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By Chris Lang
GLEN ALLEN — Carter Morgan stood over his shot in the 18th fairway at The Federal Club, 58-degree wedge in hand, 109 yards to the hole. One good shot on his 40th hole of day one of match play at the 105th Virginia State Golf Association Amateur Championship Thursday could knock out the event’s defending champion, Mark Lawrence Jr.
Morgan didn’t miss.
Morgan, a rising junior at Virginia Wesleyan College, stuck his approach shot to within a foot, and Lawrence conceded the birdie putt before Morgan could even walk to the green. Morgan’s 1-up victory in the round of 16 eliminated Lawrence, a rising Virginia Tech senior who reached last year’s U.S. Amateur semifinals.
Past champions Scott Shingler and Keith Decker also lost in the round of 16 Thursday afternoon, ensuring that a first-time champion will be crowned on Saturday.
“I knew pretty much from the start that it was David versus Goliath,” said Morgan, a Tappahannock resident and member at Hobbs Hole Golf Course. “I took some momentum off my match this morning. I was hitting the ball pretty well. I just powered through the day. I was getting a little tired at the end, but I just had to power through.”
Lawrence (Independence GC) was the second Division I player that Morgan, who plays for the Division III Marlins, ousted. Morgan earlier survived a 22-hole marathon with Longwood’s Adam Szwed (Old Hickory GC). He’s had experience with deep runs in match play before, reaching the title match of the 2016 VSGA Junior Match Play Championship.
Morgan led 1 up going to 18, having lost 17 when he bogeyed and Lawrence two-putted for par. Each player had 109 yards to go on 18, with Morgan sitting on the left side of the fairway and Lawrence on the right. Morgan shot first and dialed up the perfect shot.
“Considering the circumstances, and under that pressure, yeah, that was probably one of the best shots I’ve ever hit,” Morgan said.
Morgan will face another unlikely quarterfinalist on Friday morning in South Boston’s Peter Gasperini (Halifax CC), a rising Radford junior who said he had never even played a match-play event before this week. Also advancing to Friday’s quarterfinals were mid-amateurs Daryl Chappell (CC of Petersburg), Trey Smith (Windy Hill Sports Complex) and Dustin Groves (Glenmore CC); Abingdon high schooler Connor Creasy (Glenrochie CC); Lynchburg’s Connor Burgess (Boonsboro CC), a rising sophomore at Virginia Tech; and Richmond’s Andrew Kennedy (Richmond CC), another Radford player.
The quarterfinal matches will begin at 7:30 a.m. with the semifinals slated to begin at noon. The 36-hole scheduled championship match will begin Saturday at 7:30 a.m.
Gasperini made one of the week’s biggest shots, an ace on No. 17 in the first round of stroke-play qualifying. But he said making a run to the second day of match play was a much more special accomplishment.
“I was hoping that wouldn’t be the highlight of my week,” Gasperini said of the hole-in-one. “So far, so good. Just still kind of plugging away. It’s actually my first match-play experience. Turns out, I really like match play.”
Gasperini defeated Alexandria’s Teddy Zinsner (Belle Haven CC), the 2017 VSGA Junior Stroke Play champion and rising Yale sophomore, 3 and 2 in the morning before eliminating Erik Dulik (Reston National GC)—who just completed his career at Louisville—4 and 3 in the second round.
Chappell, a reinstated amateur, will face the 25-year-old Smith in the other quarterfinal match on that side of the bracket. Chappell recorded a pair of 3-and-2 wins, topping Leesburg teenager Michael Brennan (River Creek Club) in the morning and Thomas Wharton (VSGA eClub – Alexandria) in the afternoon.
Smith dispatched teenager Patrick Gareiss (VSGA Junior Golf Circuit) 7 and 5 in the morning and defeated Shingler (Dominion Valley CC) 2 and 1 in the round of 16.
On the other side of the bracket, Creasy reached the quarterfinals in his first VSGA Amateur appearance. Creasy, who played in last year’s U.S. Amateur Championship and will head to Wake Forest after his high-school career is done, defeated Oakton’s Bryce Johnson (International CC) 2 and 1 in the morning and bested No. 2 seed Jeff Long (Evergreen CC) 6 and 4 in the afternoon.
Competing against some of the state’s top college players and mid-amateurs has been beneficial to Creasy’s development, he said.
“It definitely helps a lot,” Creasy said. “The golf courses are much tougher and set up more difficult than they are for junior tournaments. Obviously, the players are better. They’re older and way more experienced than the guys I’m playing against who are 17, 18 years old. You’ve really got to understand your way around the golf course. It really helps me a lot, I feel.”
Creasy will face Burgess, who earlier this year won the Kenridge Invitational at Farmington CC. Burgess ousted recent Kenyon College graduate Ryan Muthiora (Spring Creek GC) in the morning before defeating soon-to-be Virginia Tech teammate Drew Brockwell of Chesterfield (GC at the Highlands) in 19 holes in the afternoon.
The final quadrant of the bracket features Charlottesville’s Groves, another reinstated amateur and the leader after the first day of stroke-play qualifying. Groves defeated Northern Virginians Ian Hildebrand (Stoneleigh G&CC) and Connor Messick (International CC) on his way to the quarterfinals. Groves’ opponent will be Kennedy, who beat Dylan Fox (Salisbury CC) in the morning 6 and 5 before outlasting two-time champion Decker (Chatmoss CC) in 19 holes.
Groves’ last experience with match play came at the 2008 VSGA Amateur, where he lost in the first round. He made an eagle on the par-5 16th to counter a Messick birdie and close out a 4-and-2 win.
“Gosh, it’s such a long day,” Groves said. “I haven’t played this much golf in I don’t know how long. It’s been a long time. To step up and hit those two shots on what, my 32nd hole of the day, it gives you some confidence, for sure.”
Chris Lang is the Editor of Virginia Golfer Magazine and Manager, Digital Media for the VSGA.