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By Chris Lang
WILLIAMSBURG — In May 2018, the United States Golf Association will conduct the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship for the fourth time. And for the fourth time, North Carolina’s Scott Harvey and Todd Mitchell will be there.
Harvey and Mitchell, quarterfinalists earlier this year at Pinehurst in the third playing of the championship, fell one round shy of gaining an exemption into next year’s championship in Tequesta, Fla. No matter. They torched the Golden Horseshoe’s Gold Course in a qualifier Tuesday with an 8-under-par 63 to earn medalist honors and one of three spots in next year’s event.
“We didn’t always end up in the greatest spots, but we were never facing a bogey at any time, and that helps,” Mitchell said. “Anytime you come out here, the one thing you can’t do is make bogeys. You just can’t do that. Between the two of us, we know we’re going to have a number of good looks to make birdies. We just have to lessen the over-par holes.”
Bogeys weren’t a problem for Harvey, the 2014 U.S. Mid-Amateur champion, and Mitchell. They finished with six birdies and an eagle on No. 2 to finish two strokes clear of their closest competitors.
“We see things the same, we think the same, and our strategies are always very similar,” Harvey said.
VSGA members Scott Shingler (Dominion Valley CC) and Justin Young (Ballyhack GC) secured their second trip to the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship thanks to a 6-under 65. They’ll be joined by North Carolina high schoolers Lansdon Robbins and Michael Childress, who also shot 65. Both will graduate in 2018, with Robbins committed to UNC Wilmington and Childress set to attend the University of Richmond.
Two sides returned 66s and earned alternate status. West Virginians Philip Reale and Tad Tomblin will be the first alternates; Stephen Lavenets and Jackson Spires are second alternates. Spires plays at East Carolina, and Lavenets graduated from ECU in 2016.
Shingler and Young took advantage of the front nine, which was playing much easier than the back on an overcast, sometimes windy Tuesday. They made the turn at 5 under and added a birdie on No. 11 before closing out the round with seven pars.
“At the beginning of the day, we thought eight would be the number,” Shingler said. “We turned at five and were feeling good. We just said, ‘hey keep the pedal down and keep giving ourselves putts at it.’ We kept the ball in front of us. We didn’t make as many birdies on the back as we wanted to, but we did enough.”
Shingler and Young, both of whom have won VSGA Mid-Amateur championships, qualified for the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship two years ago but missed out last year. They were the runner-up two years ago at the VSGA Four-Ball Stroke Play Championship and finished in the top five at this year’s championship at Willow Oaks.
“He can tell me what to hit in a certain situation,” Young said. “I can tell him what to hit. We know each other’s games. It does help. We play well together, whether it’s the state two-man or the Captain’s Putter.”
Of the three sides to qualify, only Childress and Robbins made a bogey. But they were able to make up for it with an eagle on No. 2. After the bogey on No. 4, they made three straight birdies to get back on track.
Shingler and Young aren’t the only VSGA members to have secured spots for the 2018 championship this year. Jeff Long (Evergreen CC) paired with New Yorker Matthew Rendell to qualify in late August in New Jersey. Brandon Cigna (Laurel Hill GC) and Maryland’s Ben Warnquist are exempt into next year’s championship thanks to their runner-up finish in 2016.
The 2018 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship will be held May 19-23 at Jupiter Hills Club.