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By Chris Lang
LYNCHBURG — Rich Buckner finished a tournament in Florida on Sunday, hopped in the car and drove straight through from Port St. Lucie to the Hill City to compete Monday in the 39th Virginia State Golf Association Senior Four-Ball Championship at Boonsboro Country Club.
After Buckner’s first drive went astray, he and partner Ron Clatterbuck didn’t exactly have high expectations for Monday’s first round. But they settled in and found a rhythm, and thanks to an end-of-round scoring burst, found themselves atop the leaderboard after 18 holes.
Buckner and Clatterbuck finished eagle-birdie-birdie to post a 10-under-par 62 and surge past three sides that returned rounds of 9-under 63: Carlos Aranda and Danny Derisio; brothers Steve and Jay Serrao; and Buck Brittain and Jon Hurst.
The second and final round of the championship is scheduled for Tuesday, with the first group going off at 7:30 a.m. The final grouping, set to start its round at 11:54 a.m., will feature the leaders and the Serrao brothers, since the Serraos were the first in among the three sides tied at 9 under.
Aranda/Derisio and Brittain/Hurst will play in the penultimate grouping, set for a 11:42 a.m. start.
Buckner (Robert Trent Jones GC) and Clatterbuck (Evergreen CC) shook off a bogey at 12 and surged up the leaderboard with a fantastic finish. Buckner drained a 35-foot downhill putt for eagle on 16 and followed that up by sticking his tee shot on the par-3 17th to within three feet for another birdie. On 18, Clatterbuck hit a masterful approach shot to a foot for a kick-in closing birdie.
“It just happened,” Buckner said. “4 under on the last three? It’s fun when it goes like that.”
The Serraos certainly felt they should have been right there with the leaders at 10 under. They had one hiccup on the par-3 13th when Serrao’s tap in for par spun all the way around the cup and out. It was their lone bogey of the day.
“I didn’t take my time,” said Steve, a member at Willow Oaks CC. “It was 12 inches … Just a dumb move.”
Otherwise, the Serrao side finished with eight birdies and Jay’s eagle on the par-5 10th.
“I hit my drive a perfect position out in the fairway,” said Jay, a member at Cavalier G&YC. “Then I hit a perfect 6 iron to about six feet. Probably one of the better shots of my day. It was still a tough putt, though. There are no easy ones out here.”
Brittain and Hurst’s round featured some early excitement as Brittain aced the par-3 2nd hole with a 7 iron, his second hole in one in a VSGA championship. (He made one at the State Open of Virginia two years ago.)
“It was a good number. We played yesterday, and with the wind change, I thought it was just a hard 7 iron,” said Brittain, a member at The Virginian GC. “I looked good in the air, but I can’t see that far, but I knew it was going to be close, and they said it went in. … I went 48 years and never had one, as much golf as I play, and now I’ve had three and they’ve all been in tournaments.”
After going out in 6 under, the side cooled on the inward nine but used birdies from Hurst on 16 and 18 to finish the day at 9 under.
“We just kind of ham and egged it,” said Hurst, a member at Fredericksburg CC. “Buck started off strong, and I kind of heated up on the back there. We just played solid. … The course was phenomenal. It wasn’t playing super long.”
Aranda and Derisio are members at Springfield G&CC and paired in this event for the first time. Aranda, a former professional footballer from Paraguay, only started playing golf in the last 10 years. You wouldn’t know it by watching him swing, Derisio said.
“He hits it so far,” Derisio said. “He’s just an athlete.”
The side posted a bogey-free 63 that included an Aranda eagle on 10.
“Danny has such experience,” Aranda said. “He’s probably one of the best putters at my club. Pretty much, he was reading all of my putts and it was spot on. All the birdies I made, and the eagle, he was reading them. It’s pretty easy actually. You just get your line and go.”
Lurking behind the top four sides are Andy Heye (RTJ GC) and Buddy Patch (Springfield G&CC), who carded a 7-under 65. Among the three sides tied for sixth after shooting 66 are defending champions Keith Decker (Ballyhack GC) and Roger Newsom (Elizabeth Manor G&CC).
Lang is the VSGA’s manager of media and communications.