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By Chris Lang
NELLYSFORD — Army Navy Country Club is about to have company in the record book at the Virginia State Golf Association Women’s State Team Matches.
The northern Virginia club won its 15th championship in the event in 1996, but since then, the Country Club of Virginia and Mount Vernon Country Club have steadily moved up the all-time wins list. To the surprise of very few, one of those two clubs will win its 15th title on Thursday to tie Army Navy’s longtime record.
In the 74th playing of the event, CCV and Mount Vernon each posted comfortable semifinal victories on Wednesday at Devils Knob Golf Course at Wintergreen Resort. Top-seeded CCV defeated fellow Richmond-area opponent Hermitage Country Club 31-23, while Mount Vernon defeated Alexandria neighbor Belle Haven Country Club 30½-23½ in the other semifinal.
CCV and Mount Vernon will meet for the seventh straight year, six of those showdowns coming in the finals. They’ve held a stranglehold on the title for more than a decade now, with one of the two claiming the title every year since 2006, save for 2011 when Portsmouth’s Elizabeth Manor won the championship.
“We just can’t wait,” Mount Vernon captain Joan Gardner said. “It’s just such a wonderful rivalry. … With what our two clubs have been able to do in this event the last several years, it’s just great. And we love the competition, as I know they do.”
In the format, each club is comprised of three two-player teams with each hole worth a single point for 54 points total.
Gardner was part of Mount Vernon’s most impressive side on Wednesday. She and Linda DiVall rolled to a 12-6 win over Belle Haven’s Kay Tyler and Kassi Saridakis, providing needed separation. Mount Vernon’s Debbie Simpson and Susan Podolsky topped Maria Kirby and Mary Yarbrough 11-7, and Belle Haven secured its lone win when Mimi Hoffman and Lauren Davis defeated Mount Vernon’s Shawn McCullough and Diane Willkens 10½-7½.
“Both of us came through at the right spots,” Gardner said of her win with DiVall. “In terms of teaming, unfortunately, one of us might have been out of the hole but the other one was right there. So that’s where we were able to team well. It was just being steady for each other when one of us was out of it.”
Wednesday was the first day that event participants were able to tour the full Devils Knob layout. Tuesday’s stroke-play qualifying round was canceled after heavy fog in the Nelson County mountains made it nearly impossible to track the ball on several holes. Clubs were flighted and seeded based on handicap for Wednesday’s semifinal round.
“We were joking about how it was really the golf course that won today,” Gardner said. “Despite the yardage we were playing, it was playing difficult with the wet conditions and the heavy rough and the interesting greens. So it was really as much playing this golf course as it was playing our opponent. That’s something you have to keep reminding yourself.”
CCV used a dominant performance from its ‘B’ team to secure its victory. Cheryl Grigg and Liza Lewis cruised past Hermitage’s Maggie Balch and Jeanne Sobol 12½-5½. The margin of victory proved huge considering the state of the other matches. Natalie Easterly and Brenda Baril tied with Hermitage’s Bonnie Shelhorse and Cynthia Hollingshead 9-9, and CCV captain Boodie McGurn and Lindsay Wortham squeaked by Maria Humphrey and Pamela Luse 9½- 8½.
“They were great,” McGurn said of Grigg and Lewis. “Liza, she hits it a ton, and she seemed to be on. I saw Cheryl chip in for birdie on one hole. I think they just had good karma going. I expected them to win, sure, but not by that much.”
As for another meeting with Mount Vernon, it’s what the CCV team lives for when it signs up for this event.
“This is the matchup we definitely hoped for,” McGurn said. “And I think Mount Vernon feels the same. It’ll be interesting. We have 14. They have 14. Tomorrow, we’ll break the tie. It’ll be a lot of fun.”
The Women’s State Team Matches also features action in three non-championship flights. In the first flight final Thursday, Spotsylvania’s Fawn Lake Country Club will meet Midlothian’s Brandermill Country Club. The Piedmont Club (Haymarket) and The Dominion Club (Glen Allen) will square off in the second-flight final, and Belmont Ladies Golf Association and James River Country Club of Newport News advanced to the third flight final.
Lang is the VSGA’s manager of media and communications.
74th VSGA Women’s State Team Matches
At Wintergreen Resort Devils Knob Golf Course, Nellysford
Wednesday’s semifinal matches
Championship flight
#1 CC of Virginia def. #4 Hermitage CC, 31-23
#2 Mount Vernon CC def. #3 Belle Haven CC, 30½-23½
First flight
#1 Fawn Lake CC def. #4 The GC at the Highlands, 28½- 25½
#3 Brandermill CC def. #2 River Creek Club, 28-26
Second flight
#1 The Piedmont Club def. #4 Willow Oaks CC, 29½-24½
#2 The Dominion Club def. #3 Ivy Hill GC, 33½-20½
Third flight
#1 Belmont Ladies Golf Association def. #4 Wintergreen Resort, 37-17
#3 James River CC def. #2 Greenbrier CC, 30½-23½
Thursday’s championship matches
Championship flight
#1 CC of Virginia vs. #2 Mount Vernon CC
First flight
#1 Fawn Lake CC vs. #3 Brandermill CC
Second flight
#1 The Piedmont Club vs. #2 The Dominion Club
Third flight
#1 Belmont Ladies Golf Association vs. #3 James River CC