Virginia State Golf Association championships and events will resume on Monday, June 29, ending a more than three-month hiatus due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
At that time, VSGA Junior Golf Circuit events will resume, as will qualifiers and championships. VSGA One-Day Events, however, will not resume until the entire Commonwealth of Virginia is in Phase 3 of Governor Ralph Northam’s re-opening process.
The 107th VSGA Amateur Championship, which was originally scheduled to begin June 29 at River Bend Club in Great Falls, instead will be played Aug. 3-7 at River Bend with a field of 96 players. The Delta Dental State Open of Virginia is slated to go on as scheduled at Roanoke’s Ballyhack Golf Club from July 16-18, also with a 96-player field.
Exemptions have been expanded for both events. For the Amateur, the top 50 players from the final 2019 VSGA Player Rankings and all 32 match-play qualifiers from the 2019 championship will be exempt, as well as players who were previously exempt from qualifying. For the State Open, in addition to those that were previously exempt, the top 20 players from the final 2019 VSGA Player Rankings, as well as the top 15 amateurs from the 2019 State Open, will be added.
Qualifying will be held starting June 29 to fill the remaining spots for both championship fields. For a full list of qualifying sites, please visit this page.
“We are excited to get the season started with this schedule of qualifiers,” said VSGA Director of Championships and Golf Operations Josh Coates. “Even though we only have a couple weeks to conduct qualifying, we feel that it is important to provide everyone the opportunity to play their way into these championships rather than having a fully-exempt field or selection process. There will be fewer spots available compared to a normal year, but we are happy that each player at least has a chance.”
VSGA championships and events will operate with enhanced safety measures in place once play resumes. Click here for more information on those measures.
Other championships affected during the hiatus have been rescheduled for later in the year. Others have been canceled. The following championships in 2020 will not be rescheduled:
- 37th Virginia-West Virginia Team Matches (originally scheduled for April 18-19)
- 78th VSGA Club Championship (originally scheduled for April 27)
- 5th VSGA Women’s Four-Ball Championship (originally scheduled for May 16-17)
- 35th VSGA Senior Stroke Play Championship (originally scheduled for June 16-17)
- 30th VSGA Junior Match Play Championship (originally scheduled for June 16-19)
- 65th Virginias-Carolinas Women’s Matches (originally scheduled for July 6-8)
- VSGA Women’s Two-Person Scramble (scheduled for Sept. 28 at Jefferson Lakeside CC; VSGA Spencer-Wilkinson Benefit—originally scheduled for June 1 at Wintergreen Resort--will now be held at JLCC on that date).
Championships that have been rescheduled include:
- 38th VSGA Senior Four-Ball Championship (July 7-8, The Golden Horseshoe GC Gold, Williamsburg)
- VSGA Women’s Stroke Play Championships (Aug. 11-13, Kingsmill Resort River Course, Williamsburg)
- 2nd VSGA Multi-Format Team Championship (Aug. 25-26, The Dominion Club, Glen Allen)
- 7th MAPGA/VSGA Junior Four-Ball Championship (Aug. 29-30, Kingsmill Resort Plantation Course, Williamsburg)
- 35th VSGA Super Senior Stroke Play Championship (Sept. 2-3, Danville GC, Danville)
- 55th VSGA Four-Ball Championship (Oct. 17-18, Poplar Grove GC, Amherst)
The 68th VSGA Junior Stroke Play Championship will be held as scheduled July 28-30 at James River Country Club in Newport News, but qualifying will no longer be held for the event and the field will be expanded to 120 players.
The Virginia-Maryland Junior Girls’ Team Matches, scheduled for June, will not take place as scheduled but may be rescheduled. Decisions are still being made on the other interstate team events, including the Virginias-Carolinas Junior Boys’ Matches, Mid-Atlantic Junior Girls’ Challenge, the Captain’s Putter Matches and the Mid-Atlantic Junior Boys’ Invitational.
For more information and complete schedules, please visit the event registration website [icon name="external-link" class="" unprefixed_class=""].
Visit the highlighted links for more information on updated schedules for VSGA One-Day Events and VSGA Junior Golf Circuit events.
For more information on COVID-19, including general updates, governmental updates, Rules and Handicapping updates and updates from allied organizations, visit the VSGA’s COVID-19 resources page.