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By Chris Lang
MANAKIN SABOT — Clark Taylor patiently waited as Andrew Crowley raked the greenside bunker on No. 9 at Hermitage Country Club’s Manakin Course on Saturday. Once Crowley emerged, Taylor had a simple request for his partner: “I want your thoughts.”
Taylor was faced with a 40-foot putt on the first hole of a playoff at the 56th Virginia State Golf Association Four-Ball Championship, and he didn’t want to proceed without Crowley’s input. The two chatted briefly and picked out a line, and Taylor set up over the ball. He rolled it perfectly on the line, and it sank for a stunning birdie.
The pressure turned to Nick Taliaferro, who had a six-foot birdie putt to match and extend the playoff. Much like partner Andrew Kennedy’s birdie effort, though, Taliaferro’s putt lipped out, giving Taylor and Crowley the victory over the defending champions.
“Andrew and I have played a lot of two-man golf together, and we know each other’s games really well,” Taylor said. “I certainly wanted to get his input before a big putt like that. I picked out a spot, just committed to it, made a good stroke, and I was fortunate that it went in.”
Taylor and Crowley, members at the Country Club of Virginia, posted rounds of 64-63 for a two-day total of 127, and Taylor’s clutch putt sealed the first VSGA championship for either player. (Though it should be noted that Crowley was on the winning CCV entry in the VSGA Club Championship in 2016.)
“They go birdie-birdie on their last two holes, and then to make that bomb on the first playoff hole … I was a little lost for words for a second,” Kennedy said.
Both players on the winning side made clutch shots down the stretch to contribute to the effort. Needing a birdie on 18 to put pressure on Taliaferro and Kennedy, Crowley found himself stuck in pine straw right of the cart path. His shot was a blind one into a green well above him, and he shouted “be good!” after hitting it. The ball complied, settling a few feet from the hole for a birdie attempt.
Asked if he had any nerves over that putt, Crowley simply replied, “A lot. It’s been a while since I’ve been in that position.”
Nevertheless, he drained it, meaning Taliaferro and Kennedy (playing in the final grouping) needed a birdie to clinch their second straight title. Taliaferro, coming off a birdie at 17, sent his tee shot right and into a fairway bunker, and facing a plugged lie, hit his second shot dead right into the woods, forcing him out of the hole. Kennedy’s drive also went right, and his ball was stuck in pine straw right in front of a pine cone. He managed to reach the green, and his long birdie try just slid left, leaving him a tap-in for par and a spot in the playoff.
“I was a little worried about how that ball would come out,” Kennedy said of his approach. “Luckily, it caught the green.”
Taylor, who played collegiately at VCU, and Crowley, who played at Georgia, have partnered together in a lot of two-man events at CCV, but this was their first trip to the VSGA Four-Ball Championship. They qualified at Lakeside Park Club and got off to hot starts in both rounds of the championship. Their comfort level with each other’s games was evident. Both players are now exempt into the upcoming VSGA Amateur Championship at Country Club of Petersburg.
“It’s such a strong field, we’re just fortunate to be part of the field,” Taylor said. “But we felt like when we play well, we can hang with anybody.
“The course was in great shape, and with it being here in Richmond, we felt like we had a chance,” Crowley added. “We got off to hot starts both days, and that kind of gets the engine going. Once we got it going, we just had to stay in the moment, make a bunch of birdies, and see what happened.”
Though Taliaferro and Kennedy fell short of becoming the first side to successfully defend its title in 14 years, both said they felt they proved something this week, that last year’s victory at Poplar Grove was not a fluke. They were near the top of the leaderboard for the entirety of the event and lost to a spectacular putt in the playoff.
“We had to prove today that we could get it done,” Kennedy said. “Sometimes you fall short. That’s just how golf is.”
Matt Sughrue and Brandon Cigna, the 2019 VSGA Four-Ball champions, finished in third at 15-under 129. Four sides tied for fourth at 14-under 130: David Stanford/Kelly Chinn; Charlie Hanson/Charlie Kennedy; Jason Pool/Ryan Stinnett; and Jordan Utley/Kevin Miller. Stanford and Chinn posted the best round of the day Saturday, a 10-under 62, but their six-stroke deficit to start the day was too much to overcome.
Lang is the VSGA’s manager of media and communications.