NOTE TO MEDIA: Links to scoring, photos, previous recaps, and the event preview can be found on the event portal at the link posted above. Please click on the “Media” tab to find those items.
By Chris Lang
ROANOKE — Vienna’s David Stanford maintained a one-stroke lead after the second round of the 69th Virginia State Golf Association Junior Stroke Play Championship at Roanoke Country Club, but a congested chasing pack figures to make for an exciting finish in Thursday’s third and final round.
Stanford (Army Navy CC) followed his 5-under 66 on Tuesday with an even-par 71 on Wednesday for a two-day 137 to hold the 36-hole lead. The edge is far from commanding, though. Eight players enter Thursday’s round within three shots of the lead, including Penn Laird’s Ryan Slonaker and Blacksburg’s Jake Albert, who inserted themselves into the championship conversation by shooting 4-under 67s on Wednesday.
Stanford had some troubles off the tee and missed several makeable birdie putts on Tuesday, so he was happy to come in with an even-par round and the lead.
“You’re always going to have one of those days during a tournament. It’s hard to have three days in a row that are great,” said Stanford, who begins his Virginia Tech career next month and is seeking to become the first player since Mark Lawrence Jr. in 2015 to sweep the VSGA’s two major junior championships in the same year. “So hopefully, I got it out of the way.”
Stanford’s round ended with a disappointing bogey on the Redbud nine’s final hole.
“I don’t really have a great play off the tee for that one,” Stanford said. “I’m not really comfortable with the driver there. My miss has been left, and there’s O.B. left there, so I tried to take this iron off the tee, and I left myself with a weird 170-yard uphill shot. To get it to the front right with a back right pin, that was such a tough putt.”
Like Stanford, Fairfax’s Michael Lee posted an even-par 71 on Wednesday, giving him a two-day, 4-under 138 that left him a shot behind Stanford. Lee ended his round on Tuesday with a holeout for eagle, and he will take some momentum into the final round thanks to a final-hole chip-in for birdie on Wednesday.
“I just feels good, I don’t really know,” said the 15-year-old Lee, who is homeschooled. “I had confidence starting out today, finishing with an eagle (yesterday). Hopefully I’ll go into tomorrow with a little more confidence after finishing with a birdie.”
Three players were tied at 139, two strokes off the lead: Charlottesville’s Preston Burton, Chesapeake’s Trey Marrion, and Slonaker. Burton continued his mastery of the Redbud nine on Wednesday (he’s 5 under on the “front” over two days) but ran into some issues on the Dogwood nine, making bogey on four of his final five holes to finish at 71 for the day.
“The greens firmed up, so hitting the greens was a lot harder today,” Burton said. “I think it was a little windier today too, and that kind of played a factor at times. But it was definitely harder today.”
Slonaker, a 15-year-old rising sophomore at Eastern Mennonite High School, opened the day at 1 over par but made seven birdies to make a huge move up the leaderboard. He started on the Dogwood nine and made the turn at 1 under before touring the Redbud in 3 under par.
“I made a couple of putts that I didn’t make yesterday,” said Slonaker, a member at Spotswood Country Club. “I was hitting the ball similar to how I did yesterday, but it was just getting used to the greens and the speeds and reading them better now, and just giving them a better pace to get to the hole, that was big for me.”
Marrion, who was part of the winning MAPGA/VSGA Junior Four-Ball Side in March, fired another solid round, following up his opening 69 with a 1-under 70 to join the tie for third.
“I’m striking the ball really well, and if I can get some of those putts to drop, I’ll put myself in position to win tomorrow,” Marrion said. “I’m not really focusing on the leader, David, because he’s obviously a really good player and I know he’s going to put on a good performance tomorrow. I’ll focus on my own game, and just try to make some birdies out there and limit the mistakes.”
Vienna’s Matt Moloney, Chesapeake’s Xander Goboy (Marrion’s partner at the Junior Four-Ball), and Albert are all tied for sixth at 140, three shots off the pace. Moloney and Goboy each returned 2-under 69s on Wednesday.
Forty-seven players made the 36-hole cut by shooting 151 or better over the first two rounds.
Lang is the VSGA’s manager of media and communications.