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By Chris Lang
WILLIAMSBURG — Being the top seed in match play at the 71st Virginia State Golf Association Senior Amateur Championship didn’t seem to add any pressure for Tazewell’s Buck Brittain.
The stroke-play qualifying medalist by five strokes, Brittain cruised to a pair of 4-and-3 victories at the Golden Horseshoe Golf Club’s Gold Course on Wednesday, one of eight players to advance to Thursday’s quarterfinals.
Also moving on with two victories on Wednesday: Yorktown’s Jim Gallagher (Sleepy Hole GC), Manakin-Sabot’s Cam Young (Independence GC), Centreville’s Mike Howell (International CC), Manakin’s David Partridge (Hermitage CC), Great Falls’ Mark Boedicker (Robert Trent Jones GC), Virginia Beach’s Roger Newsom (Elizabeth Manor G&CC), and Martinsville’s Keith Decker (Chatmoss CC).
Brittain (The Virginian GC) shot a pair of 5-under 66s in stroke play, and he kept that form intact on Wednesday, finishing with just one bogey in 30 holes. And that one blemish was an unlucky one. His approach on No. 9 in his round-of-32 match against Purcellville’s David Price (Stoneleigh G&CC) landed inches above the hole, spun back, hit the flagstick and flew off the green.
“I continued to play solid, and I didn’t really get into any trouble anywhere,” Brittain said.
Brittain, 51, has found senior golf to his liking. In his rookie campaign in 2017, he won the Senior Open of Virginia at nearby Two Rivers Golf Club. His side tied for fifth at this year’s VSGA Senior Four-Ball Stroke Play Championship. He’s still been competitive against the younger set as well. His side was in a playoff at the Four-Ball Stroke Play Championship, he reached match play at the VSGA Amateur and tied for ninth at the Delta Dental State Open of Virginia.
“Playing with the regulars puts a lot of pressure on my driver because I don’t hit it as far as they do,” Brittain said of playing in senior events. “Playing with the seniors, I’m hitting it with them. I’m far enough that I’m not hitting hybrids when everyone else is hitting wedges. I feel like it’s a little closer to being a level playing field.”
Brittain will face Gallagher, who missed nearly all of last year with a serious back injury, in Thursday morning’s opening quarterfinal. Gallagher defeated John Steele (Westwood CC) 3 and 2 in the morning before rolling past Jeff Flax (Cavalier Y&GC) 5 and 4 in the afternoon. His biggest concern was how his back would hold up.
Gallagher made it through the day fine, but he’s had to take precautions this year to be able to string together rounds without risking re-injury.
“I start in the morning with some stretching, and I get to the course and I have a little stretching routine that takes about seven minutes before I even hit balls,” Gallagher said. “I try not to hit too many balls—just hit a few easy swings to get started. Just enough that I have that tempo, and I can take that tempo to the course.”
Young, who was on the winning side at the Senior Four-Ball Stroke Play, defeated Phil Mahone (Farmington CC) 3 and 1 in the morning before grinding out a 19-hole victory against Fairfax Station’s Buddy Patch (Springfield G&CC) in the round of 16. Young will meet International CC’s Mike Howell, a first-time Senior Amateur competitor who ousted defending champion Rich Buckner (Robert Trent Jones GC) 4 and 3 in the round of 16.
“I knew I was going to have to play my best to beat him,” Howell said. “I got off to a pretty good start, and the confidence got a little higher at that point. Played pretty solid the whole day, and I knew I’d have to, to beat Rich. Because he’s a very good player. … I told him, that’s as good as I could play.”
Partridge, winner of the recent Middle Atlantic Senior Amateur, took out the other half of last year’s final—Midlothian’s Duncan Hardcastle (Magnolia Green GC)—6 and 5 in the morning before defeating 2017 VSGA Mid-Senior Amateur champion Leon Roday (Kinloch GC) 2 and 1 in the afternoon.
He’ll draw Boedicker in Thursday’s third quarterfinal. Boedicker defeated Virginia Golf Hall of Famer Vinny Giles (Kinloch GC) 2 and 1 in the morning. In his afternoon match against Stonewall GC’s Jim Nirich, Boedicker was 3 up through five holes and rolled to a 4-and-3 win.
The final quarterfinal is a powerhouse matchup between Decker—a three-time Senior Amateur champion—and Newsom, who has won two State Opens and one Senior Open and is coming off a victory in the senior division at the Bay Creek Amateur.
Decker lost in the round of 32 of last year’s Senior Amateur, but he said that defeat didn’t even cross his mind heading into Wednesday’s matches. He won both of his matches Thursday 4 and 3, dispatching Kent Erdahl (Two Rivers CC) in the morning before defeating Dean Griffith (Blue Ridge Shadows GC) in the afternoon.
Decker knows what kind of challenge he’ll get Thursday in facing Newsom, who beat Neil Davis (Birdwood GC) 4 and 3 in the round of 32 before surviving a major test from Robert Slavonia (VSGA eClub Alexandria) in the afternoon, winning with a birdie on the 19th hole.
“It’ll be a good match,” Decker said. “He’s been playing great. He played great down at Bay Creek, shot some low numbers there. He’s playing good here. He’s tough.”
Chris Lang is the editor of Virginia Golfer magazine and the VSGA’s Manager, Digital Media.