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By Arthur Utley
RICHMOND — The Salisbury Country Club tandem of Jim Hudson and Patrick Gregory posted a 5-under-par 66 on Wednesday at Jefferson Lakeside Country Club and owns the lead after the first round of the 6th Virginia State Golf Association Super Senior Four-Ball Championship.
All players are 65 years of age and older. The 36-hole tournament concludes Thursday.
Competitors had to battle Lakeside’s renovated Donald Ross layout that played longer than the 6,020 yards on the scorecard, and they had to weather energy-sapping, scorching heat.
“It was brutal,” said J.P. Leigh (Elizabeth Manor G&CC, Suffolk) who teamed with John Cuomo (Laurel Hill GC, Richmond) to shoot 3-under 68. The pair won the 2015 Super Senior Four-Ball at the Country Club of Petersburg. “Guys our age…one guy we played with had to sit in the shade… Johnny had an ice pack to put on the top of his head, but he always does that.”
Joining Leigh and Cuomo at 3-under 68 were Bert Allen (Boonsboro CC, Forest) and Chuck Brewer (London Downs GC, Forest) and last year’s runners-up from Army Navy CC Bill Engel (Alexandria) and Peter Jacobi (Arlington).
The side of Dayton Slater (Shenandoah Valley GC, Richmond)-John Hoffman (Evergreen CC, Fairfax) returned 2-under 69 and trails by three strokes.
Two other teams – Steve Isaacs (Independence GC, Richmond)-Rick Bendall (Boonsboro CC, Lynchburg) and L.B. Bailey (Blue Hills GC, Roanoke)-Chips Wooddy (Roanoke CC, Roanoke) – broke par, each shooting 1-under 70.
Defending champions Charles Green III (The Virginian, Bristol) and Bob Rotella (Glenmore CC, Keswick) were one of three sides to shoot par 71. Worth Banner (Cavalier G&YC, Virginia Beach)-Dave Stewart (River Bend Club, McLean) and Jeff Johns (Dominion Valley CC, Haymarket)-Joseph Magnone (Evergreen CC, Haymarket) also start Thursday’s final round five strokes behind.
Hudson-Gregory logged five birdies and no bogeys. They played Lakeside’s first four holes, often referred to as the toughest opening holes in the Richmond area, in 1 under par.
“The best thing about it was that we basically ham-and-egged. If one of us was struggling on a hole the other guy came through. It worked like that all day long,” Hudson said.
Thursday’s second round will be played in more intense heat.
“What happens with the heat in my opinion is you lose your patience. We worked on that today. I kept saying I think it’s hot because we felt like we were rushing and we didn’t need to be,” Hudson added. “We’re both playing well so hopefully we’re going to be in good shape.”
In two previous Super Senior Four-Balls, Hudson and Gregory have finished fourth.
Leigh-Cuomo (five birdies, two bogeys) and Allen-Brewer (five birdies, two bogeys, 3-under 32 on front nine) opened their rounds with chip-in birdies on the first hole. Leigh and Allen did the honors. That allowed both teams to play through the difficult starting four at 1-under. Allen and Brewer also birdied the par-4 third hole but made bogey on the par-4 fourth.
The first four holes “are very, very hard for us because they are all over 400 yards (No. 2 is a long par 3). We parred the other three so we started off good,” Leigh said. “The rest of the holes we hit most of the greens and missed hitting the putts, but the greens out here are very difficult to putt because of the undulations. The golf course is beautiful. I love the course. It’s perfect for me if I didn’t have to play the first four holes. But even that’s a challenge. For us, on the first four holes we have to hit our tee shots on the button. If we mishit it, then we’re dead.”
Allen and Brewer had not played the golf course until a practice round on Tuesday.
“We’re still getting used to it…figuring out where we’re supposed to hit it and not hit it,” Allen said. “We were playing really well on the front. The back we kind of let a couple of holes get away from us, but other than that we played pretty solid.”
This is the first time the two have played in the Super Senior Four-Ball. They teamed to win the VSGA Senior Four-Ball in 2009.
Engel and Jacobi combined for four birdies and a bogey.
“We put ourselves in position. We didn’t play particularly well…missed a short putt for par for one bogey. Bill played extremely well, and I helped him so Thursday we have a chance against five other teams,” Jacobi said. “We’ll see how it goes.”
Retired Richmond Times-Dispatch staff writer Arthur Utley is a regular contributor to VSGA.org.