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By Chris Lang
NEWPORT NEWS — After a day of tight competition in which nearly every semifinal match made it to the 18th hole, the title matches in 2nd VSGA Mid-Senior Amateur Championship and 23rd VSGA Super Senior Amateur Championship are set.
Only two of the top four seeds advanced to Friday’s championship matches, both coming in the Super Senior Amateur: O.D. Gardner in the 75-and-over age group and Mike McDonald in the 65-69 age group. One of the two defending champions playing this week at James River Country Club made it to the final match: Jim Hudson in the Super Senior 70-74 division.
Leon Roday, who entered the week No. 2 in the VSGA Senior Player Rankings, reached the title match in the Mid-Senior Amateur Championship. A recap of Thursday’s action follows.
2nd Mid-Senior Amateur Championship
Roday (Kinloch GC) trusted his feet. And because of that, he hit the shot that saved his match against top seed Dave Pulk (Two Rivers CC). Roday’s greenside bunker escape on 18 helped him square the match, and he made a two-putt par on the second extra hole to eliminate Pulk in 20 holes and advance to the title match.
Roday will face Jim Wright (Roanoke CC), who needed extra holes to defeat Mark Boedicker (Raspberry Falls G&HC) for his spot in the title match.
Roday said he felt like he was two down against Pulk all day, but a rally helped him square the semifinal match after 15 holes. Pulk responded by winning the 16th hole, and after both players made par on 17, they headed to 18 with Pulk still nursing a 1-up advantage.
Pulk’s third shot on the par-5 18th landed short of the hole and spun back, leaving him a long putt for birdie. Roday hit his third after Pulk, and he knew he needed to get up and down for birdie to extend the match.
“I was lucky in that my feet told me there was very little sand in the bunker,” Roday said. “But you never know if it’s the same condition under the ball. But I went with that and I was able to hit a pretty decent shot.”
The shot settled two feet from the cup. Pulk conceded it before missing his birdie putt, sending the match back to No. 1.
Pulk earlier defeated defending Mid-Senior Amateur champion George Kapetanakis (Trump National Washington D.C.) 4 and 2 in the quarterfinals. Roday knocked off last year’s other finalist, Jeff Flax (Cavalier Y&GC), 3 and 1 to advance.
Wright, who topped Steve Williams (Eaglewood GC) 1 up in the quarterfinals, won three of the last six holes in his semifinal match against Boedicker to advance. Boedicker, who eliminated David Partridge (Hermitage CC) in the quarterfinals, raced to a 3-up lead after four holes, but Wright never let the match get away from him.
Down two after 12 holes, he won the next two holes to level the match and took the lead with a par on 17. Both players made par on 18, giving Wright the victory.
23rd VSGA Super Senior Amateur Championship
65-69
McDonald (Two Rivers CC), who was on the winning side at last year’s VSGA Super Senior Four-Ball Championship, survived for a pair of 1-up wins, eliminating John Hoffman (Potomac Shores GC) in the quarterfinals before taking out Bill Nunnenkamp (Blue Hills GC) in the semifinals.
McDonald won the quarterfinal match with a par on No. 18. He trailed Nunnenkamp, who defeated fellow Blue Hills member Van McCarter in the quarterfinals, after 14 holes but won Nos. 15 and 16 to take the lead for good. Each player parred the final two holes, giving McDonald the tight victory.
McDonald will face Mike Ancel (Newport News GC at Deer Run), who needed extra holes to defeat Bert Wilson (Jefferson Lakeside CC) in the quarterfinals before ousting Dick Blackburn (Belle Haven CC) 1 up in the semifinals.
Blackburn, who defeated Charles Green III (The Virginian GC) 5 and 4 in the morning, held a 3-up lead on Ancel at the turn. But Ancel fought back to even the match after 15 holes. Ancel took a brief lead by winning No. 16, but Blackburn quickly squared the match by winning 17. A birdie on 18 sealed the win for Ancel.
70-74
Different age group, same result for Bill Engel (Army Navy CC).
Engel, a finalist in the 65-69 age group last summer, scored a pair of 3-and-2 wins to advance to the championship match in his first year as a 70 year old. He’ll square off against Hudson (Salisbury CC), who is seeking his second straight title in the 70-74 age group.
Engel fell to Tom Grady in last year’s 65-69 title match and learned some valuable lessons in the process.
“You can never give up,” Engel said. “You worry about the things you can control. You don’t worry about the things you can’t control. I have all sorts of mnemonic devices. Stay in the moment. Get your tempo, poise and confidence, and there’s nothing that can stop you. … You hear it on TV, but it’s all so true. And I have to tell myself that over almost every shot.”
Engel defeated Bill Flanders Jr. (Two Rivers CC) in the quarterfinals and top seed George Owens (Broad Bay CC) in the semifinals. Of the remaining players, he’s the only one who didn’t have a match reach the 18th hole.
Both of Hudson’s matches went the distance, including his 19-hole quarterfinal win over Ray D’Amore (VSGA eClub Alexandria). He made a par on 18 to defeat John Casstevens (The Federal Club) in the semifinals.
75 and over
Gardner (The Woodlands GC) is a past VSGA Senior Amateur champion, and he reached a playoff in the inaugural Senior Open of Virginia in 2006. He hasn’t played a lot of championship golf recently, but with this event being close to home, he thought he’d give it a shot.
He never trailed in his semifinal win over Bob Moyers (Shenvalee Golf Resort), but he struggled to put Moyers away. Gardner held a 3-up lead after 14 holes but didn’t clinch until both players made bogey on 18.
“I’ve just been consistent,” Gardner said. “I’m putting a little better than I have been lately. I’ve been hitting the ball well and not putting good for some time now. Today, I hit the ball well and made some putts when I had to.”
Gardner will face Ned Baber (Roanoke CC) in Friday’s championship match. Baber needed 19 holes to defeat Tom Houston (CC of Culpeper) in the other semifinal match. Baber won two of the first three holes, but Houston won No. 4, and neither player held more than a 1-up lead the rest of the way. Baber squared the match with a bogey on 17 and won it with a par on the first extra hole.
Lang is the editor of Virginia Golfer magazine and the VSGA’s manager, digital media.