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By Chris Lang
HAYMARKET — Dominion Valley Country Club was defenseless on Friday
during the opening round of the 54th Virginia State Golf Association
Four-Ball Championship. Wide-open fairways, freshly mown rough, minimal wind
and pleasant temperatures all added up to a barrage of low scores and a tightly
packed leaderboard heading into Saturday’s second and final round.
Five sides ended Friday tied for
the lead after posting 8-under-par 64s on Dominion Valley’s Arnold Palmer
design course, including Dominion Valley member Scott Shingler of Haymarket and
his partner, Justin Young of Salem.
The two were runners-up in this
event the last time it was held in Northern Virginia, in 2016 at River Bend
Club in Great Falls. Simply put, Shingler said, conditions were ripe for a
bunch of low scores to be posted.
“Well, once they cut the rough
down … it was a little higher yesterday, but it looks like they got out there
and cut it,” Shingler said. “That helps when you miss around the greens,
because you can at least control the ball to get it on the green. With the wind
down and the greens being soft as they are, if you have a good number, you can
throw it in there. You have some good looks.”
Others in the five-way tie for
first are Adam Houck (Richmond) and Tyler Gulliksen (Dunn Loring); Salem’s Matthew
Shelor and Stephen Bain; Jeff Long (Ashburn) and John Rosenstock (Richmond);
and Dellon Baker (Carrolton) and Matthew Grandy (Suffolk).
Two sides posted 7-under rounds
of 65, and a whopping nine sides returned rounds of 6-under 66.
Saturday’s action is set to
begin at 8 a.m. with the final groups going off Nos. 1 and 10 at 10 a.m. The
five sides tied for the lead are scattered among the final three groups.
PREPPING FOR BANDON: Six players in this week’s field will
participate in the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship next week at Bandon
Dunes in Oregon, and all six are in contention after Friday’s first round.
Shingler and Young will make
their second appearance in the event. Jordan Utley (Richmond) and Dustin Groves
(Charlottesville) were among the sides tied for eighth at 66 and will play
together in Oregon. Arlington’s Brandon Cigna will play next week with Maryland’s
Ben Warnquist, but he’s playing in this championship with Matthew Sughrue, a
veteran of many USGA championships. Like Groves and Utley, Cigna and Sughrue
posted a 66.
Gulliksen, who played with Chesapeake’s
Adam Horton in the 2016 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship, will team with
California teenager Jack Townsend in Oregon next week. Long will play next week
with teenager Michael Brennan, who is participating in this week’s prestigious
Scott Robertson Memorial Tournament in Roanoke.
For Shingler and Young, the top
priority this weekend is winning. But they didn’t deny that this week can
operate as a crucial dress rehearsal for next week’s national championship.
“This is only my second
tournament this year,” Young said. “I haven’t been playing a whole lot, just
been practicing. It’s just been the Fox Puss and this. So it’s good to get some
rounds under our belts, especially in this format.”
ALTERNATE REALITY: Gulliksen and Houck were one of two alternate
sides that made it into the field after just missing at a qualifier at
Meadowbrook Country Club, and they made the most of their opportunity. Each
player contributed four birdies Friday. Gulliksen recently returned to Virginia
after a military stint in San Diego. He started his college career at the U.S.
Naval Academy, but his eligibility clock stopped once he went on active duty.
Gulliksen had one year of eligibility remaining, so he played for the
University of San Diego’s varsity team while completing his Master’s degree.
He said playing college golf as
a 31 year old was an interesting experience.
“I was watching the golf the
other day at the (PGA Tour’s) Byron Nelson, and I saw Doug Ghim and Scottie
Scheffler out there,” Gulliksen said. “I played with them for three rounds at
our home event at San Diego Country Club. You play with them, and you see how
good they are, and you see what you need to work on. You just knew those guys
were going to make it … It teaches you a few things. And then your college
coach is a former Ryder Cupper who played with Tiger in Chris Riley. So that’s
pretty nice to have Chris Riley as your college golf coach and as a good friend.
“It was one of the coolest
experiences of my life. Who would have ever thought I would have that
opportunity to do it?”
With so many sides in contention
heading into Saturday’s final round, the natural inclination might be to be
overly aggressive. Houck doesn’t necessarily agree with that strategy.
“I’ve taken a completely
different attitude to how I’ve played golf this year,” he said. “It’s to have
fun. I’ve had a lot of different personal things going on with my family, so I’m
here to have fun, I’m here to compete. I’m not out here to overthink things. We
know that if we play our game and keep the ball in play, we’re going to have
looks.”
Added Gulliksen, “It’s going to
come down to putting tomorrow. It’s going to come down to what team has the
most looks at birdie and what team is making putts.”
PAST CHAMPS IN THE MIX: Among the five tied for the lead, only
Shingler has hoisted the Wallace McDowell Trophy, given to the winner of the
VSGA Four-Ball Championship. He won with Keith Decker in 2012. Long, though,
was part of the winning side at last year’s VSGA Four-Ball Match Play
Championship at Keswick Golf Club.
The 2016 champions – Harold Dill
of Ashburn and Kyle Bailey of Charlottesville – are part of the tie for sixth
at 65, along with Glen Allen’s Ben Keefer and Falmouth’s Jimmy Delp. Keefer won
with Tim Kelley in 2010.
The winners of the last two
Four-Ball Championships will play together at 8 a.m. off No. 10 on Saturday:
2018 champions Dudley Payne of Clifton and Francesco Romano of Ashburn; and
2017 champions BJ Maben of Hampton and Kyle Mutter of Portsmouth.
Chris Lang is the Editor of Virginia Golfer Magazine and Manager,
Digital Media for the VSGA.