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By Chris Lang
KESWICK — The final match of the 70th Virginia State Golf Association Senior Amateur Championship will produce a first-time VSGA champion.
Clifton’s Rich Buckner (Robert Trent Jones GC) and Midlothian’s Duncan Hardcastle (Magnolia Green GC) won twice on a steamy Thursday at Keswick Golf Club to advance to Friday morning’s championship match. Buckner will make his second straight appearance in the final. Hardcastle essentially came out of nowhere this week to advance to Friday’s final.
Retired from the Army, Hardcastle is playing in his first VSGA championship at any level. His play this week at Keswick shouldn’t come as a total surprise, though. He recently won the senior club championship at Magnolia Green. In a Senior Am qualifier at the Club at Viniterra, Hardcastle posted a 4-under 68, the best round at any of the six qualifying sites.
“I tried to play as much as I could when I was in the Army,” he said. “I’ve just been enjoying it with my buddies. I have a lot of good friends that I play golf with most of the time.”
Hardcastle defeated Jim Wright (Roanoke CC) 3 and 2 in the quarterfinals in the morning before drawing Philip Mahone (Farmington CC) in an afternoon semifinal. Mahone, seeded sixth, was the only player among the top 15 seeds to survive Wednesday’s first two rounds.
Mahone led Hardcastle 2 up through 12 holes in the semifinal match before the bleeding began. He made the first of five straight bogeys on 13, and Hardcastle was more than happy to seize the opening. He won four of the next five holes with pars to win 2 and 1.
“It was a collapse,” Mahone said. “I mean, I couldn’t tell you the last time I had five bogeys in a row. I basically gave it away.”
Despite his appearance in last year’s final at the Homestead, where he lost to Keith Decker, Buckner’s trip back to the title match is a little bit of a surprise story in its own right. Buckner shot 81 in Monday’s first round of stroke-play qualifying, and his putting was so uneven that he spent much of that evening in Williamsburg working with four different putters at Ford’s Colony, trying to find something that would work.
He came back with a 69 on Tuesday to make match play, and he was able to summon enough putting prowess Thursday to win two matches. He eliminated Jeff Flax (Cavalier G&YC) 4 and 2 in the quarterfinals before ousting Neil Davis (Birdwood GC) 2 up in the semifinals.
Buckner and Davis were all square through 13 holes in the semifinal match when Buckner decided to take a chance on the short par-4 14th. He hit driver and blasted the ball nearly all the way to the green. It settled on the cartpath right of the green, and though he was able to take relief, he decided against it because his nearest point of relief would have been in high fescue.
Since Keswick’s paths are soft and somewhat spongy, he hit a lob wedge straight off the path and landed the ball within two feet of the cup for a tap-in birdie and a 1-up lead.
“The driver was such the wrong play, but I said to myself, you’ve got to do something,” Buckner said. “I didn’t expect to land on the cartpath and play off the cartpath, but that’s match play. If I lose, I’m only down one. It ended up being a catalyst.”
Davis missed a birdie putt on 17 that would have squared the match, and Buckner put himself in position for a two-putt par to close things out on 18.
Davis’ run to the semifinals was remarkable, considering he was an alternate into the field. He was one of the odd men out in a five-for-two playoff at a qualifier at Old Trail. He defeated Decker in the first round of match play and knocked out five-time VSGA champ Allen Barber in the quarterfinals.
“To get [Decker] in the first round and to get through that, it was just awesome,” Davis said. “I played really well. Saturday, I played in the Jefferson Cup and shot 84, and it was ugly. I was ready to quit playing for the rest of the year. But I made a swing adjustment for the Sunday round and shot 74 there and had a couple of good rounds here.”
Hardcastle, the 23rd seed, will meet Buckner, seeded 24th, in the final. Though Buckner has some experience in a championship match, he said he’d rather forget what happened last year in Hot Springs. (He lost 6 and 5.) Hardcastle might be an unknown, but he showed mettle in winning four matches to get to Friday, and he has no plans on backing down now.
“I’m sure like every other golfer that was here, I have confidence in my abilities,” Hardcastle said. “We believe we can compete. From that standpoint, I’m not surprised that I competed well. Without sounding cocky, I think if I play my best golf, or close to my best golf, I think I can compete with most of the amateurs. One day I may have it. One day I may not. But that’s how I feel.”
Lang is the editor of Virginia Golfer magazine and the VSGA’s manager, digital media.