KESWICK — Brandon LaCroix and Matt Chandler are veterans, entering this week’s 2nd VSGA Four-Ball Match Play Championship at Keswick Golf Club with eight VSGA titles between them. That hasn’t stop them from finding ways to learn from previous missteps.
Their strategy on the drivable, par-4 9th hole at Keswick’s Full Cry layout was a perfect example. Their opponents, University of Virginia students Matt Ashley (1757 GC) and Chris White (Birdwood GC) went for the green, with Ashley’s drive ending up about five yards short and White’s about 10 yards away in the right rough.
LaCroix and Chandler played to a specific number. For Chandler, it was 103 yards; for LaCroix, 90 yards. Both made birdie, with LaCroix’s approach nearly sinking for eagle. He settled for hitting the flagstick for a six-inch kick-in putt. When Ashley and White failed to match, the match went to the turn all square. LaCroix and Chandler surged early in the back nine before closing out their opponents on the par-3 16th for a 3-and-2 win and their second VSGA Four-Ball championship together.
Undoubtedly, No. 9 was a match changer.
“When we played here last year, neither one of us had really seen the course,” Chandler said. “I remember hitting driver on that hole and the pin was in the same spot. And we both had nothing. So I think the decision was, ‘Let’s not do that again. Let’s try something else.’ Because it obviously didn’t work the first time.”
“We thought it would be a weird number,” if they had gone for the green, LaCroix said. “So we just laid it back and trusted the wedge game.”
Ashley, who is the president of UVa’s club men’s golf team, attempted to putt from the apron to match Chandler and LaCroix. But his ball met resistance on the collar, and the putt slowed well short of the hole. White’s chip attempt from the rough went left of the hole, and neither player was able to convert their birdie attempt.
“The fairway was just a little bit sticky,” Ashley said. “Looking back on it, I probably should have chipped it. Maybe there was too much to go through. It’s definitely one I want back.”
The other turning point of the match came on the par-5 12th hole, when LaCroix reached the green in two and two-putted for birdie, giving his side the lead for good.
Again, a change in strategy came into play. Instead of trying to land the ball in the 12th fairway, both LaCroix and Chandler (Hunting Hills CC) took their drives over the trees on the left and landed in the 15th fairway, which is in bounds on that hole. When Pete Dye redesigned Keswick, he had a large willow tree that would have guarded the 12th green from that tactic removed. LaCroix took advantage of the wide-open look to reach the green under regulation.
“That’s the first time we tried to go left,” LaCroix said. “We didn’t even think about it before.”
“I hadn’t played the hole well yet [this week],” Chandler said. “I didn’t know what to do. Left, right, it didn’t matter. I hadn’t played it well.”
Ashley and White elected to play the hole straight up and both ended up left of the fairway with interference from rough and trees. White’s third shot went just over the green to the right, leaving him an extremely delicate shot to try to match LaCroix’s birdie. White had a downhill flop shot from thick grass, and he couldn’t get the difficult shot up to the green.
“My big mistake was I should have hit rescue club instead of 3 wood,” White said. “You don’t want to end up behind there. It’s just impossible to get up and down. If I really needed to get on the green, I would have been 25 feet away at best. I tried to get lucky and pop one up, and I came up short.”
That was the first of three straight birdies for LaCroix and Chandler, who won the 2014 VSGA Four-Ball Stroke Play title together. LaCroix sank a 22-foot birdie putt from the collar on No. 13 and cleaned up a four-foot birdie putt on No. 14. The sides halved No. 15, putting LaCroix and Chandler dormie. Chandler hit a nifty pitch on the par-3 16th to within a foot for a par save. When White’s last-gasp flop for birdie from left of the green fell short, LaCroix and Chandler clinched the win.
“We fought, and we didn’t play bad in any match,” LaCroix said. “I think we were at least 6 under in every match.”
They were 7 under in 16 holes on Sunday. Ashley and White hung for much of the match, making four birdies on the front nine. But when the birdies dried up after the turn, LaCroix and Chandler took control.
“It was a lot of fun,” Ashley said. “I think we played a lot of good golf. The course is awesome.”
Said White: “At the end of the day, we were 4 under, and they were [7] under. That’s just great playing on their part. They deserved to win.”
Chris Lang is the Editor of Virginia Golfer Magazine and Manager, Digital Media for the VSGA.
2nd VSGA Four-Ball Match Play Championship
At Keswick Golf Club, Keswick
Par 72, 6872 yards
Sunday’s championship match
#4 Brandon LaCroix/Matt Chandler (Hunting Hills CC) def. #11 Matt Ashley (1757 GC)/Chris White (Birdwood GC), 3 and 2