Scoring [icon name="external-link" class="" unprefixed_class=""] | Photos [icon name="facebook-official" class="" unprefixed_class=""]
By Chris Lang
PETERSBURG—After playing a practice round at the Country Club of Petersburg, Justin Young had a number in mind that his side would have to shoot Monday to qualify for next spring’s U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship.
“Three under on the front, five under on the back,” said Young, the reigning VSGA Mid-Amateur champion and low amateur at July’s Delta Dental State Open of Virginia.
Young and partner Scott Shingler reached that 8-under goal by the turn. They started off No. 10 and torched CCP’s inward nine with an 8-under 28. Another side of VSGA members—Dustin Groves and Jordan Utley—nearly matched that total, shooting 29 on the back themselves. In the end, it was enough for both to qualify for the championship proper next May at Bandon Dunes in Oregon.
Young/Shingler and Groves/Utley each posted 9-under-par 63s to share medalist honors and snag the two qualifying spots for Bandon Dunes. They finished two shots clear of four sides who competed in a playoff for the two alternate spots. Wake Forest University teammates Kengo Aoshima and Parker Gilliam earned first alternate honors, with recent U.S. Mid-Amateur finalist Brett Boner and partner Stephen Woodard nabbing the second alternate spot.
VSGA members Keith Decker and Jon Hurst also shot 65, as did North Carolina teenagers Ishaan Kumar and Mehrbaan Singh, but they lost out in the four-side playoff.
The 2019 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship will be held May 25-29.
Shingler (Dominion Valley CC) and Young (Ballyhack GC) qualified for the championship for the third time overall and for the second straight year.
“We’re friends, good buddies, and we just know each other’s game well,” Shingler said. “We play off each other. We know what to do club-selection wise. We’re similar with our irons. We hit similar shots. … It’s not like one of us is a streaky player. We’re both fairly consistent.”
They did find a hot streak on Monday, finishing with six birdies and an eagle on the back. They birdied the first three holes, parred the next two, eagled No. 15 and closed the nine with three straight birdies.
“We’ve talked about this a couple of times,” Shingler said. “But when are we ever going to both get hot at the same time? That happened on that nine. We kind of got it going there. That’ll happen, and it was nice that it happened today.”
Groves (Glenmore CC) and Utley (Independence GC) started on the front, which was clearly Petersburg’s tougher nine. They made four straight pars and took a bogey on No. 5, which is usually a disaster in a four-ball qualifier with just two spots available.
“I sort of thought in my head that we’ve got to turn at 2 under to at least have a chance,” Groves said. “Jordan made a really good shot on nine and made (the birdie putt), and we turned at 2 under, and that kind of gave me a little boost, emotionally and mentally. I don’t know what it was. But I played really well the next five or six holes.”
That might be an understatement. Groves shot 29 on his own ball on the back nine, and the 7-under finish was enough to move the side into qualifying position.
“For me, the beauty of playing with someone like Dustin is you know he has the firepower,” Utley said. “You basically just have to give him the confidence. I was never out of the hole on any of those shots. I was ready to pounce when my turn came. But when you get on a run like Dustin was on, you kind of just keep steady and get out of the way.”
Utley, a two-time finalist in the VSGA Amateur, will be making his first appearance in a USGA championship. Groves, a reinstated amateur who returned to serious competitive golf this year, is making his fourth appearance, having played in two U.S. Junior Amateurs and one U.S. Amateur.
Utley has played at Bandon Dunes before, but on a father-son vacation, not in competition.
“I’ve been there, and going back and trying to play tournament golf there is going to be so fun,” Utley said. “And you’re playing with a good buddy, it just becomes … I hope it’s not a once-in-a-lifetime trip, but it becomes something that can be special.”