By Chris Lang
MIDLOTHIAN — Two relative newcomers to the senior golf scene share the lead after the first round of the 15th Senior Open of Virginia.
Maryland professional Sean English and Fredericksburg amateur Jon Hurst each returned rounds of 3-under-par 69 on Monday at Independence Golf Club, one shot better than two-time champion Buck Brittain of Tazewell, Matt Sughrue of Arlington and defending champion Dave Pulk of Williamsburg.
The second and final round of the championship will be held Tuesday at Independence, with the co-leaders going off in the final pairing at 2:09 p.m.
English, a professional from The Elkridge Club outside of Baltimore, turned 50 in August. Hurst, a member at Fredericksburg Country Club, recently turned 51 and is completing his first full year of senior golf. Both managed to tame a tricky Independence layout on Monday to share the lead.
Hurst, a two-time winner of the Virginia State Golf Association Mid-Amateur Championship, made the turn at 1 under after a front nine featuring eight pars and a birdie. After making birdie on the par-4 10th, he hit a rough patch, making bogey on No. 11 and a double bogey on No. 12 after he “cold topped” his drive.
Hurst quickly recovered, making birdie on the 13th, 14th and 15th to get back under par. He added another birdie on No. 17.
“I don’t usually do a very good job of that,” Hurst said of quickly recovering from the awful shot on 12. “I don’t know what was different about today. It is what is. It was a fluke. I just tried to put it past me because there was nothing I could do about it. Typically, I’m not good at that. I think birdieing the next hole right away, that helped.”
Most of English’s adventures came during his front nine. In his first five holes, he made three birdies and two bogeys, then added birdies on Nos. 8 and 12 to get to 3 under.
“I hit the ball pretty decent today, really didn’t get myself into too much trouble,” English said. “I’m just trying to keep it in play, really. The swing feels good. All I can do is go out there and hit the next shot.”
The three players a shot behind the co-leaders all have impressive resumes. Brittain, who won the VSGA Senior Amateur last month, won Senior Open titles in 2017 and 2018 at Two Rivers Country Club. Pulk is a two-time winner of this event, and Sughrue is a past U.S. Senior Amateur finalist.
Brittain made the turn at level par but got going with back-to-back birdies on Nos. 14 and 15. Although he said he was happy with the birdies, he was even more pleased with his ability to scramble and save several key pars on Monday.
“On 12, I knocked it over the green and into the woods and got it up and down,” Brittain said. “It was a pure fluke. I just chipped it to the right spot. … Then on 17, I got a mud ball, and on my second shot I got over behind the trees, and I ended up getting up and down out of a bunker.”
Sughrue got off to a hot start with birdies on three of his first five holes before giving two back before the turn. He notched another birdie on the par-4 15th to get back to 2 under. Sughrue also did his fair share of scrambling, including on No. 13 where he found himself in deep trouble in a penalty area right of the green. He was able to flop his third shot onto the green and just missed the birdie putt, settling for par. The shot out of the rocky penalty area did take a chunk of out of 60-degree wedge, however.
“It could have been worse,” Sughrue said. “I was very fortunate to have any kind of shot out of there.”
Pulk played steady golf, finishing with 16 pars and birdies on Nos. 10 and 17.
Midlothian amateur Steve Serrao and Wintergreen Resort professional Geoff Redgrave each returned 1-under rounds of 71 and are two strokes off the lead. Four players were tied for eighth after posting even-par rounds of 72: Amateurs Andy Heye (Centreville) and Jay Serrao (Virginia Beach); VCU men’s golf coach Matt Ball; and Virginia Golf Hall of Famer Bobby Wadkins.
Wadkins, who played Monday with fellow Hall of Famer Vinny Giles, shot 2 under on the back to get back to even par. He was making his first tournament appearance in four years. The upcoming PGA Tour Champions Dominion Energy Charity Classic at Country Club of Virginia is not a playoff event in 2020, so the tournament was able to offer sponsors’ exemptions. It extended one to Wadkins.
“I’m a little rusty, first time out here in more than four years,” Wadkins said. “I hit some good shots. These greens are really, really nice but they’ve got some speed. My touch really wasn’t very good. But I’ll play good tomorrow. We’ll see what happens. It’ll be good to get nervous again.”
Chris Lang is the VSGA’s manager of media and communications. The Senior Open of Virginia is conducted jointly by the VSGA and the Middle Atlantic PGA.