By Chris Lang
VIRGINIA BEACH — Mount Vernon Country Club’s top two sides made birdie on the first hole of the championship match of the 70th Virginia State Golf Association Women’s State Team Matches on Thursday at Princess Anne Country Club. Their opponents, the Country Club of Virginia, were unfazed.
“That was OK,” CCV’s Boodie McGurn said. “It got us going.”
CCV took off from there, using command performance from its top two sides to secure a 31½-22½ victory, the club’s second in the last three years. CCV became just the second club to win the VSGA Club Championship and VSGA Women's State Team Matches in the same year. Farmington CC accomplished the feat in 1947 and 1949.
Each club sent three two-player sides into competition, with a point at stake on each hole for a total of 54 available points. CCV’s ‘A’ side of Natalie Easterly and Brenda Baril defeated Katie Cox and Susan Podolsky 11½-6½ in one match, and CCV’s ‘B’ side of Lindsay Wortham and McGurn scored a 12-6 win over Shawn McCullough and Judy Adams in another. Mount Vernon won the ‘C’ match, with Linda DiVall and Debbie Simpson topping Cheryl Grigg and Margaret McGehee 10-8.
CCV and Mount Vernon have alternated as champions every year since 2006, save for 2011 when Elizabeth Manor G&CC took the title. Both clubs were amped for a reprisal of last year’s championship, won by Mount Vernon.
“More than you’ll ever know,” McGurn said.
“No, we don’t get into these at all,” Wortham said with a chuckle.
McGurn and Wortham, both of whom have competed in U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur Championships, were in prime position to watch the action around them unfold. The event featured a shotgun start, with the three matches in the championship flight packed together. On No. 12, as McGurn waited to hit her approach, she watched and cheered as Easterly teed off on nearby No. 13.
“Lindsay and I are both ADD and like to watch what’s going on,” McGurn said. “We could tell what was going on in front a little bit.”
“We got positive vibes from both the front and the back,” Wortham said. “So we were just saying, ‘let it roll.’”
CCV was the top seed in the four-club championship flight after Tuesday’s stroke-play qualifying. Mount Vernon was the No. 2 seed. CCV’s title was its 13th in the history of the matches, putting the Richmond club one ahead of its Alexandria counterpart in total wins.
“To win a hole, you almost had to birdie it today,” said Cox, Mount Vernon’s captain. “It was very tough competition. We really enjoyed it. The course was in perfect condition, and the club has done an outstanding job of taking care of us. We were hoping to make this win No. 13, but hopefully next year we can come back and do it.”
CCV will have the home-course advantage in 2017, as the event will be played at the club’s Tuckahoe Creek Course.
Other flight winners were Broad Bay CC (first flight), Bayville GC (second flight), Princess Anne CC (third flight) and Fort Belvoir GC (fourth flight). Princess Anne’s Babs Neff made her last shot of the day on Thursday count, as she used a 5-hybrid from 140 yards out for an ace on the par-3 11th hole.
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Final day results at the 70th VSGA Women’s State Team Matches at Princess Anne Golf Club.
CHAMPIONSHIP FLIGHT
No. 1 Country Club of Virginia def. No. 2 Mount Vernon CC, 31½-22½
FIRST FLIGHT
No. 4 Broad Bay CC def. No. 2 Washington G&CC, 27½-26½
SECOND FLIGHT
No. 1 Bayville GC def. No. 2 Greenbrier CC, 28-26
THIRD FLIGHT
No. 1 Princess Anne CC def. No. 2 Farmington CC, 30½-23½
FOURTH FLIGHT
No. 1 Fort Belvoir GC def. No. 2 Belmont GC, 28-26
Chris Lang is the Editor of Virginia Golfer magazine and the VSGA’s manager, digital media.