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By Chris Lang
KILMARNOCK – After the conclusion of 18 holes of
stroke-play qualifying on Tuesday at Indian Creek Yacht & Country Club, the
match-play fields for the 4th Virginia State Golf Association
Mid-Senior Amateur Championship and 25th VSGA Super Senior Amateur
Championship are set.
Mark Boedicker
(Great Falls) and Dave Pulk (Williamsburg) tied for medalist honors in the
Mid-Senior Amateur, which is for players ages 60-64. Each player returned
rounds of 3-under-par 69, and Boedicker earned the top seed for match play
after a blind draw of cards following the round.
The Super Senior
Amateur features three age divisions—65-69, 70-74 and 75-plus. Arlington’s Lynn
Wessman was the medalist in the 65-69 division, shooting a 2-under par 70. In
the 70-74 division, Richmond’s John Cuomo and Glen Allen’s John Casstevens each
returned rounds of 1-over 73 to tie for medalist honors, with Casstevens
earning the top seed in match play after a blind draw of cards. In the 75-plus
age division, Lancaster’s Harold Guy shot 76 to earn medalist honors.
4th VSGA Mid-Senior Amateur
Championships
Both Pulk and
Boedicker have found success in match play in recent years, as each reached the
final of the VSGA Senior Amateur. Pulk, a two-time Senior Open of Virginia
winner, was a finalist this year, falling to Steve Serrao at The Homestead’s
Cascades Course. Boedicker was a 2018 finalist and lost to Cam Young in the
final at The Golden Horseshoe.
Boedicker was 1
over through three holes but jumpstarted his round with back-to-back birdies on
Nos. 4 and 5. He played the rest of his round bogey free and added birdies at
No. 13 and 14 to return 69.
Pulk, who won this
year’s Senior Open at Independence last month, finished with five birdies and
two bogeys, including a 5 on the par-4 18th that dropped him into a
tie for medalist honors.
Those two finished
a stroke clear of Virginia Beach’s Skip Zobel, who made five birdies and three
bogeys to shoot 70. Virginia Beach’s Jeffrey Flax shot a 1-under 71 to finish
fourth.
Defending champion
David Partridge of Manakin will be the No. 5 seed and open match play Wednesday
against Flax after shooting an even-par 72. Richmond’s Mark Alonzi also shot 72
and will face Zobel.
Five-time VSGA
champion Allen Barber of Yorktown shot 74 to claim one of the final two
match-play spots. He’ll meet Pulk Wednesday morning. Midlothian’s Joe Coates also
posted a 74 and will meet Boedicker in match play.
Super Senior Amateur (65-69)
Wessman’s 70 was
two strokes clear of defending champion Dayton Slater of Richmond, setting up a
quarterfinal matchup on Wednesday with Mechanicsville’s Bert Wilson, who shot
77 to tie Henrico’s Leon Roday for the final match-play spot.
Wessman opened his
round with a bogey on the par-4 1st hole but settled down after
that, making seven straight pars. He got hot around the turn, carding three
straight birdies starting at No. 9 before finishing his round with another
seven-par run.
Slater shot an
even-par 72 with three birdies, but he was undone by a costly double bogey on
the par-5 10th hole. He’ll get a crack at past Mid-Senior Amateur
champion Roday in Wednesday’s quarterfinals.
Reedville’s Bob
Gillispie returned a 1-over 73 to earn the No. 3 seed, and he’ll face the champion
of the inaugural Mid-Senior Amateur, McLean’s George Kapetanakis, in the
quarters. Kapetanakis shot 75 to tie with Jim Woodson for fifth, with most of
the damage coming on one-hole, a quadruple bogey on the par-4 17th.
The final
quarterfinal match features Centreville’s Tim Vigotsky and Woodson. Vigotsky
returned a 2-over 74 on Tuesday, finishing with two birdies and four bogeys.
Super Senior Amateur (70-74)
Richmond’s John
Cuomo won the 65-69 age division of this championship in 2013, and he put
himself in strong position to add another title to his mantle on Tuesday with
his 73. Casstevens, a 65-69 finalist in 2010, also shot 73 and has a chance at
earning his first VSGA individual title.
Casstevens will
open match play against Virginia Beach’s Worth Banner, who shot 81 on Tuesday
to finish alone in eighth, a shot clear of Gilbert Zimmerman. Cuomo will face
off against Herndon’s Ray D’Amore in another quarterfinal. D’Amore carded an 80
to tie for sixth with Dillwyn’s Terry Towler.
Towler will open
match play against Midlothian’s Jim Hudson, who tied for third with defending
champion Mike Brown of Clifton after each shot 76. Brown will face fifth seed
Ronald Janicki of Woodbridge.
Casstevens finished
with four birdies, three bogeys and a double bogey during his round. Cuomo had
a similar round, finishing with three birdies, two bogeys and a double.
Super Senior Amateur (75+)
The only past VSGA
champion remaining in the 75-plus group is Virginia Beach’s George Owens, who
was one of three players to finish at 77, one shot behind Guy, the medalist.
After the blind draw of cards, Owens received the No. 4 seed and will face Guy
on Wednesday.
The other semifinal
features Staunton’s Joe Cochran, a finalist in last year’s 75-plus division,
against McLean’s David A. Stewart.
Guy opened his
round with two straight birdies, and that was enough for him to hold on for the
one-stroke edge in stroke play. The group at 77 finished a shot ahead of Donald
Meyer, who was even at the turn but opened his back nine with four straight
bogeys.
Owens won the Super
Senior Amateur’s 65-69 division in 2011, defeating Tony Aguiar. He’s reached
two other finals in the event falling in the 65-69 group in 2012 and the 70-74
group in 2014.
Chris Lang is the
Editor of Virginia Golfer magazine and the VSGA’s manager, digital media.