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By Chris Lang
ALEXANDRIA — Pete DeTemple has had a heck of a year already. In April, DeTemple traveled to California and won the Society of Seniors Masters. A month later in Lynchburg, he took home the trophy in the senior division at the Fox Puss Invitational, a VSGA player rankings event.
Wednesday at Mount Vernon Country Club, DeTemple (Old Hickory GC) posted a 4-under-par 64 to take a two-stroke lead at the 33rd VSGA Senior Stroke Play Championship. The second and final round is scheduled for Thursday.
So what’s been the key to DeTemple’s early season success? Adaptability. In short, he’s learn how to hit a cut, something that’s eluded him for years. And it’s paying off in the form of low tournament scores.
“I’ve always drawn the ball,” DeTemple said. “The last two years, I’ve been trying to figure out how to cut it. So I’ve been playing a little cut, and every hole out here (at Mount Vernon) is a cut. I couldn’t have played this course two years ago. Now I’ve learned to cut the ball, and I’ve been hitting better shots.”
DeTemple made six birdies and two bogeys on a shortened Mount Vernon track, and he could have gone much lower. He said he had birdie putts on 17 of the 18 holes. Bogeys on Nos. 3 and 13 were the only blemishes on his card.
“On the third hole, I chunked my shot in the water,” DeTemple said. “That was the only green I missed. I dropped and then got up and down for bogey. That kept the round going.”
DeTemple, who was part of the winning side at the VSGA Senior Four-Ball Championship in 2016, will enter Thursday with a two-stroke lead over four competitors, including two past VSGA champions.
Buck Brittain (The Virginian GC), George Kapetanakis (Trump National, Washington DC), Bob Bailey (James River CC) and Jim Woodson (Mill Quarter Plantation) all recorded 2-under-par 66s. Brittain won last year’s Senior Open of Virginia. Kapetanakis won the inaugural VSGA Mid-Senior Amateur Championship in 2016. Kapetanakis said he hadn’t played golf in weeks before Wednesday’s bogey-free round adding, “Maybe that’s a good thing. No expectations.”
Brittain made a bogey at No. 2 and made seven straight pars before starting the back nine with a birdie. He added back-to-back birdies at 12 and 13 to get to 2 under before ending his round with five straight pars.
Bailey made the turn at 2 over but got hot on the back, starting the inward nine with three straight birdies and adding another at No. 18 to post a 4-under 29 on the back nine.
Woodson rattled off three straight birdies at Nos. 4, 5 and 6 before a bogey at 7 dropped him back to 2 under. He played the rest of his round at even par thanks to two birdies and two bogeys in his final 11 holes.
The course was playing at an unusually short 5,742 yards because some damage on the par-5 15th hole necessitated shortening it to a 150-yard par 3. That also dropped the course’s overall par from 70 to 68.
That didn’t necessarily make the course any easier, Woodson said.
“You still have to play golf,” he said. “You have to put the ball in play, make some good shots to the green and make some putts. I thought the greens were really good. They weren’t as fast as what we’ve been playing the last couple of weeks, but I thought they were very true.”
Robert Slavonia (VSGA eClub Alexandria) and John Lombardozzi (Robert Trent Jones GC) each shot 1-under 67s and enter Thursday three shots off the pace. Rich Buckner (Robert Trent Jones GC), Leon Roday (Kinloch GC), Keith Decker (Chatmoss CC) and Jack Allara (Hidden Valley CC) are all within striking distance of DeTemple after posting even-par 68s.
Chris Lang is the Editor of Virginia Golfer Magazine and Manager, Digital Media for the VSGA.