Championship website | Scoring | Preview | Record book: Mid-Senior | Super Senior
Dates: Tuesday, October 7 - Thursday, October 9
Format: Four age divisions: Mid-Senior (60-64), and Super Senior (65+, 70+, 75+). One day of stroke-play qualifying. Top 16 advance to match play in Super Senior 65+ and 70+, top 8 advance in Mid-Senior and Super Senior 75+. Two rounds of match play scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday, with the championship matches in each division scheduled for Thursday afternoon.
Host site: Winchester Country Club
Day 3: Champions crowned in four age divisions
(Dave Pulk won his second straight VSGA Super Senior Amateur 65+ title. Credit: Chris Lang/VSGA)
By Chris Lang
WINCHESTER -- Bob Bailey (Mid-Senior), Dave Pulk (Super Senior 65+), Jeff Flax (Super Senior 70+), and Bill Engel (Super Senior 75+) won titles as the 10th VSGA Mid-Senior Amateur and 31st VSGA Super Senior Amateur Championships concluded on Thursday at Winchester Country Club, concluding the 2025 VSGA men's championship season. Read below for recaps of each age division.
10th VSGA Mid-Senior Amateur Championship
For Bob Bailey, the chances at playing competitive golf have been fleeting this year. And a year short of super senior eligibility, he's at a disadvantage in most regular senior events. The Mid-Senior Amateur for 60-64 year olds give him a chance to play on equal footing. Alas, it was his match-play loss at August's VSGA Senior Amateur that gave him fuel to work to get better in advance of this championship.
Bailey made some adjustments to his putting stroke after that event, and it paid off at Winchester. He defeated Spotswood CC's Steve Seward 4 and 3 in the final match on Thursday, capping an impressive run of victories that included a 7-and-5 win and a pair of 4-and-3 victories.
"I really putted terrible toward the end of the round," Bailey said of the Senior Amateur. "But I found a little something as far as ball position and stroke here these last couple of weeks. So that's been helpful."
Bailey ended Keith Decker's mini Mid-Senior dynasty last year, winning at Danville GC to end Decker's four-year run. Decker since aged into the super senior division, and Bailey said he intends to do the same next season, as he turns 65 in March.
"I had a sort of rocky year because I don't play as much tournament golf now, so I don't handle the tournament atmosphere well all the time," Bailey said. "But here, my ball striking was good every day. ... If you don't play a lot of tournament golf, you've got to get back in it and get comfortable again when you have a limited history like I do. So, this was fun. I tried to led my ball striking lead me -- driving it straight, irons into the middle of green, and then we'll see what happens."
31st VSGA Super Senior Amateur Championship
65+
Count Dave Pulk out at your own peril. Down 3 early in his semifinal match with Keith Decker, he turned the match around with a kick-in birdie on No. 8 and eventually rallied for a 1-up victory. Down 4 in the championship match with Tim Vigotsky, Pulk slowly plugged away and took advantage of some mistakes to win five straight hole and take a tenuous lead. A 4-foot par putt after Vigotsky nearly chipped in for par clinched Pulk's 1-up victory and his second straight VSGA Super Senior Amateur 65+ title.
"Real happy to win it," Pulk said. "It's an extremely difficult division, there's so many good players in the 65-69 year-old category. To qualify and then win four matches, it's a grind, going 36 and 36. We aren't as young as we used to be, but I found my second wind in both matches and was able to get it done. Very pleased."
For Pulk, it's been an abnormal year on a lot of fronts. His Super Senior Stroke Play Championship run came to a premature end when he had to withdraw after a round with a back injury. Work obligations and duties at his home club -- he's serving as interim general manager at Two Rivers Country Club in Williamsburg after the previous GM left earlier this summer -- has left him with scant competitive playing opportunities.
He got his fill of golf at Winchester, playing 70 of a possible 72 holes in making a successful title defense. Pulk, who moved to Virginia from Ohio a little over a decade ago, now has eight championships, 12th in VSGA history, all in senior or super senior events.
"I want to give up that interim general manager title as soon as possible, because I don't get much golf in," he said with a laugh. "This is more golf than I've played in some time. Fortunately, I was able to find the game this week to get it done."
70+
The semifinals of the 70+ division played out much like the final round of the VSGA Super Senior Stroke Play 70+ division did in July. Jeff Flax, Dayton Slater, and Jeff Hudgins were all in a playoff at Cedar Point, with Hudgins dropping first before Flax defeated Slater on the second playoff hole. Fast forward about three months, and Flax defeated Hudgins in the semifinals before capping his run with a 4-and-2 win over Slater in Thursday's final.
It marks the second title for Flax in this event, the first coming in the 65+ division in 2019 at Salisbury Country Club.
"Played steady, played solid, made a couple of clutch putts late that sealed the match, so that was nice," Flax said. "Dayton's a tough competitor, he's very steady, and he usually doesn't beat himself. It was touch and go most of the match, and I kind of pulled away the last couple of holes."
Flax, a member at Cavalier Golf & Yacht Club in Virginia Beach, had a relatively smooth ride to the title, winning matches 6 and 5, 4 and 3 (twice), and 4 and 2. That first win came against Jonathan Hauser, his best friend and member-member partner at Cavalier. Hauser stuck around to caddie Flax's final three matches.
"He keeps me on an even keel out there on the golf course," Flax said. "He tells me when I'm doing things right and when I'm doing things wrong. He knows what to say at the right times."
75+
Bill Engel opened the VSGA season partnering with longtime friend John Osborne to win the Super Senior Four-Ball 75+ title in May. In July, he finished second at the VSGA Super Senior Stroke Play Championship. His 3-and-1 victory over George Owens in Thursday's championship match capped a stellar season for the Army Navy Country Club member.
It also wrapped a 10-round stretch of competitive golf in which the 78-year-old Engel shot his age or better in each round he played.
"For me, that's an accomplishment," Engel said. "I just enjoy competing, and I enjoy the company. The guys that we play with are perfect gentlemen, and it's just a joy to be out there competing with them."
Engel, who needed 20 holes to beat Mike Brown in Thursday morning's semifinal, rallied from an early 2-down deficit against Owens, a four-time Super Senior Amateur champion over various age divisions. The key swing came on holes 11 and 12. Owens still held a 1-up lead going to the 11th tee, and both players struggled to find the green in regulation. Each player had a putt for bogey. Engel offered to call the hole "good good" and move onto the next. Owens declined. Engel made his putt, Owens missed his, and the match was tied.
"He chuckled and said, 'I'll know better next time,'" Engel said. "George and I have been playing senior golf for the last 15 years, many, many, many times. He's a wonderful person, a great competitor and a really nice putter."
Engel then stuffed his tee shot on the par-3 12th to inside 5 feet and made the birdie putt to go 1 up, made birdie on 15 to go 2 up, and clinched the match with a conceded birdie on 17. Next up for Engel, some well needed rest and relaxation in the form of a 2 1/2-week cruise that starts in Florida and ends in Santiago, Chile.
Day 2: Semifinal matchups set in all divisions
(Tim Vigotsky, left, shakes hands with Kevin Dill after their quarterfinal match on Wednesday. Credit: Chris Lang/VSGA)
By Chris Lang
WINCHESTER -- The brackets held mostly to form -- with one notable exception -- as the 10th VSGA Mid-Senior Amateur and 31st VSGA Super Senior Amateur championships were whittled to the semifinal stage on Wednesday at Winchester Country Club.
The top seeds advanced to the semifinals in three of the four age brackets. In the 65+ Super Senior Division, however, No. 16 Tim Vigotsky eliminated top seed Van Renick in the round of 16 before ousting Kevin Dill in the quarterfinals. A past event champion, Vigotsky earned his spot in the bracket by advancing through a 5-for-4 playoff on Tuesday for the final spots.
Thursday features two rounds of matches in each division. The morning session will be a chilly one, with temperatures when the first balls are hit at 8:30 expected to be in the mid-40s. The weather is expected to warm by the afternoon for the four championship matches.
10th VSGA Mid-Senior Amateur Championship
The top four seeds all won their quarterfinal matches on Wednesday. Stroke-play medalist Bob Bailey, the defending Mid-Senior Amateur champion, faced little resistance in winning his quarterfinal match, rolling to a 7 and 5 win over Dean Griffith. Bailey (James River CC) will square off with Willow Oaks CC's Pete Johnson in Thursday morning's semifinals. Johnson knocked off Michael Hays 5 and 4 in another quarterfinal match, opening up a close match by winning Nos. 8 and 9 to take a 3-up lead. He closed Hays out by winning 13 and 14.
The other half of the bracket saw tighter matches, with Kent Erdahl beating Vance Redmond and Steven Stewart topping Steve Coffman by identical 2-and-1 scores.
31st VSGA Super Senior Amateur Championship
65+
Though he's the No. 16 seed, Tim Vigotsky is hardly a Cinderella story. He sits at No. 3 in the VSGA Super Senior Player Rankings but nearly missed out on match play after shooting a 7-over 79 on Tuesday, failing to record a birdie all afternoon. Match play is a different animal, though, and Vigotsky wiped the slate clean and won both of his matches -- against Van Renick and Kevin Dill -- by 2-and-1 scores. Dill had the rest advantage in the quarterfinals, as his round-of-16 foe conceded the match before it started.
Vigotsky will face Evergreen CC's Mikeal Johnston, who needed 19 holes to oust past champion Jack Allara in the first match before defeating Tim Kelley 3 and 2 in the quarterfinals.
The No. 2 seed in the bracket, Winchester member David Aitken, fell in the round of 16, opening the door for the defending 65+ champ, Dave Pulk. Pulk defeated Mark Funderburke 2 up before besting David Corliss 3 and 2 in the quarterfinals. Pulk's reward: A matchup with Virginia Golf Hall of Famer Keith Decker, a Super Senior Amateur debutant who is seeking his 36th VSGA championship.
Decker rolled Mike Howell 5 and 4 in the round of 16 but found the going tougher against Mark Alonzi in the quarterfinals. A wild sequence on the par-3 14th ended up being the difference in the match. After Alonzi hit a nice chip to conceded range, Decker had a tricky, bendy downhill birdie putt. It started on line before slowing inches from the hole. Convinced they had tied the hole, Decker walked to retrieve the ball only to watch it tumble home within the 10 seconds allowed by the Rules of Golf. That gave Decker a 2-up lead, and he survived 1 up by tying the final two holes.
70+
The beauty of match play was evident in the matchup of No. 1 seed Jim Woodson and No. 16 seed William Miller. Woodson posted a 69 in qualifying. Miller was 22 shots worse, carding a 91. Yet Woodson needed to make a putt for double bogey on the 18th to tie the hole and save a 1-up win. Woodson noted that he simply couldn't make any putts in that match, and it nearly cost him. In the quarterfinals, Woodson beat Robert Gardiner 2 and 1, denying Gardiner the chance of winning his third straight 70+ title.
Jeff Flax, who won the 70+ Super Senior Stroke Play in July, won twice to advance to the semifinals, where he'll face Jeff Hudgins. Flax and Hudgins were both part of the playoff at that Super Senior Stroke Play. Flax eased past his fellow Cavalier G&YC member Jonathan Hauser 6 and 5 in the round of 16. (The two are partners in Cavalier's member-member championship, and Hauser stuck around to caddie Flax's quarterfinal match.) David Heinemann was up next in the quarterfinals. Heinemann led 1 up through 10 holes before Flax flipped the script, winning five straight holes to clinch a 4-and-3 victory.
Hudgins picked off two members of the VSGA's Board of Directors on his way to the semifinals. He beat VSGA President Brian Maloney 4 and 3 in the morning before ousting Bert Wilson by the same count in the afternoon.
75+
Three of the top four seeds advanced to the quarterfinals -- top seed Bill Engel, No. 2 seed Mike Ancel, and No. 3 seed and defending champion George Owens. No. 5 seed Mike Brown joins that trio, having eliminated Ray D'Amore. Engel will face Brown, who has won VSGA Super Senior Stroke Play titles but has not won this event. Ancel will face Owens, who has won four titles in this event across several age divisions.
Engel won his match with John Casstevens 2 and 1. The other three winners claimed 4-and-3 victories.
Day 1: Stroke-play qualifying fills match-play brackets
WINCHESTER -- The match-play fields are set at the 10th VSGA Mid-Senior Amateur and 31st VSGA Super Senior Amateur Championships. Stroke-play qualifying was held in four age divisions Tuesday at Winchester Country Club.
10th VSGA Mid-Senior Amateur
Defending champion Bob Bailey, who ended Keith Decker's four-year run as champion last year at Danville Golf Club, posted a 2-over 74 to earn medalist honors on Tuesday, finishing a stroke clear of Kent Erdahl (Two Rivers CC) Steven Seward of Spotswood CC was third at 4-over 76, and Willow Oaks CC's Pete Johnson posted a 7-over 79 to finish alone in fourth.
Bailey (James River CC) worked around a 3-over front nine by shooting 1-under on the back, where he opened with a birdie on No. 10 and added birdies on 13 and 15. Erdahl, a past finalist in this event, finished with two birdies, three bogeys and a double bogey.
31st VSGA Super Senior Amateur
65+ division
In the largest of the four age divisions, Great Oaks CC's Van Renick navigated Winchester's tricky layout at level par, finishing a stroke clear of Winchester's David Aitken and Chatmoss CC's Keith Decker for medalist honors. Renick opened on No. 10 and was 2-under through his first six holes before bogeying the final three holes of the inward nine to turn at 1-over. Two more bogeys over the next four holes left him at 3-over, but a hole out for eagle on No. 7 and a birdie on the par-4 9th helped him get to the clubhouse at even par.
Decker, a four-time winner of the Mid-Senior Amateur and the VSGA's overall winningest golfer with 35 career titles, is playing in the Super Senior Amateur for the first time. He finished with four birdies and five bogeys. Among those who qualified for match play was defending champion Dave Pulk, who tied for seventh at 4-over 76. Notably, Allen Barber, the winner of the 65+ Super Senior Stroke Play title in July, posted a 9-over 81 and missed match play.
70+ division
The only under-par score in the entire tournament on Tuesday came from Jim Woodson (Mill Quarter Plantation), who posted a 3-under 69 to comfortably earn medalist honors. He finished seven shots clear of Jeffrey Flax, who won the VSGA Super Senior Stroke Play 70+ title in July.
Woodson, who paired with Jack Allara to win the 70+ title at the VSGA Super Senior Four-Ball in May, is seeking his first title in this event. Woodson opened his round with a bogey then quietly plugged along, making nine straight pars before going on a three-birdie binge starting at No. 11. It ended with back-to-back bogeys, but he answered with two more birdies before parring the final two holes. Flax (Cavalier G&YC) made four birdies but was undone by the big number, opening with a triple bogey and making bogey on five other holes.
Bert Wilson (The Club at Viniterra) posted a 6-over 78 and finished alone in third. All 16 players in the division advanced to match play. Woodson will open against William Miller (Greendale GC). Flax will face Cavalier clubmate Jonathan Hauser in the round of 16.
75+ division
Bill Engel (Army Navy CC) won the Super Senior Amateur 70+ title in 2017 and partnered with John Osborne to win the VSGA Super Senior Four-Ball (75+) title back in May. He'll be the top seed in the eight-player match-play bracket after posting a 3-over 75 on Tuesday to earn medalist honors. He'll face 2021 75+ winner John Casstevens in Wednesday morning's quarterfinals.
Engel played a steady qualifying round on Tuesday, making a birdie on the par-5 13th and keeping the mistakes to a minimum. Though he made two bogeys and a double bogey, he added 14 pars to round out his card. Mike Ancel (Newport News Golf Club) returned a 5-over 77 and will be the No. 2 seed. George Owens, the defending age-division champion who has won four titles across all age divisions in this event, carded an 8-over 80 to tie for third with Ray D'Amore.