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By Chris Lang
ROANOKE — Mark Lawrence Jr. and Jack Montague grew up together playing
golf at Hermitage Country Club outside of Richmond. Those friendly matches at
Hermitage never had stakes as high as they were on a sizzling Saturday
afternoon at Ballyhack Golf Club.
Both players had come from back
in the pack after those in the lead after two rounds of the Delta Dental State
Open of Virginia faltered. Suddenly, they found themselves on the elevated 18th
tee in a sudden-death playoff, the Farmington Cup on the line.
Montague, a 20-year-old sophomore
who plays for the University of Virginia, rose to the task, finding the fairway
off the tee, the green in regulation and barely missing a birdie putt that
would have secured the victory. Instead, he waited anxiously as Lawrence’s par
putt rolled past the hole, giving Montague the victory and the right to hoist
the Farmington Cup.
Montague’s win snapped an
eight-year drought for amateurs at the event, as he became the first to claim
the trophy since Roger Newsom won at Independence Golf Club in 2011.
Afterward, the enormity of the
moment was still setting in.
“This is awesome, definitely the
biggest win of my career so far,” Montague said. “Especially, after my first
day, shooting 2 over, to come back Friday and Saturday and play as well as I
did, it’s awesome. It feels really good. It hasn’t sunk in. But I’m sure it
will.”
Montague rebounded from an
opening-round 74 with a pair of 66s for a three-day 206. That was one shot
better than Haymarket amateur Scott Shingler, Forest amateur and Liberty
University golfer Isaac Simmons, and PGA professional Josh Speight. Shingler
and Speight—who earned the Lyn Luck Trophy as the low professional--were in the
final group and had multiple chances to seize control of the tournament.
Instead it was Montague, who was in the fourth-to-last group of the day who got
going early and hung around enough to sneak into a playoff.
Early on, Montague and Simmons set
the tone for the day by going on a birdie binge. Simmons birdied the first four
holes; Montague four of the first five. Both quickly worked themselves back
into the title hunt.
“Isaac and I are really close
friends, and we play with each other a lot outside of (competitive events),”
Montague said. “To get off to the starts that we did, it was fun. I was
definitely feeding off him, for sure. He was close on every hole. It’s a lot
easier to play when you’re seeing good shots from your playing partners.”
Montague made just one bogey—on the
par-5 10th—but rallied with three more birdies before closing with a
par on 18 to get to 10 under. Then, he waited in the clubhouse as the drama
unfolded on Ballyhack’s difficult closing stretch.
Speight was 12 under for the
tournament through 12 holes, but he began leaking oil on the par-3 13th.
He hit his drive left of the green into a bunker and failed to get up and down,
settling for bogey. On 14, he found himself on the wrong quadrant of the green,
meaning he had to navigate a tricky downslope to give himself a chance at par.
After a three-putt and a bogey there, he was back to 10 under.
On 15, he nearly made birdie,
but his 8-footer lipped out, leaving him with a par. He missed reasonable
birdie chances on 16 and 17. On 18, he mishit his approach, leaving him short
of the green. He chipped up to leave himself about 15 feet for par to join the
playoff, but his putt there lipped out as well, leaving the two amateurs to vie
for the title.
“I just misread every single
putt out there on the back nine,” Speight said. “I had good putts on every
hole, but I just misread every one of them.”
Shingler had chances to join the
playoff as well. He missed a short birdie putt on 17 and about an 18-foot
birdie chance on 18, leaving him stalled at 9 under.
In the playoff, Montague found
the fairway with his drive. Lawrence, a rising Virginia Tech senior who has
battled recent struggles with his driver and 3-wood, chose a driving iron off
the tee but pushed it left into the grassy hillside. His second shot ended up
near a bunker short of the green. Montague was already on the green in two-putt
territory, and Lawrence knew he had to get up and down to extend the playoff.
Lawrence’s third shot ended up
15 feet behind the hole, and he was unable to convert the putt. Lawrence lost
in a State Open playoff for the second time in the last five years.
“It sucks to lose, but I couldn’t
be happier for Jack,” Lawrence said. “He’s a great dude, and I’m so happy he
could get this win.”
The victory comes at a pivotal
time for Montague, who is set to begin his second season with the Cavaliers.
“It’s a big confidence booster
for sure,” Montague said. “I feel like I’ve been pretty close to playing good
golf a couple of times this summer. It’s just been a few things here or there.
This week, it all kind of came together. It just shows me that I can compete. I’m
real excited about it.”
Chris Lang is the Editor of Virginia Golfer Magazine and Manager,
Digital Media for the VSGA. The Delta Dental State Open of Virginia is
conducted jointly by the VSGA and the Middle Atlantic PGA.