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By Chris Lang
MANAKIN SABOT — If Nick Taliaferro and Andrew Kennedy felt any pressure in defending their title at the Virginia State Golf Association Four-Ball Championship, it didn’t show Friday at Hermitage Country Club.
The Radford University teammates opened their title defense in the 56th playing of the championship with a 10-under-par 62 at Hermitage’s Manakin Course to grab a one-stroke lead heading into Saturday’s second and final round.
Eight sides enter Saturday within three shots of the leader, including Hermitage members Jordan Utley and Kevin Miller, who posted a 9-under 63 on their home track. Two sides were tied for third after posting rounds of 8-under 64: Ryan Stinnett and Jason Pool, and Andrew Crowley and Clark Taylor.
Last fall at Poplar Grove, Taliaferro and Kennedy came back from the pack by shooting 60 in the second round to win the title. Friday, the reverse was true. They got off to a sizzling start and were 7 under through 10 holes thanks to a Taliaferro eagle on No. 10.
“I had 107 yards, a little into the wind, I landed a gap wedge about 20 feet long and it spun back,” Taliaferro said. “The guys who were driving off 9 tee, they saw it and started yelling.”
They gave a shot back with a bogey on No. 12 but finished with birdies in four of their last five holes to grab the 18-hole lead.
“I think we relaxed a little bit, thinking that we were in a good spot,” Kennedy said. “Then we got through 13 holes, and we said we needed to start making some more birdies.”
Added Taliaferro: “The goal was to get to double digits, and we did. But it’s a 36-hole tournament.”
Miller was part of the winning side at the 2015 Four-Ball Championship, but usual partner Ben Beach was unavailable. Utley’s normal partner, Dustin Groves, was attending an alumni function at Wake Forest. With both players exempt for the event, they decided to play together.
It certainly worked out. They started out with three straight birdies and made the turn at 6 under before adding three more birdies on the back. They finished with four straight pars to end the day within striking distance of the lead.
“There are places to attack and there are places where you need to be a little more conservative,” Utley said. “The par 3s are challenging. We ended with four pars, but I’m not disappointed. Kevin’s done a really good job of explaining it. It’s a 36-hole tournament, you put yourself in position today, because you know you can pick it up again tomorrow.”
Said Miller: “The key was the start. Jordan makes it from like 35 feet on 1. We get up and down on 2. This golf course, we know you have to get going early. If you birdie the first two holes, you’re one up on the field. … When you’re two good players and you get off to a good start, it makes you feel a whole lot better, because you don’t feel like you’re playing from behind.”
Stinnett is another past champion of this event, having won it twice with Keith Decker in 2006-07. A member at Poplar Grove in Amherst, he and Pool (River Bend Club) paired for the first time and put themselves in the mix. Starting on 10, they made six birdies on their front nine (and one bogey) and added three more on their back to get to 8 under.
“We played well,” Pool said. “There was nothing too stressful, save for 16. It was a lot of fun.”
Crowley and Taylor had an up-and-down round, finishing with 11 birdies and three bogeys. Nevertheless, they are tied for third at 8 under, two shots back of the lead.
Five sides are tied for fifth at 7 under: Ben Choe and Samuel King; Stephen Bain and Matthew Shelor; Charlie Hanson and Charlie Kennedy; Ben Keefer and Jimmy Delp; and Matt Sughrue and Brandon Cigna.
Sughrue and Cigna won the Four-Ball title in 2019, and Keefer is a past champion as well.
Lang is the VSGA’s manager of media and communications.