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By Matty Madden
WILLIAMSBURG — Thunderstorms throughout the afternoon Wednesday at Kingsmill Resort’s River Course forced the suspension of play at the 43rd Virginia State Golf Association Women’s Stroke Play Championships. With nine players left on the course, Virginia Tech’s Emily Mahar (Pete Dye River Course of VT) was at even par and held a one-stroke lead over defending champion Lauren Greenlief (International CC).
The final three groups of the afternoon each made it through 16 holes before play was suspended. Play will be completed Thursday before the start of the third and final round of the 54-hole championship.
At the 23rd VSGA Senior Women’s Stroke Play Championship, Williamsburg’s own Virginia Wells (Williamsburg GC) and Alexandria’s Shawn McCullough (Mount Vernon CC) stood tall after round one, as both posted a 7-over-par 78 to take the lead.
Wells, the Director of Medical Services at William and Mary, credited her strong performance to her drivers and fairway shots, saying, “My drivers were also really good today, which was key. I was able to stay on the fairway, which I thought was key.”
On her approach to the second round tomorrow, Wells said, “I’m going to try to putt better tomorrow, I missed a lot of putts today. I’ll just try to stay in the fairway and convert on more putts, I missed a lot of chances for birdie because of that.”
McCullough helped Mount Vernon Country Club to victory in the 72nd VSGA Women’s State Team Matches in 2018 and is surely looking to add some hardware to her collection this year. Standing tied with Wells for first, McCullough says her approach shots were key to her low score today.
“My second shots were good, my drives were in the middle, it was just a good day,” said McCullough. “I had probably eight putts under 10 feet that I missed, so if I can convert more of those tomorrow and be a bit firmer with my putter, I feel like I can take a few strokes off.”
McCullough also said Kingsmill River Course is very difficult and that she was trying to not even think about her score and instead just focused on getting to the middle of the fairway and making strong approach shots. The second and final round will take place Thursday morning.
3rd VSGA Super Senior Women’s Stroke Play Championship
After finishing second to Boodie McGurn last year, Salem’s Dot Bolling returned with a vengeance, holding a commanding seven-stroke lead after posting a 5-over-par 76. Bolling’s 76 is her best performance ever at the Super Senior Women’s Stroke Play, three strokes lower than her day-one score in 2018, when she won the tournament.
“I putted well and drove the ball pretty well, and got up and down a few times,” said Bolling. As for the second round, Bolling says she feels relaxed and is confident that her score will hold up.
Behind Bolling is Colleen Robertson, who finished the day with a 12-over-par 83, and Tillie Aguiar, who had a 14-over-par 85. Those three top the leaderboard heading into the second and final round Thursday.
Matty Madden is a P.J. Boatwright intern for the VSGA.