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By Chris Lang
VIENNA — Defending champion Steve Serrao wasn’t sure how hard he wanted to push for stroke-play medalist honors at the 73rd Virginia State Golf Association Senior Amateur Championship. Once the pairings were announced for Wednesday’s second round at Westwood Country Club, though, he had little choice in the matter. He was playing with three-time champion Keith Decker.
“I had Decker with me, and he was pushing it,” Serrao said. “So, I was pushing too.”
Serrao posted a sensational 7-under-par 64 Wednesday to earn the top seed for match play, claiming the medal by three strokes over Decker, a 30-time VSGA champion. Serrao finished qualifying with a two-day aggregate 134 and will open match play Thursday morning against either Sean Peenstra, David Forsythe or Gordon Shelton, who will compete in a sudden-death playoff for the No. 32 seed. That playoff will be held starting at 7 a.m. Thursday, with the rest of match play slated to start at 7:30.
The medalist has lost in the first round of match play in two of the last three years, including in 2019 at The Homestead when Phil Mahone beat Buck Brittain to jumpstart a run to the semifinals. Serrao (Willow Oaks CC) is keenly aware that the top seed guarantees nothing once the format changes to match play.
“I don’t take anything for granted,” said Serrao, who lives in Midlothian. “Any one of those 32 guys can beat me, I know that for a fact.”
Arlington’s Matt Sughrue (Trump National GC, Washington DC) posted a two-day 138 to finish third, and Tazewell’s Brittain (The Virginian GC) shot 140 to take fourth. Fairfax Station’s Buddy Patch, the 18-hole leader, shot 73 on Wednesday to finish qualifying in a tie for fifth with Stafford’s Chris Robb at 141.
The rounds of 32 and 16 are scheduled for Thursday. The quarterfinals and semifinals are set for Friday, with the 18-hole championship match slated for Saturday morning.
Serrao got off to a sizzling start on Wednesday, posting a 5-under 31 on the front that included birdies on 3, 4, 5, 8 and 9.
“On the third hole, I knocked it over the green long and hit a difficult chip and it went perfectly in the hole,” Serrao said. “Next hole, I made a 25 footer for birdie. Then I hit it close on 5, had a nice little two-putt birdie on 8 and hit it close on nine. That was a great front nine.”
Serrao made eagle on 11, and that’s about when Decker started to hit the gas, making four birdies in a five-hole stretch, inspiring Serrao to keep up.
Other notable players to advance to match play included Tim Vigotsky, last year’s VSGA Super Senior Player of the Year; Jon Hurst, a two-time VSGA Mid-Amateur champion; Bowen Sargent, the University of Virginia’s men’s golf coach; Rich Buckner, the 2017 VSGA Senior Amateur champion; Steve’s brother Jay Serrao; and both halves of last year’s winning VSGA Senior Four-Ball Championship side, Bob Bailey and Robert Nussey Jr.
If Serrao learned anything from last year’s run at The Homestead, which culminated in a 19-hole victory over Dave Pulk in the final match, it’s that it’s smart to reset mentally after every match.
“I just know how hard it is,” Serrao said. “You win a match, and you’ve got to start all over again. And golf’s a hard sport. At any point in time you can start making some mistakes. … I’ve just got to keep hitting fairways, like I’ve been doing. I’ve been hitting my driver pretty well. If I keep doing that, it will lead to some good things, I hope.”
Lang is the VSGA’s manager of media and communications.