14th VSGA Super Senior Four-Ball Championship

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Dates: Monday, May 18 and Tuesday, May 19

Format: 36 holes of stroke play across three age divisions -- 65+, 70+, and 75+. Division placement is based on the younger player on the side. For example, if a 73 year old is playing with a 66 year old, they'll play in the 65+ division. If there is a tie after 36 holes in any division, a sudden-death playoff will be utilized to determine a champion. Player rankings points will only be allocated to players in the 65+ division.

Starting times: Starting at 8 a.m. off hole No. 1 both days.

Defending champion: 65+: Mike Ligon and Jack Catlett. 70+: Jack Allara and Jim Woodson. 75+: John Osborne and Bill Engel.

Host site: Fredericksburg CC

Day 2: Champions crowned in three age divisions; Pulk/Erdahl take 65+ title

(Dave Pulk fist bumps Kent Erdahl after Erdahl made a crucial chip-in to save par on 14 on Tuesday. Credit: Chris Lang/VSGA)

Photo gallery

By Chris Lang

FREDERICKSBURG -- Two Rivers Country Club in Williamsburg is set to re-open its clubhouse after an extensive renovation this weekend. The club will have a couple of fresh trophies to display for the occasion.

Two Rivers members Dave Pulk and Kent Erdahl posted a 5-under total of 139 to earn a spot in a playoff opposite Michael Hays and Bob Bailey on Tuesday on another scorching day at Fredericksburg Country Club. Pulk's 6-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole was the difference as the Two Rivers duo survived Hays' birdie attempt on No. 13 and claimed the title in the 65+ division of the 14th VSGA Super Senior Four-Ball Championship.

Though Pulk is no stranger to the winners circle in VSGA events -- this title was his ninth -- Erdahl claimed a VSGA trophy for the first time after years of coming up just short in senior and super senior events. 

Jim Woodson and Jack Allara repeated as winners in the 70+ division, backing up Monday's even-par 72 with a 2-under 70 to finish two strokes clear of Jeff Hudgins and Van McCarter. In the 75+ division, Terry Towler and Mike Ancel snuck out a one-stroke victory over David LeClere and Mike Brown, winning with a two-day total of 69-72--141.

NOTABLE

• One of the fun aspects of a four-ball competition is partner strategy. On the playoff hole, the par-5 13th, Erdahl's approached rolled about 20 feet past the hole. Pulk was 6 feet away left of the hole. With Hays just inside of Erdahl, the latter elected to let Pulk putt first. Pulk sank the birdie putt, leaving Hays one chance to match and extend the playoff.

• Erdahl reached the final of the Mid-Senior Amateur in 2020 at Salisbury CC but lost to Keith Decker in that match. He also reached a playoff in the 65+ division of the Super Senior Stroke Play last year.
• Bailey was looking to recreate his 2019 magic, when he and Robert Nussey Jr. stormed from the back of the field at the Senior Four-Ball, shot 59, and ultimately won the championship. He and Hays rallied from Monday's 73 to shoot 66, the best round of the tournament. They were 5-under through five holes after an eagle-birdie-par-birdie-birdie start but cooled after that.

• Pulk and Erdahl birdied three of their first six holes but didn't make another birdie until the playoff, though they had several birdie putts down the stretch finish just shy of dropping. 

• Pulk has now won titles in the Senior Open of Virginia, the Super Senior Amateur, Senior Stroke Play, and Super Senior Amateur. He's also won a Mid-Senior Amateur.
• Four sides tied for third in the 65+: Frank Pegram and Bill Howard; John Steele and Tim Krause; Paul Gural and Mike Howell; and Lee Flemister and Stu Strang.
• Woodson made a key 6-foot birdie putt on 18 to help his side claim a two-stroke victory in the 70+. Hudgins and McCarter made a tough double bogey on No. 11 when McCarter discovered he had played a wrong ball on his approach shot, leading to a two-stroke penalty.
• Ancel secured his side's victory with a deft two-putt on 18 for par. Towler won his third VSGA title, his first in this event to add to a pair of Super Senior Stroke Plays. Ancel's title was his first. The two served together on the VSGA Board of Directors for several years in the 2000s and 2010s.
• Temperatures reached 96 degrees for the second straight day on Tuesday at Fredericksburg.

QUOTABLE

• "Kent had more birdie putts than I did coming in, but all of our putts just barely missed." -- Pulk

• "That was the key. We didn't want to let the momentum go in the other direction. We let three bogeys slip in yesterday. But we played steady. We needed to make a few more putts, but at the end of the day, we made the one in the playoff. I was happy to help get Kent get his first state title." -- Pulk on the bogey-free second round.

• "I told (Bailey) if we shot 65 today, we'd win. And we would have. I don't want to say I'm a seer, but that would have gotten it done." -- Hays
• "We're seasoned players. We didn't panic. Jim made some nice putts, though, especially on 18." -- Allara
• "It was 6-8 feet, but oh yeah, we needed it. I knew it would give us a two-shot lead." -- Woodson on the birdie putt on 18.
• "Most of the shots today were hitting the green and rolling 10-15 feet, and you had to play it that way. Something on the front of the green, like on 17, where we hit to the front of the green and were in the best shape ever." -- Woodson
  
• "For me, I'm appreciative of having a good partner. He's steady, and it allows me to take some chances. When you mess up, there's somebody there for you. So I really appreciate that." -- Ancel
• "It's a gorgeous golf course, but the greens were just really (difficult) here, which is probably why the scores weren't very low." -- Towler
  
  

Day 1: Heat, fast greens keep scores in check

(Two Rivers CC members Dave Pulk and Kent Erdahl were one of four sides tied for the lead in the 65+ division. Credit: Chris Lang/VSGA)

Photo gallery

By Chris Lang

FREDERICKSBURG -- The summer heat can come at you fast and at unexpected times in Virginia, as the players in the 14th VSGA Super Senior Four-Ball Championship found out on Monday. A week after a VSGA championship round was contested in rain, wind and chilly temperatures in the 50s in Williamsburg, Mother Nature flipped the script, with temperatures rising as high at 96 degrees in the mid-afternoon at Fredericksburg Country Club, and with hardly a cloud in the sky, players spent the day chasing shade when they weren't hitting.

The heat and a persistent drought led to fast, crispy conditions on greens that feature plenty of countours and nuance. Put everything together, and you have a four-ball day like Monday, where no one could find a way to go low.

The best scores came in the older divisions on Monday, with Mike Ancel and Terry Towler, and David LeClare and Mike Brown each posting 3-under rounds of 69 in the 75+ division. Not coincidentally, that division went out earliest and avoided the worst of the heat.

Jeff Hudgins and Van McCarter posted a 3-under 69 to lead the 70+ division. In the 65+ age group, the lone division to receive Super Senior Player Rankings points, four sides were tied for the lead after shooting 2-under rounds of 70: Lee Flemister and Stu Strang; Keith Morgan and Steven Galing; Dave Pulk and Kent Erdahl; and Keith Myers and Danny Hopkins.

NOTABLE

• Heading into Tuesday's second and final round, the 65+ division is completely up for grabs, with 16 sides finishing the first round within two strokes of the lead. Among that group was defending champions Mike Ligon and Jack Catlett, who returned an even-par 72. Paul Gural and Mike Howell, who won the 65+ division two years ago at Fawn Lake, were tied for fifth at 1-under 71.

• In the 65+ division, Fred Hannah (partnered with Marty Burner) holed out on the par-4 15th for a two, the lone eagle of the day.

• Hudgins and McCarter were 1 over through six holes before a birdie on No. 7 got their round going in the right direction. The played the final 12 holes at 4-under, with birdies on 7, 9, 13 and 18. 
• Also in the 70+, Robert Efird and Bert Wilson posted a 1-under 71, as did Lynn Wessman and Carl Carson. Both sides open Tuesday two strokes behind the leaders. After going birdie-bogey-birdie to start, Efird and Wilson finished with 15 consecutive pars.
• Defending 70+ champions Jim Woodson and Jack Allara finished with one bogey and one birdie to post an even-par 72. They're three back of the leaders. 
• Four of the seven sides in the 75+ division recorded under-par rounds. Charles Ballou and Richard Blackburn are in second, a stroke behind the co-leaders, after posting a 2-under 70 that included a slick birdie on 18 from Ballou. Defending champions John Osborne and Bill Engel are two shots back at 1-under 71.