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By Arthur Utley
KESWICK —Michael Keating (Laurel Hill Golf Club, Fairfax) wasn’t as sharp in the second round of qualifying at the 70th Virginia State Golf Association Senior Championship, but he had enough game to post a score that earned medalist honors.
Keating posted a 2-over-par 74 at Pete Dye’s Full Cry layout at Keswick Golf Club on Tuesday for a 36-hole stroke-play qualifying total of 3-under 141. He laid the groundwork on Monday when he shot a qualifying best 5-under 67.
The 58-year-old Keating claimed the top seed for the match-play portion of the tournament by finishing one stroke ahead of Roger Newsom (Elizabeth Manor G&CC, Virginia Beach), who turned in a second consecutive 1-under 71 for a 2-under 142 aggregate.
Newsom was the only player out of the 10 competitors who shot under-par scores in the first round to break par in the second round.
Eight players concluded qualifying at 1-under 143: Robert Nussey Jr. (Brandermill CC, Midlothian), Larry Collier (Piankatank River GC, Hartfield), Philip Mahone (Farmington CC, Charlottesville), Jim Woodson (Mill Quarter GC, Powhatan), Buck Brittain (The Virginian GC, Tazewell), Scott Reisenweaver (Salisbury CC, Midlothian), 2008 Senior Amateur champion Charles Green III (The Virginian GC, Bristol) and Marc Hogan (Woodberry Forest GC, Woodberry Forest).
Nussey, Collier and Mahone shot 2-under 70; Woodson had 71; Brittain 72, and Reisenweaver, Hogan and 2008 VSGA Senior Amateur winner Green returned 73.
The 36 holes of qualifying determined the 32 players who advanced to match play that begins Wednesday with two matches. A blind draw determined seeds for those players who finished with the same 36-hole aggregate. The quarterfinals and semifinals are Thursday, and the 18-hole final is Friday.
Robert Slavonia (VSGA e-club Alexandria, Aldie), Mark Boedicker (Raspberry Falls G&HC, Great Falls), David Jordan (Willow Oaks CC, Glen Allen), Scott Gilchrist (The Piedmont Club, Haymarket) and Buddy Patch (Springfield G&CC, Fairfax Station) gained entry into match play in an eight-players-for-five spots playoff after each shot 7-over 151.
Defending champion Keith Decker (Chatmoss CC, Martinsville) and last year’s runner-up Rich Buckner (Robert Trent Jones GC, Clifton) turned in Wednesday’s lowest scores, 3-under 69. Decker is a three-time champion. His 144 total was good enough for the 12th seed. Buckner needed every stroke after shooting 81 on the first day of qualifying.
Two-time champion Vinny Giles, 74, is the 17th seed and the most senior player left in the field. His first opponent is Jeff Flax (Cavalier G&YC, Virginia Beach), who was a finalist in the 2016 Mid-Senior Amateur.
Another two-time champion, David Partridge (Hermitage CC, Manakin-Sabot), meets Jon Zampedro (Chantilly National G&CC, Centreville) in the round of 32.
Patch will be Keating’s first-round opponent; Gilchrist meets Newsom.
After going bogey free with five birdies in Monday’s round, Keating logged two birdies and four bogeys on Tuesday. He birdied the first hole and missed a four-foot birdie try on the second “and it never got better. I hit it as well as [Monday], but made nothing and then started leaking oil at the end…I got back to my comfort zone,” he said.
A steady drizzle hung around in the morning but gave way to better conditions as the day went on.
“I was expecting a slog, and it was great. I didn’t think it was playing any tougher, but I was thinking too much,” said Keating, who lost his first round match in the 2013 Senior Amateur.
Newsom, 53, is a two-time winner of the State Open of Virginia and also a winner in the Senior Open of Virginia. He’s been eligible to play in the Senior Amateur, but this is his first time.
Newsom logged four birdies and three bogeys during Tuesday’s play. Unlike Keating, who saw the course for the first time Monday, Newsom has played here before.
“It’s a Pete Dye golf course. There are certain rules and restrictions you have to respect,” he said. “On a par 5 if you go for it, you better know what you are doing because you can end up making a 6 quick. You have to hit it in the fairway, and I’m a straight hitter. I don’t hit draws and fades and I think there is an advantage to that. Right now, I’m hitting my driver well…If I could make a few more putts I could really play.”
Retired Richmond Times-Dispatch staff writer Arthur Utley is a frequent contributor to VSGA championship coverage.