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By Arthur Utley
WILLIAMSBURG – Charlie Kennedy held to the game plan that got him the first-round lead
and went on to claim the medal in the 36-hole stroke-play qualifying at the 29th
Virginia State Golf Association Junior Match Play Championship.
Kennedy, a junior at Mills Godwin High in
Henrico County, posted a bogey-free, 3-under-par 69 at Williamsburg National
Golf Club’s Jamestown Course on Wednesday to go along with an opening 66 and
finished with a two-day total of 9-under 135. He gained the top seed out of the
16 players who qualified for match play.
First round and quarterfinal matches are
set for Thursday. The semifinals and scheduled 18-hole final are Friday.
Kennedy is one of five players who
qualified for match play for the second year in a row. No. 3 seed Ross
Funderburke of Roanoke, fourth-seeded Patrick Gareiss of Chesapeake, No. 12
Bryan Lee of Fairfax and No. 13 Garrett Kuhla of Henrico are the others.
Gareiss (70-71-141) and Kuhla (69-76-145)
meet in the first round of match play.
Kennedy’s first-round opponent is Mehrbaan
Singh of Ashburn who captured the final match-play berth in a
five-players-for-one-spot playoff. Singh, Andrew Watson of Hartwood, David
Sanford of Vienna, Justin Larue of Chesterfield and Leesburg’s Hayden Miller,
all finished at 2-over 146.
Miller was eliminated after making bogey on
the first extra hole. Watson and Sanford made pars on the par-5 third hole but
dropped out as Singh and Larue (chip in) advanced with birdies. Singh birdied
the par-4 fourth hole to gain his spot opposite Kennedy.
Bryce Corbett of Gainesville shot 69-69-138
to finish three strokes behind Kennedy. Corbett, playing in his second Junior
Match Play Championship, is the No. 2 seed. His opponent is No. 15 seed Robb
Kinder (72-73-145) of Quinton.
Funderburke, who started Wednesday’s play a
stroke behind Kennedy, added a 1-over 73 to his first-round 67 for a 140
aggregate. His opening opponent is Robert Dudek III (73-72-145) of
Williamsburg.
Taylor Hubbard of Aylett and Nick Rakes of
Evington, who opened with 3-over 75s, advanced to match play after each shot 69
to join Kennedy and Corbett with Wednesday’s best score.
Hubbard is the ninth seed and plays No. 8
seed Cullen Campbell (68-75-143) of Virginia Beach. Rakes is the 10th
seed and meets seventh-seeded Ben Cooper (70-73-143) of Richmond, who was the
medalist at U.S. Junior Amateur qualifying last week.
The match between No. 5 seed Quint
Dingledine (71-71-142) and Lee (73-71-144) rounds out the top bracket.
Sixth-seed Gerry Jones Jr. (70-73-143) of Suffolk and No. 11 Jimmy Taylor
(71-73-144) of Alexandria finish off the lower bracket.
Players with the same totals were seeded
based on a blind draw.
Kennedy, who won the VHSL Class 5 state
title as a freshman and was runner-up last fall, and Corbett were 7-under
through the front nine on Wednesday. Corbett shot a 4-under 32 to Kennedy’s
1-under 35.
“I was really feeling it on the front nine.
My putting was really good,” Corbett said.
Corbett got to 5-under for the day with a
birdie at No. 11, but gave two shots back with a double bogey at the par-5 14th. Kennedy birdied the 10th and 12th
holes on the back.
Being medalist “means a lot. There are so
many good players in this tournament,” Kennedy said. “I came in with the same
mental aspect that I came in with (Tuesday) just trying to throw up a good
number…the wetness probably helped. The greens Tuesday were as bouncy as they
could be. You would hit a pitching wedge and it would roll 10 or 15 feet. Today
you could somewhat stop it a little bit.”
Corbett’s plan on Wednesday was to make
pars, “knowing that if I just played solid golf I would have made it into match
play pretty easily,” he said. His front nine “definitely gave me some leeway
going into the back nine. I knew there were some tough driving holes on the
back so I had to stay focused.”
Kennedy’s strategy for match play is “not
to put up a big number. It’s that simple. Pars win in match play. That’s all it
is. If you throw up a couple birdies, that’s good.”
Meanwhile, Corbett said, “Honestly I don’t
know what to expect. I really like the course so I’m just going to go out and
try and drive it good and putt good which is what I’ve been doing the last two
days. It seems to be working pretty well.”
Brian Polinchock of Moseley and Cosby High
recorded the shot of the day, a hole-in-one on the par-3 10th hole.
He used a 7-iron for the second ace of his career.
Utley is a retired Richmond Times-Dispatch writer and frequent
contributor to VSGA championship coverage.