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By Arthur Utley
GLEN ALLEN – First-round leader Steve Serrao has company
at the top and a bevy of the commonwealth’s leading players chasing them after
36 holes of the 43rd Virginia State Golf Association Mid-Amateur
Championship at The Dominion Club.
Serrao’s 5-under was
the only under par score returned in Friday’s first round. That number grew to
16 on Saturday. Players had to go low to stay in contention.
Serrao (Midlothian,
Willow Oaks CC) has an 8-under aggregate of 136 through 36 holes after shooting
3-under 69 on Saturday. He shares the lead with Marshall Tinsley (Forest,
Winton CC), who posted a tournament- best score of 6-under 66 to go along with
an opening 70.
The two are two
strokes clear of Jordan Utley (Midlothian, Hermitage CC) and Kyle Martin (Newport
News, Cedar Point CC). Each shot 5-under 67 for two-day totals of 6-under 138.
Another stroke back
at 139 after shooting 3-under 69 is Jon Hurst (Fredericksburg, Fredericksburg
CC), who won back-to-back VSGA Mid-Amateur titles in 2013-14.
Five players trail
by four at 140: reigning Senior State Open champion Dave Pulk (Williamsburg,
Two Rivers CC); Dustin Groves (Charlottesville, Glenmore CC); new father Harold
Dill (Ashburn, South Riding GC); John Rosenstock (Richmond, Stonehenge
G&CC); and Chase Bailey (Roanoke, Hanging Rock GC).
Matt Paciocco (Glen
Allen, Richmond CC) and Harry Nodwell (Newport News, Cedar Point CC) are five
back at 3-under 141.
Dill and Bailey shot
67, Groves and Paciocco 68, Pulk and Rosenstock 70 and Nodwell 71.
Dill and Martin tied
for runner-up in this event a year ago. Rosenstock shared runner-up in 2017;
and Utley finished second in 2016.
The other players to
shoot under par scores Saturday were Ted Dougherty (Mechanicsville, The Foundry,
75-69); past champion and runner-up Justin Young (Salem, Ballyhack, 73-70);
Jeff Spears (Henrico, The Federal Club, 75-70) and Adam Houck (Richmond, The
Federal Club, 77-70).
Tinsley made the
move of the day by going bogey free, playing the front-nine par-5s in 3-under
and finishing the round with three consecutive birdies.
“My goal today was
make a birdie on 11 through 18 cause I didn’t make any [Friday],” Tinsley said.
“It was fun today. I tried to stay within a shout (of Serrao). I played pretty
good so I gave myself a chance tomorrow.”
Serrao, the reigning
VSGA Senior Amateur champion and paired with Tinsley, logged six birdies
against three bogeys.
“I made six birdies.
If I can do that again I’ll take whatever happens. You can’t do much better
than that. I had a couple of three putts. I played pretty solid,” Serrao said.
Three-putt bogeys
were the majority of the mistakes among the contenders.
“The greens are fast
enough that you are going to end up with a bunch of three footers. They’ve had
to keep them soft because it’s been so hot. They’re a little bumpy, but they
are rolling great so they’re going to roll out at the end and then you have a
three- or four-footer coming back. That’s what happens,” Serrao said.
Utley and Martin
were in the same foursome. Utley, who had 17 pars and a birdie in an opening
71, recorded seven birdies and two bogeys on Saturday. Martin was 1-over for
the day at the turn but turned in a 6-under 30 on the inward nine with four
birdies and a finishing eagle on the par-5 18th.
Utley thought he
needed to be in the 60s in the second round “with Steve playing good and
showing no signs of coming back. You had to attack from the start,” he said.
“The greens are good; the conditions are favorable to scoring. You’re hitting a
lot of short irons in so you’ve got to attack and be aggressive. If you don’t
make putts, you can’t keep up. You can’t go backward. There are too many good
players chomping at the bit.”
Martin said he shot
30 on the back because “I forgot what I was actually doing on the back. I lost
track of what was happening which means I’m playing well. I saw Steve was
playing well so there was nothing to wait for. I just went for it after a
pretty lazy mediocre front.”
Bailey didn’t have a
score in mind when he set out in the second round after 73 in Friday’s opener.
“I just figured I
needed to go out and post a good score to get back in contention. I know Steve
has been playing some really good golf. I thought 68 or 69 would put me right
where I need to be going into Sunday, but I’ll take 67,” Bailey said.
Groves got to
5-under for the day, but three three-putts coming home set him back. His
intention for Sunday is to play like he did Saturday but make the putts.
“If you drive it
well here, it’s a cakewalk. You’ve got to drive it and not three-putt,” he
said.
Dill has been a
father for 13 days. He hasn’t gotten much sleep. His son’s name is Kevin Jr.
and the senior Dill identified his golf ball with a KD.
Dill started out
bogey, bogey but wound up with seven birdies.
“I thought: quit
stressing; have a good time; that’s why you’re here…and I just started getting
in my groove, lighting it up and just had an absolute blast,” Dill said. “So no
expectations…Did everything really well today and caught some great breaks. I
came in second last year to Buck (Brittain) so I would like to make a comeback
and get some redemption.
Arthur Utley is a
retired Richmond Times-Dispatch staff writer and frequent contributor to VSGA
championship coverage.