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Dates: Wednesday, May 29 and Thursday, May 30
Format: Two rounds of four-ball stroke play in three different age divisions: 65+, 70-74, and 75+. If there is a tie after 36 holes, a sudden-death playoff will be utilized to determine a champion.
Host site: Fawn Lake Country Club
Day 2: Winners crowned in three age divisions
SPOTSYLVANIA -- International Country Club's Paul Gural and Mike Howell made a back-nine surge then held on for dear life at the end to win the 65+ division at the 12th Virginia State Golf Association Super Senior Four-Ball Championship by one stroke over a pair of sides on Thursday at Fawn Lake Country Club.
Howell, last year's VSGA Super Senior Stroke Play 65+ champion, and Gural won their first VSGA Four-Ball title together, posting a two-day aggregate total of 10-under 134 to finish a stroke clear of David Partridge and Allan Strange, and Mike Ligon and Jack Catlett.
Salisbury Country Club's Pat Gregory and Mike Moore claimed the title in the 70-74 age division, finishing with a two-day aggregate total of 5-under 139 to finish a shot clear of Boonsboro Country Club's Bert Allen and John Bruce. Gregory, who won in 2021 with Jim Hudson at Princess Anne Country Club, won his second Super Senior Four-Ball title with another SCC member and regular playing partner.
Elizabeth Manor G&CC's J.P. Leigh and Glenn Morris repeated in the 75+ division, posting a two-day aggregate 9-under 135 to finish two shots clear of two-time champions George Owens and John Casstevens.
NOTABLE
- Ligon and Catlett posted a second-round, 7-under 65, the best round of the tournament, to jump into contention. Ligon chipped in five birdies, and Catlett added two, in a bogey-free round.
- Mark Boedicker and David Prokop, winners of the last two 65+ titles, shot 72-70--142 to finish in a tie for 10th, eight strokes back of the winners.
- Allan Strange posted five birdies, including three straight on the front nine, to lead he and Partridge to a tie for second in the 65+ division.
- Bogeys on Nos. 16 and 18 ended up costing Allen and Bruce in the 70+ division, as they finished a shot behind the winners.
QUOTABLE
- "We both bogeyed No. 12, and that was our only bogey of the tournament. (Paul Gural) birdied 11, then he birded 13 and he birdied 14. Then I birdied 15. We ended up getting on a little run there. That got us over the hump, and we had to squeak in a little." -- Mike Howell
- "Mike's as steady as can be. He's a clutch putter. That makes my life easy." -- Paul Gural
- "You feel more pressure playing in a four-ball because you don't want to let your partner down. When you're playing as an individual, you're only letting down yourself." -- Howell
- "The best thing that we did was that we were both in every hole, and we really didn't come close to making bogey." -- Pat Gregory
- "We just complement each other. He's a good player. We just feel comfortable. He knows my game, and I know his. That's pretty much it." -- J.P. Leigh
- "It's easy to three-putt out here, it's tough. But we didn't make any bogeys today, so that helped. Our only bogeys yesterday were three-putts." -- Glenn Morris
- "(George Owens) had two putts that hit the pin and came out, they both should have gone in. That ended up being pretty big." -- Leigh
Day 1: Gural and Howell streak to 65+ lead
(Paul Gural, left, and Mike Howell hold a two-stroke lead in the 65+ division. Credit: Chris Lang/VSGA)
SPOTSYLVANIA -- International Country Club's Mike Howell and Paul Gural fired a 6-under-par 66 on Wednesday at Fawn Lake Country Club to take a two-stroke lead in the 65+ age division at the 12th Virginia State Golf Association Super Senior Four-Ball Championship.
The second and final round is scheduled for Thursday, with all players going off at 9:30 a.m. in a shotgun start.
In the 70-74 age division, Jeff Fleishman (Two Rivers CC) and Jim Cooper (The Virginian GC) posted a 4-under total of 68 to take a two-stroke lead after 18 holes. Three sides posted rounds of 4-under 68 in the 75+ division: Terry Towler (The Manor GC) and Mike Brown (CC of Fairfax), Ronald Janicki (Leesburg Golf Association) and Ray D'Amore (1757 GC), and two-time 75+ champions John Casstevens (The Federal Club) and George Owens (Princess Anne CC).
NOTABLE
- Howell won the 65+ division at last year's Super Senior Stroke Play Championship at Poplar Grove GC. He made all six birdies for his side, and Gural made four key pars to help the side finish its bogey-free round.
- Harry Thomas and Stephan E. Fay are alone in second in the 65+ division after posting a 4-under 68. Thomas is a three-time 65+ runner-up. They worked around two bogeys with six birdies.
- David Partridge, another three-time 65+ runner-up (all with Thomas), is tied for third at 3-under 69, paired with Allan Strange, the twin brother of Virginia Golf Hall of Famer Curtis Strange. Rick Lareau and Willie Sexton are also tied for third.
- The two-time defending 65+ champions -- Mark Boedicker and David Prokop -- returned an even-par 72 and are tied for 15th.
- In the 70-74 division, Cooper and Fleishman shot 5-under with five birdies on Fawn Lake's front nine but shot 1-over on the back to finish at -4. They hold a two-stroke lead over three sides in the division: Patrick Gregory and Mike Moore, Bert Allen and John Bruce, and Steve Isaacs and Rick Bendall.
- Gregory won the 70-74 division with Jim Hudson in 2021 at Princess Anne CC.
- Fleishman is one of two past VSGA presidents in the field. Charles Green III, competing in the 65+ division, is the other.
- In the 75+ division, defending champions J.P. Leigh and Glenn Morris posted a 3-under 69 and are one stroke back of the three sides in the lead.