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By Chris Lang
VIRGINIA BEACH — The first day of the 9th Virginia State Golf Association Super Senior Four-Ball Championship was completed on Monday at Princess Anne Country Club. Sides competed in one of three age divisions, based on the age of the younger player in the side: 65+, 70+, and 75+.
In the 65+ age division, two sides are tied for the lead at 6-under-par 64: David Partridge and Harry Thomas, and Tim Vigotsky and Skip Zobel. The Salisbury Country Club side of Jim Hudson and Pat Gregory hold the lead in the 70+ division after returning a 4-under-par 66 on Monday.
In the 75+ group, George Owens and John Casstevens sit atop the leaderboard after posting a 3-under 68 on Monday.
The championship concludes on Tuesday.
THE STORY
Zobel, a Princess Anne member, reached out to Vigotsky—a Robert Trent Jones GC member and winner of the last two VSGA Super Senior Golfer of the Year awards—when he was looking for a partner for this championship. Zobel normally plays with Dave Pulk, and Pulk wasn’t old enough to be eligible for this event, or so he thought.
Pulk actually turned 65 earlier this month and is making is super senior championship debut at Princess Anne, and he and partner Jack Allara are in third place at 5-under 65, a stroke behind the leaders. The miscommunication worked out fine for Zobel, though.
“We ham and egged it,” Zobel said. “He made three (birdies), I made four. We’ll take it.”
Added Vigotsky: “It was stress free. We didn’t have to work for a par at any time.”
Vigotsky and Zobel finished with seven birdies and a bogey, including an impressive 50-foot birdie putt from Vigotsky on the par-3 11th hole. They’ll play in Tuesday’s final grouping with the co-leaders, Thomas and Partridge, who posted a bogey-free 64.
“Just a solid round,” Thomas said. “We were there all day, no real trouble. I came off a horrible weekend at The Valentine (at Hermitage CC) and didn’t know what to expect from myself out here. But (Partridge) calms me down. He’s so straight and so good off the tee, it just frees me up to play.”
Pulk (Two Rivers CC) and Allara (Hidden Valley CC) made their move late in the front nine, a birdie on No. 8 opening a run of three straight birdies. Pulk added another birdie on 16 to get the side to 5 under.
“Jack and I played pretty well today,” Pulk said. “We had a lot of looks for birdie on the front nine. … We covered ourselves nicely. When one person wasn’t in the hole, the other one made par. It was fun. Hopefully we’ll be in the hunt and be in it tomorrow.”
In the 70+ division, Hudson and Gregory made six birdies and worked around two bogeys in recording their 68, which puts them two shots clear of Ronald Janicki and Stephen Spratt.
“We were looking to go underwater on No. 8,” Gregory said. “I was off the green on the par 5 and I chipped it in for par, and that got us going. We were good after that.”
Casstevens (The Federal Club) was part of the winning 75+ side in last year’s event, and is teaming this year with Owens, a Princess Anne member who has won the last two VSGA Super Senior Amateur 75+ titles. They shook off a pair of bogeys to open the round and posted five birdies to finish at 3-under 67, five shots clear of their closest pursuers.
NOTABLE
- In the 65+ division, three sides are tied for fourth at 4-under 66: Jeff Flax and Leon Roday; Bill Apple and John Steele; and Mike Ancel and Jim Wood.
- The defending 65+ champions, Jim Woodson and Jimmy Angel, are tied for 9th after opening with a 2-under 68.
- Three sides are tied for third in the 70+ division at 1 under: Bill Guerrant and Jay Klingel; George Kemp and Ronald Rash; and Charles Green III and Bob Rotella. Green and Rotella are past Super Senior Four-Ball champions.
- The 75+ division will be first to go out Tuesday morning, followed by the 70+ and the 65+. The final starting time is 11:07 a.m.
Lang is the VSGA’s manager of media and communications.