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By Chris Lang
VIRGINIA BEACH — Winners were crowned in three age divisions on Tuesday at the 9th Virginia State Golf Association Super Senior Four-Ball Championship, held at Princess Anne Country Club.
In the 65+ division, a birdie on the 18th hole lifted John Steele (Westwood CC) and Bill Apple (The GC at Lansdowne) to a one-stroke victory over Harry Thomas (Kinloch GC) and David Partridge (Hermitage CC). Steele and Apple posted an 8-under 62 on Tuesday for a two-day total of 128.
The 70+ division went overtime before the Salisbury CC combo of Pat Gregory and Jim Hudson won with a par on the fourth playoff hole. They finished in a three-way tie for the lead after 36 holes at 137 with the sides of Bob Rotella (The Club at Glenmore) and Charles Green III (The Virginian GC), and Two Rivers CC members Mike McDonald and Bill Flanders.
In the 75+ division, Princess Anne member George Owens and John Casstevens (The Federal Club), recorded a comfortable victory, shooting 67-69 for a two-day 136 and an eight-shot win.
THE STORY
Apple and Steele went to the 18th tee knowing they needed birdie to have a chance—at worst—of reaching a playoff. They learned lessons from Monday’s first round, namely, hit it left on the par-5 hole.
“Yesterday, we both hit it into the right rough, and in the right rough, you can hardly advance the ball, it’s so thick,” Apple said. “Today, we knew we needed to keep it in the fairway. We both hit good tees shots and very good second shots in the fairway to set ourselves up for good approaches.”
Both players reached the green in regulation, and though Apple was farther out from the hole, the duo decided that Steele should putt first. He sank a dead-center 15 footer to allow the side to come in at 12 under.
“I knew I would be too nervous to putt second if he didn’t make it,” Steele said.
Apple and Steele had to wait out the final two groups before celebrating. Jeff Flax and Leon Roday bogeyed their final two holes to slip to 10 under. Thomas and Partridge had a chance to force a playoff with a birdie on 18, but Partridge’s eight-foot birdie attempt slipped right of the hole, sealing the win for Apple and Steele.
Both players have taken lessons recently with Apple’s son Josh, a PGA instructor at Raspberry Golf Academy. Both have seen an uptick in their level of play. Apple won the super senior division at the Middle Atlantic Senior Amateur last month, and Steele claimed his first state title in any state with the win at Princess Anne.
“Josh is a phenomenal teacher,” Bill said. “I played a lot when I was young, and I got back into it as he was growing up playing golf. My game has advanced beyond belief, particularly my short game and putting, with him teaching me.”
Added Steele: “Yesterday, I missed a hole in one (by inches). After I hit the shot, I said to Bill, that’s a Josh special. The setup, the backswing, everything was exactly as Josh had been teaching me. And it paid off.”
In the 70+ division, Gregory and Hudson felt a certain sense of déjà vu stepping to the first tee for the three-side playoff. They fell just short of winning the Super Senior Four-Ball title at Lakeside Park Club (then known as Jefferson Lakeside) in 2018, falling on the first hole of a playoff to John Cuomo and J.P. Leigh.
McDonald and Flanders bowed out of the playoff early, leaving Gregory and Hudson to battle past champions Rotella and Green for the title. On the fourth playoff hole, Rotella hit his ball out of bounds, leaving Green to try to scramble to keep his side in it. He three putted for bogey, and the Gregory/Hudson side won the title with par.
“We’ve been redeemed,” Gregory said. “My partner played really well today. I was just happy to be along for the ride.”
Just like on Monday, Owens and Casstevens bogeyed the first two holes before recovering to maintain their distance from the field.
“If you play this golf course day in and day out, if you’re only 1 or 2 over through three or four holes, you’re in pretty good shape,” Owens said. “It’s a hard start. We figure 1 is a bogey hole to begin with.”
At one point, the runner-up side of Jordan Ball and Lou Moelchert got within two shots of the lead, but a birdie-bogey swing quickly pushed the lead back to four.
“We made the putts we needed to today,” Owens said. “If you miss a couple of putts, the other team gets closer. It only takes one bogey and one birdie, and you’re back into a ballgame. We made the putts when we had to make them.”
NOTABLE
- Steele and Apple’s round began and ended with a Steele birdie. Apple added a key eagle on the par-5 8th when he nestled a 3-wood approach to 25 feet and sank the putt.
- Skip Zobel and Tim Vigotsky, the first-round co-leaders in the 65+ division, struggled to a 1-over 71 on Tuesday and finished ninth.
- Flax and Roday tied for third with Jack Allara and Dave Pulk in the 65+ division at 10-under 130.
- The 2020 65+ winners, Jimmy Angel and Jim Woodson, shot 68-66 for a two-day 134 to finish in a tie for sixth.
- McDonald and Flanders posted the day’s best round in the 70+ division, a 4-under 66, to surge into the three-side playoff.
Lang is the VSGA’s manager of media and communications.