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By Chris Lang
CENTREVILLE — Jack Allara and Tim Vigotsky each had makeable eagle putts on the par-5 13th hole at Chantilly National Golf & Country Club Tuesday, but both players missed. No matter. Allara tapped in his miss for birdie, starting a five-hole run of birdies that put the side in the lead in the 65+ division of the 8th Virginia State Golf Association Super Senior Four-Ball Championship.
The second and final round of the 36-hole championship will be held Wednesday.
Allara (Hidden Valley CC) and Vigotsky (Robert Trent Jones GC) posted a 6-under-par 66 and hold a one-shot lead over Richmond-area players Jim Woodson (Mill Quarter Plantation GC) and Jimmy Angel (Salisbury CC). David Partridge (Hermitage CC) and Harry Thomas (Kinloch GC) had a chance to join Woodson and Angel in second but made bogey on the par-4 18th. They returned a 4-under-par 68 and stand alone in third.
In each of the other two age divisions, two sides will enter Wednesday tied for the lead.
In the 70+ division, Belle Haven CC members Charles Ballou and Dick Blackburn posted a 3-under 69, as did Bill Stout (Washington G&CC) and David LeClere (International CC).
In the 75+ division, John Casstevens (The Federal Club) and Tom Vogt (The Federal Club) returned 2-under 70, joining David King (Trump National GC, Washington, D.C.) and Rich Fischer (Army Navy CC) atop the leaderboard.
Allara and Vigotsky have played together before in team events but have never partnered for a championship. They got off to an uneven start, making one birdie and 11 pars in the first 12 holes.
“Last night, we ran around and played 10 holes and we were 7 under,” said Vigotsky, who won last year’s 65+ title at the VSGA Super Senior Amateur. “And I said, just watch, we’ll go out there (Tuesday) and par the first five or six holes. We can’t focus on last night, because it’s meaningless.
“It was a super slow start, but we stayed patient and didn’t panic, because it would be easy to do. Then we just started chipping away and had a good back nine.”
They had a chance to end the round with six straight birdies but neither Vigotsky or Allara reached the 18th green in regulation, and Allara missed a long birdie putt after escaping a greenside bunker.
“We figured we could get it to 5 under on the back and get to 6 (under for the round),” Allara said. “At the worst, we would be two back.”
Vigotsky and Allara—who won the VSGA Super Senior Stroke Play Championship at Danville GC in September—were paired with Woodson and Angel on Tuesday, and they’ll play together again Wednesday in the final grouping.
Woodson and Angel made the turn a 3 under before making seven straight pars. They rebounded with a pair of birdies on 16 and 17 before making par on 18 to close out their 67.
“They were solid,” Vigotsky said. “We were behind them most of the day but we kind of flipped it around on the back.”
In the 70+ division, Ballou and Blackburn posted a bogey-free round with three birdies, while LeClere and Stout made four birdies and a bogey for their 69.
In the 75+ division, Casstevens and Vogt started hot with birdies on Nos. 3 and 4 but fell back to even after the second of two bogeys on 11. They closed strong, making birdies on their last two holes to finish at 70. King and Fischer were 1 over at the turn but made three birdies on a bogey-free back nine to join Casstevens and Vogt in the lead.
Lang is the VSGA’s manager of media and communications.