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By Chris Lang
ALEXANDRIA — Teddy Zinsner couldn’t have scripted a better way for his junior golf career to come to an end.
Playing on his home course at Belle Haven Country Club, the 18-year-old Zinsner claimed his first VSGA title in his final event, posting a 4-under-par 212 over three days to win the 65th VSGA Junior Stroke Play Championship and hoist the F.J.D. Mackay Trophy.
Zinsner got off to a scorching start in Thursday’s final round, turning at 4 under before grinding his way to the end. He finished two shots clear of Connor Creasy (Glenrochie CC), a rising junior at Abingdon High School who has committed to play college golf at Wake Forest.
“I figured it out about a year ago, I think a member told me that [the tournament] was coming here,” Zinsner said. “It was probably the tournament I was looking forward to for most of the summer, just because it was at my home course. It’s awesome winning it, because I’ve been looking forward to it so much.”
The win also marked a major breakthrough for an accomplished player who has long been a contender in VSGA championships. Zinsner tied for third in stroke-play qualifying at the 104th VSGA Amateur Championship and reached match play in the event in each of the last two years. Earlier this year, he advanced through local qualifying for the U.S. Open. And last year, he reached the round of 32 at the U.S. Junior Amateur.
Now, he’s added a championship victory to his resume.
“It’s awesome,” he said. “This is really my last junior golf tournament ever. It’s really cool. I mean, I played fine last year at The Federal Club, but I really didn’t contend. I did sort of contend two years ago at Chantilly. But I felt like I was nowhere near as good of a player back then as I am now. So to do this in pretty much my last junior tournament is really cool.”
Zinsner opened the day with a one-stroke edge, but after his four-birdie barrage on the front, the lead had ballooned to five. He didn’t take a peek at where he stood until after 13. At that point, he realized that he was still up by four shots, and he was able to cruise to the finish line.
Zinsner was in the final group with Connor Burgess (Boonsboro CC) and Connor Johnson Jr. (CC of Virginia), but neither were able to make up much ground. Burgess missed a number of birdie putts by inches, and when he finally sank one on 16, he raised his arms and shook his head as if to say, “finally.” Burgess returned 73 and tied for third with Christopher Zheng (Blacksburg CC) at 215. Johnson posted a 74 and tied for fifth at 216 with Jimmie Massie (Boonsboro CC), who carded a 69 and was the only player Thursday to post a sub-70 round.
Creasy had a chance to make it interesting, but he missed a birdie putt on 16 that would have drawn him within two of Zinsner. He made a pair of pars to close out his round.
“Today, I struggled on the greens a little bit,” said Creasy, who closed with a 71. “I thought the course was in great condition, but I didn’t read the greens very well. I played solid still. … There are a lot of good players here, and hats off to Teddy, he played great all week. But I’m happy with [the finish].”
Creasy will have more opportunities to win this championship. Zinsner will now turn his sights toward his college career at Yale, where his sister Addie is a member of the Bulldogs’ women’s lacrosse team.
“I really liked the coach a lot, that was a really big factor,” Zinsner said. “I like the other kids on the team a lot. Also, I wanted to go to a really good school, too, so that down the line, if golf doesn’t necessarily work out, I can have a backup. I wanted to have a good education in college to have that ability. That was probably the biggest factor.”
Chris Lang is the Editor of Virginia Golfer Magazine and Manager, Digital Media for the VSGA.