NOTE TO MEDIA: Links to scoring, photos, and the event preview can be found on the event portal at the link posted above. Please click on the “Media” tab to find those items.
By Chris Lang
ROANOKE — David Stanford’s pursuit to become the first player in six years to sweep the Virginia State Golf Association’s two marquee junior championships got off to a solid start Tuesday at Roanoke Country Club.
Stanford, who won the VSGA Junior Match Play title last month at Winchester Country Club, posted a 5-under-par 66 at Roanoke Country Club Tuesday to take a one-stroke lead after 18 holes of the 69th VSGA Junior Stroke Play Championship.
Stanford, an Army Navy CC member from Vienna who will soon start his career at Virginia Tech, leads Fairfax’s Bryan Lee by one shot. Charlottesville’s Preston Burton is two strokes behind Stanford after firing a 3-under 68 on Tuesday.
Already one of eight players to win both the Match Play and Stroke Play titles (he won the Stroke Play at Winchester in 2019), Stanford is looking to become the first to win both in the same year since Mark Lawrence Jr. in 2015.
Stanford’s round started slowly, an early bogey leaving him a 1 over through four holes. He quickly shook that off with an eagle on No. 5 and a birdie on No. 6 to move to 2 under. He added birdies on Nos. 11, 13 and 16 to finish at 5 under for the day.
“On 5, I cut the corner pretty good, and I’m pretty sure I hit the cart path, so I had about 180 yards in,” Stanford said. “I hit a good 8-iron to about 15 feet and dropped the putt. On 6, I hit a 4-iron right down the center, then hit 8 iron again to about 20 feet, just short and right of the pin, and hit the putt.
“It was pretty helpful. I wasn’t all that concerned about the bogey, I was pretty confident that I was going to get it back. But that eagle was definitely a bonus.”
Stanford has plenty of experience at Roanoke CC, having competed in several Scott Robertson Memorial Tournaments at the club.
“It’s all about hitting it well off the tee,” Stanford said. “The greens work really well for me. Today, they were a little slower than I expected, probably because of the rain. But once I got used to that, it was off to the races from there.”
Lee’s older brother Bryan won the VSGA Junior Match Play title in 2019 and is eager to add his own award to the family trophy case. He started on No. 10 (Roanoke’s Dogwood nine) and rallied from three straight bogeys to make the turn at level par. Lee then surged up the leaderboard thanks to strong play on the Redbud nine, capping his round with a birdie on No. 8 and a holeout for eagle on the par-4 9th.
Burton, a 16-year-old rising junior at Charlottesville High School who is a member at Farmington CC, also made a run on the Redbud nine after starting on the Dogwood and turning at 1 under. He made three straight birdies on holes 3, 4 and 5 and just missed making another on No. 9, as his putt slipped inches right of the hole.
“Everything was solid,” Burton said. “It took me a while to find my driver, but on the back nine, I started hitting my driver well, shaping it better, so that helped a lot. Putting was solid, and I hit a lot of greens too, so that always helps.”
Six players are tied for fourth at 2-under 69 following Tuesday’s round: Rishi Sundaresan (The Piedmont Club), Owen Cook (Loudoun G&CC), Jonathan McEwen (Bide-A-Wee GC), Drew Carlin (Belmont CC), J.J. Powell (VSGA Junior Golf Circuit) and Trey Marrion (Cypress Point CC).
Luke Sheakley (The Piedmont Club) and Cullen Campbell (Riverfront GC) are tied for 10th, four shots back, after returning rounds of 1-under 71.
After Wednesday’s second round, the starting field of 84 will be cut to the low 45 players and ties for Thursday’s third and final round.
Lang is the VSGA’s manager of media and communications.