store), 6 and 5
#6 Harry Thomas (McLean) def. #3 Mike McDonald (Williamsburg), 3 and 2
Tuesday’s semifinal matches
#4 Flax def. #8 Slater, 7 and 6
#6 Thomas def. #2 Vigotsky, 19 holes
Wednesday’s championship match
#4 Flax vs. #6 Thomas, 8:10 a.m.
70+ age division
Par 72, 5,816 yards
Tuesday’s quarterfinal matches
#8 Jim Hudson (Midlothian) def. #1 Mike Brown (Clifton), 3 and 2
#4 John Cuomo (Richmond) def. #5 Jim Malone (Charlottesville), 4 and 2
#2 James Bryant (Richmond) def. #7 Terry Towler (Dillwyn), 3 and 2
#6 Pat Gregory (Midlothian) def. #3 Chips Wooddy (Troutville), 3 and 1
Tuesday’s semifinal matches
#4 Cuomo def. #8 Hudson, 4 and 3
#6 Gregory def. #2 Bryant, 5 and 4
Wednesday’s championship match
#4 Cuomo vs. #6 Gregory, 8:20 a.m.
75+ age division
Par 72, 5,449 yards
Tuesday’s quarterfinal matches
#1 George Owens (Virginia Beach) def. #8 Tom Hackett (Powhatan), 3 and 1
#5 Joe Cochran (Staunton) def. #4 Dave King (Reston), 2 and 1
#2 Bill Smiley (North Chesterfield) def. #7 Harry Lea (Danville), 2 and 1
#6 Roger Pitkin (Springfield) def. #3 John Casstevens (Glen Allen), 1 up
Tuesday’s semifinal matches
#1 Owens def. #5 Cochran, 4 and 3
#6 Pitkin def. #2 Smiley, 2 up
Wednesday’s championship match
#1 Owens vs. #6 Pitkin, 8:30 a.m.