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By Chris Lang
WILLIAMSBURG – Bryan Lee is homeschooled, so he doesn’t have an opportunity to show
himself off to college coaches through traditional high school golf. High-level
performance in prestigious tournaments is crucially important to his future.
Lee, a 15 year old from Fairfax, undoubtedly
helped his cause this week at Williamsburg National Golf Club. He capped a
strong week with two victories on Friday, including a 4-and-2 win against
Alexandria’s Jimmy Taylor in the title match of the 29th Virginia
State Golf Association Junior Match Play Championship.
Lee won his second VSGA title, having
nabbed the 12-13 division title at the VSGA Youth Championship two years ago at
Fredericksburg Country Club. This one certainly holds a bit more cachet,
though. He navigated a field that started with 120 players and included six
high-school state champions to come out on top.
“I know there are some very accomplished
players before me that have won this tournament,” Lee said. “This is definitely
at the top of my list as far as achievements go. I’m glad I won this, and I
think this gives me a lot of confidence going into some of the tournaments I
have the next couple of months.”
Lee plays a schedule heavy with VSGA and
American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) events to try to showcase his skills,
and though he earned an exemption into next week’s VSGA Amateur at Keswick with
the victory, he’ll head to Arkansas Saturday to play in an AJGA tournament to
which he had previously committed. He’s not concerned about a lack of
visibility during the traditional high-school recruiting season.
“Since I’m homeschooled, I have a lot more
time to work on golf,” he said. “This is actually my fourth week in a row
playing—I had three AJGAs before this and I’m going to an AJGA tomorrow. I’m
not that worried. I try to contact as many coaches as I can, and I know they
come out to watch me sometimes. I’m grateful for that. I have to wait until
June of my sophomore year (2020) to actually start talking to them. It’s not
high school golf for me, but I made the decision to play a lot more bigger
tournaments instead.”
He showed plenty of skill at Williamsburg National
this week, and on Friday, both of his matches ended on the 16th
green of the club’s Jamestown Course. Lee defeated Virginia Beach’s Cullen
Campbell 3 and 2 in the semifinals before jumping to an early edge against
Taylor in the championship match.
Taylor, who will begin his William and Mary
golf career later this summer, survived two extra-holes matches in Thursday’s
semifinals to advance to Friday, and he was determined not to go the distance
again in his semifinal. He jumped on Quinton’s Robb Kinder early and cruised to
a 6-and-5 victory, giving him a little rest as he waited for the result of the other
semifinal.
Taylor (Belle Haven CC) won the first hole
in the title match, but Lee (VSGA Junior Golf Circuit) took over after that,
winning the next five holes to take a 4-up lead through six holes. Lee held a
lead of at least 3-up throughout the rest of the match and closed it out on 16
when Taylor missed a par putt and then conceded Lee’s ensuing kick-in par.
“It’s tough. I tried to come back a little
bit,” Taylor said. “I’d win a hole, and then on the next hole, I’d kind of give
it right back. I had a couple of chances to claw back, but I really didn’t take
that good of advantage of them. But Bryan played well.”
For Taylor, this week proved to be a
confidence boost. He’ll head to Keswick next week for the Amateur, hoping to
continue his strong play against Virginia’s top amateurs.
“It feels good,” he said. “I’ll try to
touch up some things this weekend, but going into the Amateur, I feel good.
Hopefully, I’ll be able to do more of the same. Definitely, this gives me some
confidence going forward.”
Lee was second in stroke-play qualifying at
last year’s Junior Match Play at Richmond Country Club but lost in the first
round of match play. He learned a lot from that experience and came back
stronger from it, and after winning both a Youth title and a Junior Match Play
title in the last three years, he cemented the notion that he’ll be a name
worth watching in Virginia junior circles for the next three years. He’s exempt
from qualifying for the VSGA Junior Stroke Play Championship for the rest of
his junior eligibility.
“It’s just hard work paying off,” Lee said.
“This year, I got off to a better start. I was definitely more relaxed
throughout my rounds. I just played some better golf.”
Lang is the editor of Virginia Golfer magazine and the VSGA’s manager,
digital media.