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By Chris Lang
HOT SPRINGS – Two-time Senior Open of Virginia
champion Buck Brittain of Tazewell posted a 3-under-par 67 on Monday at The
Omni Homestead Resort’s Cascades Course to set the pace during stroke-play
qualifying at the 72nd Virginia State Golf Association Senior
Amateur Championship.
Brittain (The Virginian GC) was one of only three players in
the 84-player starting field to return an under-par score on Monday.
Martinsville’s Keith Decker (Chatmoss CC) and Richmond’s Steve Serrao (Willow
Oaks GC) signed for 1-under-par 69s. Gainesville’s Rich Buckner (Robert Trent
Jones GC) posted an even-par 70.
The championship for players ages 50 and older continues
Tuesday with the second-round of stroke-play qualifying. Due to predicted
inclement weather later in the afternoon, starting times will begin off Nos. 1
and 10 at 8:30 a.m. The top 32 players after Tuesday’s round will advance to
match play, which begins Wednesday with round of 32 and round of 16 matches.
The quarterfinal and semifinal rounds are scheduled for
Thursday, with the 18-hole championship match slated for Friday morning.
The assembled field had a difficult time solving the
venerable Cascades track, which has hosted numerous VSGA and USGA championships.
Brittain, who earned both VSGA men’s and senior men’s player of the year honors
in 2018, worked around two bogeys and posted five birdies for his 3-under
round. He was 1 over for the round through four holes before making birdie on
No. 5. He added birdies on Nos. 7 and 8 before bogeying No. 9 to turn at 1
under.
Brittain played his inward nine bogey free, making birdies
at Nos. 12 and 17 to post the score of the day.
Decker, a member of the Virginia Golf Hall of Fame and a
28-time VSGA champion, won the third of his three senior Amateur titles the
last time the event was staged at the Cascades in 2016. He left himself in fine
shape for a good match-play seed with his eventful 1-under round that featured
five birdies and four bogeys.
Serrao, part of the winning side at last year’s VSGA Senior
Four-Ball Championship, made three birdies and added an eagle on the par-4 14th
hole to finish at 69.
Buckner, the 2017 VSGA Senior Amateur champion and a
finalist at the 2016 Senior Am at the Cascades, started hot on Monday, making
birdie on his first two holes before cooling off. He made bogeys at Nos. 4, 9
and 14 but recouped a stroke with a birdie at No. 17 to finish level.
Midlothian’s Scott Reisenweaver (Salisbury CC) is fifth
after posting 71. Manassas’ Jeffrey Klatt (Medal of Honor GC), Quinton’s John
Kinder (VSGA eClub Richmond) and Midlothian’s Robert Nussey (Brandermill CC)
are tied for sixth after shooting 72. Klatt and Kinder are first-time
participants in this event. Klatt turned 50 last month and Kinder reached the
required eligibility age last October. Nussey was part of the winning side at
this year’s VSGA Senior Four-Ball Championship.
Cam Young, the 2018 Senior Amateur champion, is not
participating this week, having struggled all year with a nagging injury. The
man Young beat in last year’s championship match, Mark Boedicker, struggled to
a 10-over 80 on Monday and will need to rally to reach match play for a second
straight year. It can be done. In 2017, Buckner shot 81 in the first round before
posting a 69 in the second round and making a run to the title.
Virginia Beach’s Roger Newsom, who qualified for both the
U.S. Senior Open and U.S. Senior Amateur, returned 74 Monday. Past champion
David Partridge of Manakin-Sabot shot 77. David Jordan, champion of this year’s
VSGA Senior Stroke Play Championship, struggled to an 81. Pat Tallent, past
winner of both the U.S. Senior Amateur and British Senior Amateur, withdrew
from the competition.
Lang is the editor of
Virginia Golfer magazine and the VSGA’s manager, digital media.