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By Chris Lang
ROANOKE — Haymarket’s Scott Shingler has finished inside the top 10 at the Delta Dental State Open of Virginia in each of the four years it has been held at Ballyhack Golf Club, but he’s yet to win the championship.
“To tell you I don’t think about it often would be a lie,” Shingler said. “I think about it all the time. It’s something I want to win—badly.”
After firing a 5-under-par 67 during Thursday’s first round of the 2018 edition of the championship, those thoughts will continue to be at the front of his mind. Shingler, a member at Dominion Valley Country Club, will enter Friday’s second round tied for the lead with Ashburn’s Jeff Long, who posted his 5-under 67 in the morning wave at Ballyhack.
Long and Shingler, two of the Commonwealth’s best mid-amateurs, hold a one-shot edge over one of Virginia’s best teenagers, Blacksburg 17 year old Christopher Zhang, who returned a 4-under 68. Another teenager, Leesburg’s Michael Brennan, 16, was one of three who shot 3-under 69, joining professionals Fielding Brewbaker and Ted Brown.
After Friday’s second round, the field will be cut to the low 60 players and ties for Saturday’s third and final round.
Long and Shingler both entered the scoring area a bit peeved, only because their respective rounds could have even been better. Long made a bogey on the par-5 9th hole to end his round, and Shingler missed a tricky 4-foot birdie putt on 18 that would have given him the solo lead.
“It was a good day,” said Long, a member at Evergreen Country Club. “I got off to a good start. I made a bomb on 11 from like 50 feet, out of nowhere [for birdie], then birdied 12 by hitting it in there to about seven feet. … It could have been a special round today, actually. A few putts just didn’t go in.”
Shingler bested his previous low round at Ballyhack by two strokes. Last year, he opened with a 77, and though he clawed his way back into the top 10, he was too far behind to make a serious charge at the title. He made six birdies on Thursday thanks stellar iron play, rarely having to drain any putts longer than 10 feet.
“I’ve had a hard time recently getting off to a good start,” Shingler said. “Not that I played poorly. It’s just been kind of a boring 1-over, even-par, 1-under round. So it’s good to get a good round under my belt right out of the gates. I’ve just got to keep at it.”
Zhang finished with five birdies and one bogey—a three-putt on the par-3 3rd hole. A rising senior at Blacksburg High School, Zhang started his round on No. 10 and shot 3 under on the back before adding a birdie at No. 1. After the bogey at 3, he parred the next four holes before making a birdie at No. 8 to get to 4 under.
“It could have gone better, it could have been worse,” Zhang said. “I’m going to have to save every shot I can [Friday]. I hit the ball a little better today than I have in the past few weeks and I didn’t put myself in much trouble. The last few weeks, I haven’t been playing very well but I put some work in and I’m trying to do my best.”
Brennan, who also started on No. 10, turned his day around on the back nine with a run of four straight birdies, though it was a clutch par save that gave his round a jolt.
Brennan, who was 1 over through 12 holes, hit his approach from a downslope on No. 4 over the green, leaving him with a very difficult up-and-down.
“I was in the long grass over the green to a back pin, and I hit one of the best shots I probably will hit this tournament,” he said. “I put a [60-degree wedge] into the back of my stance, I had to bump it into the rough, and I hit to two feet and I made that for par."
“On 5, I hit a driver through the fairway near the front bunker, and I didn’t think I could get it there. The ball was a foot and a half above my feet, easily. I was standing in the bunker and the ball was not in the bunker, 88 yards, I just opened the face and hit a pitching wedge to nine feet and made the putt for birdie. That kind of started a charge.”
Brennan, a member at River Creek Club, tied for low amateur honors last year and is capable of going low at Ballyhack, as evidenced by his second-round 64 last July.
“It looks tough, but it’s so pretty. I love this course,” Brennan said. “It’s really hard. … I think a lot of people don’t like it and they kind of take themselves out of it. They cost themselves several shots throughout the tournament just because they’re complaining.”
Brown, who won the State Open in 2005 at Willow Oaks in Richmond, could have found himself tied for the lead had it not been for a double bogey on 18. Still, he made five birdies and an eagle, despite playing just his eighth round this year. Brown last played in the event in 2013, the last year it was held at Independence Golf Club in Midlothian.
“I have absolutely no expectations,” Brown said. “I haven’t been playing too much, but my game feels good. I honestly didn’t drive the ball very well today. So hopefully I’ll tighten that up and get some looks and have some fun with it.”
Brewbaker, a Salem native who has finished no worse than tied for 13th since the State Open moved to Ballyhack, closed his round with an eagle on No. 9. He also made two birdies and a bogey.
Michael Mauk, PGA, an assistant professional at Belle Haven Country Club in Alexandria was one of three to return 2-under 70, joining Herndon’s Kurtis Grant (Army Navy CC) and past State Open champion Rick Schuller, PGA, a teaching professional at Stonehenge G&CC in Richmond.
Defending champion Ryan Zylstra shot a 2-over 74 Thursday and is tied for 32nd, seven shots off the lead.