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By Chris Lang
ROANOKE — The most recent past champion in the Delta Dental State Open of Virginia field is Faber Jamerson, who won the last of his three titles eight years ago. So the prevailing thought going into this week was that the tournament was wide open.
Thursday’s first round did nothing to dispel that notion. Ji Soo Park, a member at 1757 GC and a three-time finalist at the Virginia State Golf Association Amateur Championship, posted a 3-under 69 to take the lead. But six players will enter Friday’s second round just a shot back of Park, and five more posted 1-under 71s to remain within two strokes of the lead.
Park, a former University of Virginia standout, said he didn’t have high expectations for this week, partly because he struggled in his one State Open of Virginia appearance at Ballyhack in 2014, and partly because he was coming off an up-and-down two days at a U.S. Amateur qualifier in Maryland.
He shot 74-69 at the qualifier and failed to advance out of a playoff for an alternate spot. Part of that 74 was a nine on a par-4 hole, which he followed up with a bogey.
“After that, I lost all my feel, swing, my ball striking, everything,” Park said. “I was hitting it everywhere.”
Park was worried about a hangover from those two days, but it never materialized. His ability to stay out of trouble at Ballyhack was key to his 3-under round on Thursday. He finished with four birdies and a bogey and just missed a birdie putt on 18 that would have moved him to 4 under.
The group one stroke behind Park includes plenty of accomplished players, including a pair of Virginia Tech teammates who took different paths to their 70s. VSGA Amateur champion Mark Lawrence Jr. (Hermitage CC) hit it well and battled some tough luck – his approach on No. 5, for instance, hit the flagstick and nearly rolled back off the green, leaving him happy to make par. Fellow Hokie Logan Yates (Greene Hills Club) struggled on the front but caught fire after the turn, a four-birdie streak part of a back-nine 32 that helped him finish at 2 under.
Lawrence was the low amateur in last year’s State Open and reached a playoff with champion Jay Woodson and 2015 champion Lanto Griffin.
“You want to try to be aggressive here,” Lawrence said. “You want to try to make a lot of birdies. But you don’t want to be dumb because there are a lot of areas here where you can get in a lot of trouble. It’s kind of a smart-aggressive mentality, where if you don’t have a great day, you can still shoot around par, and if you have a great day, you can get it to 5, 6 under.”
Yates was thrilled to put himself in a better position from the start of the tournament. He’s recorded rounds in the 60s in each of the last two years in the final round, but slow starts left him too far out of the hunt to truly contend.
“I’m pretty excited about it,” Yates said. “I know I can play this golf course well. I think it suits me well. It’s a ball striker’s golf course when you put the ball in the right spots. Getting off to a good start just makes everything a little bit easier, and maybe I give myself a chance when it comes down to the end.”
Professionals Geoff Montross, PGA, and Bill Fedder, PGA, each shook off rough starts to shoot 70. Fedder bogeyed his first three holes but made five birdies over a bogey-free final 15 holes. Montross was 3 over after a double bogey at No. 8, but he made immediate amends with a birdie on the par-5 9th and shot 4 under on a bogey-free inward nine.
Rounding out the group at 2 under was Larkin Gross (Hobbs Hole GC), a rising junior at Methodist University who got into the field as an alternate, and Ballyhack member Justin Young, the low amateur at the 2015 State Open who carded four birdies and two bogeys on Thursday.
“I didn’t hit the ball real good,” Young said. “But I kept it in play, and my misses were great. I made some putts. I avoided the big numbers. I’m kind of fortunate to be where I am. I’m ecstatic. If you would have seen me play, you would have thought I shot 80.”
Five players posted 1-under 71s, including local professional Fielding Brewbaker, who could have found himself tied for the lead had it not been for a two-stroke penalty for hitting a wrong ball on No. 9. Others at 71 are Michael Brennan (River Creek Club), the winner of the 2017 VSGA Junior Match Play Championship and stroke-play medalist at the VSGA Amateur, Jeff Long (Evergreen CC), Chase Duffy (Red Wing Lake GC) and Jimmy Delp (Laurel Hill GC).
Long made a couple of long putts to keep him in the red heading into Friday, sinking birdies from 45 and 60 feet out on the back nine.
“It just comes down to putting it on the right side of the green,” Long said. “If you put it on the wrong side of these greens, you’re just hoping to two putt. I mean, you’re just begging to two putt, to be honest with you.”
After Friday’s second round, the field will be cut to the low 60 competitors and ties for Saturday’s third and final round. With so many players in the hunt after 18 holes, it’s anybody’s guess who will sit atop the leaderboard by the end of the day.
Chris Lang is the Editor of Virginia Golfer Magazine and Manager, Digital Media for the VSGA.