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Dates: Monday, June 23 - Friday, June 27
Format: Two rounds of stroke-play qualifying, with the top 32 players advancing to match play. If necessary, a playoff will be conducted after Tuesday's second round to determine the final match-play spots. Rounds of 32 and 16 on Wednesday. Quarterfinals and semifinals on Thursday. The 36-hole championship match is scheduled to begin on Friday at 7:30 a.m.
Host site: Birdwood Golf at Boar's Head Resort
Day 1: Hooker races to two-shot lead
(Adam Hooker tees off on 7 on Monday at Birdwood. Credit: Chris Lang/VSGA)
By Chris Lang
CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Glenrochie Country Club's Adam Hooker beat the heat and the field during Monday's first round of stroke-play qualifying at the 112th Virginia State Golf Association Amateur Championship at Birdwood Golf at Boar's Head Resort. Hooker posted a 6-under-par round of 65 to take a two-stroke lead into Tuesday's second round. Talon Dingledine (Stonehenge G&CC) played in the same afternoon group with Hooker and returned a 4-under 67.
In the morning wave, Falling River CC's Nick Rakes posted a 3-under 68 and stands in third, just ahead of Benjamin Baker, a Virginia Tech signee who carded a 2-under 69.
After Tuesday's second round of stroke-play qualifying, the low 32 players will advance to match play, which begins Wednesday with the rounds of 32 and 16. If necessary, a playoff will be utilized to break any ties for the final match-play spots.
NOTABLE
- Hooker, who played at Western Carolina University, started his day right, making birdies on his first two holes, part of a seven-birdie day that included three straight from holes 15-17. Hooker made just one misstep, a bogey on the par-5 10th.
- Hooker has played in two U.S. Amateurs and advanced to match play at last year's VSGA Amateur.
- Dingledine, who is set to start his William & Mary career this upcoming season, closed his round with a birdie on 18. He opened with 10 straight pars but got going on the inward nine. He went birdie-eagle-birdie on 12-13-14 to jumpstart his round. Dingledine finished tied for 19th when the VSGA Junior Stroke Play Championship was held at Birdwood in 2023, but he closed that tournament with a 69.
- Rakes, a former Longwood standout, had an up-and-down round that included a eagle, four birdies, and three bogeys.
- Baker double bogeyed the par-4 5th hole but rallied with birdies on his next three holes to get to 2-under for the day.
- Five players are tied for fifth at 1-under 70, including Farmington CC's Preston Burton, who won the VSGA Junior Stroke Play title at Birdwood in 2023.
- Also in that group is Rylan Shim, who plays for Florida and advanced to the semifinals of last year's VSGA Amateur.
- It was a rough day for two players who advanced to last year's semifinals. Last year's finalist, Nikita Gubenko, posted a 7-over 78. Drew Brockwell, who lost to Gubenko in the semifinals, struggled to a 10-over 81.
- Temperatures reached 95 degrees in the afternoon with heat indices of over 100. Tuesday's expected high in Charlottesville is 97.
QUOTABLE
- "I felt good warming up. I just told myself, fairways and greens and make some putts today. We looked at the morning scores and saw there wasn't anything too low. But we felt like we could get a low one today. Pins were tucked, they were in some tough places." -- Adam Hooker
- "We just tried to play smart down the stretch there and put ourselves in position to score. It was good to come down the stretch there and make some birdies coming in." -- Hooker
- "It's awesome having him out there. He keeps me calm, cool and collected. He gives me lots of positive information. He keeps me level grounded. When you make a mistake, like today, we made a bogey on a par-5, it's OK, you have plenty of more holes to go. He'll remind me of that." -- Hooker on having his dad on the bag with him.
- "I just tried to stay patient. Early on, I had a lot of makeable birdie putts but some just lipped out, or some came up just short. They weren't bad putts, I just kept telling myself they were going to fall. Then I hit three really good shots out there on 11, 12, and 13. I had a 3-footer and two pretty much kick-ins. Not too much stress over those putts. I got some good momentum going." -- Talon Dingledine.
- "I just want to go into tomorrow with the same idea, just play as well as I can. I don't want to go in thinking I just want to make match play. I want to be the highest seed that I can." -- Dingledine
- "It's just the importance of hitting fairways. This course out of the rough is a different ballgame. Fairways, and greens are receptive, so you can just fire at pins. The driver was good today. You just have to be smart. You cannot miss long here. If you short-side yourself here, you're making bogey. You have to play smart around the greens. If you don't have a perfect number, just send it to the green, two-putt par, and get out of there." -- Dingledine
- "The greens are quick, so I had to get used to them. I three-putted (11), the par 3, after that I started rolling in putts once I got the speed down. That really was the difference today. Hitting fairways, hitting greens, making putts. That's really all there is to it." -- Nick Rakes
- "You have to stay below the hole. You can't get aggressive from above it. Even if you lag it up there, you're going to see it run 5, 6 feet by if you're above the hole. Having those 5- or 6-footers when it's 100 degrees out here, that's not a recipe for success. You need to stay under the hole and make tap-in pars." -- Rakes
- "I haven't been playing too much golf, so I didn't have much in the way of expectations. But I'm really happy with how the round turned out. It's a really nice course, greens are rolling great, couldn't ask for much more." -- Rakes
- "I just told myself that bad swings happen. So I regrouped quickly and was lucky enough to roll in three birdies in a row there." -- Benjamin Baker on his recovery from a double bogey on 5.
- "It's a tough tee shot for me, looks wise. Because if you miss it right and end up in the water, you have to re-tee it. I didn't really make a good swing with the driver and didn't make a good swing on the second shot. I feel if you hit the fairway there the hole becomes a lot easier." -- Baker on No. 5.
- "It's pretty big. Just want to keep in the groove and get plenty of reps in to get ready for the fall, so when I play at Virginia Tech, hopefully I play well." -- Baker
- "Drinking water before every shot and staying in the shade as much as possible. I'd say those are the two biggest pointers I have." -- Baker on beating the heat.