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West Virginia holds one-point lead after one day at 35th Virginia-West Virginia Matches
By Chris Lang
LAUREL FORK — The annual Virginia-West Virginia Matches are friendly, yes. But it’s still a competition, and that was evident as Saturday’s four-ball matches at Olde Mill Golf Resort reached their conclusion.
On the 18th green, West Virginia’s Philip Reale, teamed with Tad Tomblin, ran in a 30-foot birdie putt to clinch a point for his team, and he celebrated with a yell and a fist pump. On the Virginia side, Adam Houck and McLain Leberte rallied from three down on the back nine before holding on to squeeze out a point.
On a gorgeous, sun-splashed day in the southwest Virginia mountains, the matches couldn’t have been tighter, which should lead to an exciting Sunday of single matches in the 35th edition of the event. West Virginia took a 7½- 6½ lead thanks to a two-point swing in afternoon four-ball as it looks to end an eight-year losing streak in the event.
“We’ve never won on Virginia soil,” Reale said. “So there’s a lot riding on tomorrow in terms of pride. It’s a friendly match, but you still want to win. And we want to win in Virginia.”
The VSGA squad hopes to keep that from happening. Virginia took a 4-3 lead after the morning alternate-shot (foursome) matches, but West Virginia came back thanks to strong play from its regulars, who took three of the four possible points in four-ball.
Reale and Tomblin leveled their match with Justin Young (Ballyhack GC) and Buck Brittain (The Virginian GC) with a birdie on 15. The match remained square until the final hole and appeared headed for a halve until Reale’s winning putt.
“Buck and Justin are always tough to beat,” Reale said. “Tad made a 15 footer on 17 to keep us in it, keep us tied. I knew I had 30 feet, and I grinded really hard on that last one. I’m glad it hit the hole. Otherwise, they may have won. It was humming.”
Leberte (Farmington CC) and Houck (The Federal Club) were the lone VSGA regular side to record a point in the afternoon, and they needed a huge comeback to pull out the point. Brian Anania and Chris Williams held a three-up lead after 11 holes before Leberte and Houck won consecutive holes to get back into the match.
“I finally made a putt on 12,” Houck said. “I made one from about 20, 25 feet. We hadn’t really seen anything go in all day.”
“But we were hitting it well all day,” Leberte said. “We kept telling each other, keep on plodding, keep on plodding. It was there.”
The Leberte/Houck side made par to win 16 and take their first lead, and both sides parred out, securing the victory. This weekend marked the first appearance for either player in a VSGA interstate team match.
“I played college golf, and it was kind of the same feeling,” Leberte said. “You get that team camaraderie going. You’re looking across the fairway, pointing at the guy, saying, ‘let’s go, let’s go.’ It’s a different feeling than when it’s just yourself. You’re playing for yourself, your teammates, and you want to pull it through.”
In the two sets of senior matches, the WVGA claimed 2½ out of the four possible points. Virginia claimed a half point when Dave Pulk (Two Rivers CC) and Leon Roday (Kinloch GC) rallied from three down at the turn to square the match.
The VSGA super senior combo of Blue Hills GC members Bill Nunnenkamp and Van McCarter claimed both available points on Saturday. The only other side to record two points was the West Virginia regular side of Josh Arbaugh and Ben Palmer.
The event concludes Sunday with 14 singles matches, beginning with the super seniors at 8 a.m. The seniors and regulars will follow, with the last match pitting Brittain and Palmer set to begin a 9:44 a.m.
Chris Lang is the Editor of Virginia Golfer Magazine and Manager, Digital Media for the VSGA.