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By Chris Lang
KESWICK – Even with a golf resume as extensive as Keith Decker’s, there’s still room for the occasional first.
Decker posted a 1-under 71 on Monday at Glenmore Country Club to secure the site’s lone qualifying spot for the upcoming U.S. Senior Amateur Championship, his first berth in the event. The U.S. Senior Amateur will be played Aug. 26-31 at the Minikahda Club in Minneapolis.
“We had a three-way playoff last year, two of them made it, and I was the odd man out,” Decker said.
With only 20 competitors in the field, just one spot was up for grabs on Monday, and Decker (Chatmoss CC) knew he would have to play steady, mistake-free golf if he wanted to earn his first U.S. Senior Amateur berth. He did just that. He finished with 17 pars and one birdie, and that one birdie was enough to put him ahead of Gray Tuttle of Pinehurst, N.C., and Yorktown’s Bob Bailey (James River CC).
Tuttle and Bailey shot even-par 72s, and Tuttle earned the nod for first alternate by making a par on 18 in a playoff. Bailey will be the second alternate.
New Yorker David Prowler shot a 1-over 73 and just missed the playoff. Dave Pulk (Two Rivers CC) and Jim Gallagher (Tidewater Amateur Golf Tour) returned 74s and were two shots out of the alternate playoff. More importantly, both players were able to bounce back from recent back injuries and finish their rounds.
Pulk withdrew from the final round of the Delta Dental State Open of Virginia on Saturday due to a sore back. Gallagher played a full round for the first time since the VSGA Senior Stroke Play Championship in early June.
Decker’s lone birdie came on the par-4 6th hole, and he thanked fellow competitor Skip Zobel for a solid read on his putt.
“I hit it in there like 12 feet, and Skip was about one foot behind me,” Decker said. “He made his, so I had a perfect read, and mine happened to go in too. Other than that, I probably hit 16 greens. I hit the ball well, and I didn’t make any mistakes.”
Decker has made six trips to the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship and one trip to the U.S. Amateur. The Senior Amateur had eluded him, however.
“I’m really looking forward to going,” he said.
Along with Decker, three VSGA members are exempt into the championship: Vinny Giles (Kinloch GC), Pat Tallent (Westwood CC) and Matt Sughrue (Trump National Washington D.C.). Giles won the 2009 championship. Tallent won in 2016. Sughrue was the runner-up in last year’s championship.
Chris Lang is the editor of Virginia Golfer magazine and the VSGA’s manager, digital media.