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By Chris Lang
VIENNA — As Buddy Patch has gotten closer to retirement age, his workload has decreased, leading to a natural increase in time spent practicing golf.
On a day on which only seven players broke par at Westwood Country Club, Patch posted the best opening round at the 73rd Virginia State Golf Association Senior Amateur Championship, returning a 3-under par 68 Tuesday to take a one-stroke lead.
Patch, who lives in Fairfax Station and is a member at Springfield Golf & Country Club, was one stroke better than fellow Northern Virginian Mike Howell (International CC) and two-time Senior Open of Virginia champion Buck Brittain of Tazewell (The Virginian GC).
The second round of stroke-play qualifying will be held Wednesday, and the top 32 players will advance to match play, which begins Thursday at Westwood with the rounds of 32 and 16. The quarterfinals and semifinals are scheduled for Friday, with the 18-hole championship match scheduled for Saturday morning.
Patch finished with four birdies and a bogey on Tuesday, with the key swing coming on the front nine. After making his lone bogey on No. 5, he made back-to-back birdies on Nos. 7 and 8 to turn at 2 under. He added another birdie on No. 11 and finished his round with seven straight pars.
“The putter was good to me today,” Patch said. “I was able to get home on a couple of par 5s and make some easy birdies. My iron play was great. It was pretty straightforward and pretty stress free out there.”
Patch, who qualified for last year’s U.S. Senior Amateur Championship, said he’s been able to spend a lot more time practicing this year than in years past, a big reason why his game was in great shape heading into the championship.
“I’ve been playing three or four days a week, and for the first time in my life, I’ve actually been able to spend six days a week chipping and putting and working on my iron game,” Patch said. “I’ve been spending a lot of time down at Kiawah Island, playing extremely difficult courses, and it’s really sharpened my iron play.”
Howell posted a bogey-free round on Tuesday, opening both nines with birdies. Brittain made one bogey, on No. 7, but rebounded with a birdie on the par-5 8th. He finished with three birdies and the one bogey.
Four players are tied for fourth after shooting 1-under-par 70s on Tuesday—past Senior Amateur champions Keith Decker (Ballyhack GC) and Steve Serrao (Willow Oaks CC), along with past U.S. Senior Amateur finalist Matt Sughrue (Trump National GC) and Richmond’s Mark Alonzi (Stonehenge G&CC).
Alonzi was one of three players to make eagle on the short par-5 11th. The others were University of Virginia men’s golf coach Bowen Sargent (Birdwood GC) and Scott Pultz (Loudoun G&CC).
Ashburn’s Jon Zampedro (Fort Belvoir GC) and Stafford’s Chris Robb (Augustine GC) returned even-par rounds of 71 and are tied for eighth.
If necessary, a sudden-death playoff will be utilized to determine the final match-play spots. Heading into the second round, 2018 champion Cam Young (Independence GC) is among those hovering around the cut line after posting a 4-over 75. Young and four others enter Wednesday tied for 30th, with five more players behind them at 5-over 76.
Lang is the VSGA’s manager of media and communications.