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By Chris Lang
LYNCHBURG — Matt Moloney sank a short par putt to clinch the final foursomes match for the Virginias Saturday at Boonsboro Country Club, and afterward, Moloney and partner Mehrbaan Singh expressed relief that they were able to hold on and secure a key point in the 39th playing of the Virginias-Carolinas Junior Boys’ Matches.
Moloney and Singh closed the day with a 1-up win over the Carolinas’ Braeden Barnett and Jonathan Honeywell. Though the Carolinas lead 5-3 after the first day of the matches, the hill would have been much tougher to climb in Sunday singles had Moloney and Singh not saved that point at the end of the day.
“We didn’t have our best down the stretch,” Moloney said. “But for us to be able to hold on … it was a good fight. We’re happy.”
The matches—featuring top juniors from the Virginia State Golf Association and West Virginia Golf Association facing off against their counterparts from the Carolinas Golf Association—are comprised of one round of four-ball, one round of foursomes (alternate shot) and eight singles matches on Sunday.
The Virginias have won two straight in the series, including a 9-7 win last year at CC of North Carolina in Pinehurst. The Carolinas’ last victory came in 2017 at Boonsboro by the slimmest of margins, a single point. (The teams tied in 2018.) For the Virginias team to retain the Vinny Giles Trophy, it will need to claim at least five points in Sunday singles. The Carolinas need 3½ points to win the trophy.
“For me, I’m just going to worry about my match and we’ll see what happens,” Moloney said. “If I can get it done, that’s all I can do. I’m just going to focus on me and hopefully everybody else can do it as well.”
Moloney, from Vienna, and Singh, from Ashburn, won both of their matches on Saturday, having topped Honeywell and Ethan Paschal 2 and 1 in the morning session. They jumped to a 4-up lead through 11 holes, and the Carolinas got no closer than 2 down the rest of the way.
They seemed in total control in the afternoon as well, 3 up through 14 holes. But the Carolinas’ duo won 15 and 17 to claw within one, and on 18, Singh sprayed his drive to the left, leaving Moloney with a tough approach. Moloney left Singh with a shot just shy of the green, and Singh expertly chipped it to within three feet. After the Carolinas missed a birdie chance, Moloney needed only to sink the par putt to clinch the win.
“As soon as he hit that shot to the front of the green, the way we had been chipping and putting the ball, there was no way that wasn’t a par,” Singh said. “They did a great job. They gave us fight until the end. Their putter was hot, ours wasn’t. Sometimes that’s how it goes. But I couldn’t have asked for a better partner.”
The Virginias’ other point came in morning four-ball when Cullen Campbell (Virginia Beach) and Matthew Monastero (Leesburg) eked out a 1-up win over the Carolinas’ Barnett and Will Conway. Monastero sank a clutch mid-range par putt to earn the point there.
Jackson Bode, Hampton Roberts, Andrew Gregory and Major Lenning were involved in securing four points for the Carolinas. Bode and Gregory defeated the Virginias’ Trey Marrion and Xander Goboy in morning four-ball, while Lenning and Roberts knocked off Todd Duncan and Garrett Kuhla. The pairings were shuffled in the afternoon with Bode/Roberts topping Marrion/Goboy and Gregory/Lenning defeating Duncan/Kuhla.
Bode and Roberts clicked in the alternate-shot session, quickly mastering a format neither plays on a consistent basis.
“We hit a lot of greens, and with alternate shot, that’s kind of the key,” Bode said. “You want to give your partner a chance to putt. I think we missed maybe three greens in 16 holes, so that’s pretty good.”
Added Roberts: “The chemistry is really good on our team, so that helps. We’re all good friends with everyone on the team, and we know each other’s games, and we work well together. We had fun out there.”
Paschal and Conway earned the Carolinas’ fifth point with a 2-up win over Campbell and Monastero in afternoon foursomes.
Singles matches begin Sunday at 8 a.m., with play expected to wrap up around 1 p.m.
Lang is the VSGA’s manager of media and communications.