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By Chris Lang
WINCHESTER — Xander Goboy stood in the 13th fairway at Winchester Country Club Wednesday afternoon and told his caddie he was going to hole his next shot. Easy thing to say. Harder thing to do.
Goboy pulled out a 58 degree wedge, pured the shot from 69 yards out, then watched it as it dunked into the hole for birdie, one of four on the day for the 15-year-old from Chesapeake. Goboy posted a bogey-free 67 and earned medalist honors at the 30th Virginia State Golf Association Junior Match Play Championship by three shots thanks to a two-day aggregate 6-under 136.
Goboy will be the top seed in the 16-player field as match play commences on Thursday morning. A big reason for his strong spring and summer so far is the improvement in his short game, which was on display on multiple occasions during the first two days at Winchester.
“The first day, I only hit eight greens, so my scrambling was really good,” Goboy said. “I was just making up and downs from everywhere.
“My short game used to be really inconsistent. But I’ve gained a lot of consistency in it.”
Goboy has found early success this year in team events, teaming with Trey Marrion to win the MAPGA-VSGA Junior Four-Ball title in March and pairing again with Marrion for a top-10 finish at the VSGA Four-Ball Championship in May.
He showed what he could do on his own, however, at Winchester. He shot 69-67 over the two days and was the only player to finish in the 60s in both rounds. He made nine birdies and three bogeys over the two days and positioned himself for a deep run into match play, though the way the bracket shakes out, he could meet Marrion in Thursday afternoon’s quarterfinals should both win their opening matches in the morning.
“I really like match play,” Goboy said. “Every time I’ve played in a match play tournament, I’ve enjoyed it. It’s just great, going back and forth with your competitors.”
David Zhang, a rising senior at Blacksburg High School, shot a 3-under 68 on Wednesday and will be the No. 2 seed in match play, and he’ll face Midlothian’s Jack Hoyle on Thursday. Zhang is the younger brother of 2019 VSGA Amateur finalist Christopher Zhang, and he’s worked hard to forge his own identity on the golf course. After making the turn in Tuesday’s first round at 1 over, he played his final 27 holes in stroke-play qualifying at 4 under.
“I just played smart,” Zhang said. “I never played too aggressive, but I never played too shy, either. So I just did a good job committing to each shot, and it turned out alright.”
Chesapeake’s Cullen Campbell, who will soon head to UNC Wilmington to start his college career, will be the No. 3 seed after returning 73-69 for a two-day 142. He’ll open against Richmond’s Charlie Kennedy, who finished with seven straight pars to sneak into the match play field.
“I just tried to make up for the mistakes I made yesterday,” said Campbell, a semifinalist in this event in 2019. “I hit some different shots off the par 3s and paid more attention to what the wind was doing today, trying to get my proximity to the hole a little better.”
The No. 4 seed is Vienna’s David Stanford, who has won a trophy at Winchester (in the 2019 VSGA Junior Stroke Play Championship) and has made a deep run in a high-level match-play event, advancing to the VSGA Amateur final last year before falling to Mark Lawrence Jr.
Stanford, who will head to Virginia Tech later this summer, shot 69 with two birdies and no bogeys.
“I think I just have a lot of confidence on this course,” Stanford said. “There are a bunch of drives where I can just step up and swing away because I feel like I know them pretty well. I feel like this course suits my game perfectly. If I can get the putts to drop, I can go really low out here.”
Others who advanced to match play were Roanoke’s Samir Davidov; Richmond’s Ethan Snow; Roanoke’s Nate Faulkner; Ashburn’s Brad Freyberger; Richmond’s Garrett Kuhla; Ashburn’s Mehrbaan Singh; Williamsburg’s Ryan Leach; Leesburg’s Matthew Monastero; and Purcellville’s Owen Cook, who survived a four-for-one playoff for the final spot in the field. He’ll open against the medalist Goboy.
Lang is the VSGA’s manager of media and communications.