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By Chris Lang
SPOTSYLVANIA — Evan Beck’s bid to become just the second player ever to win both the State Open of Virginia and Virginia State Golf Association Mid-Amateur Championship in the same year got off to a solid start on Friday.
Beck posted a 7-under-par 65 at Fawn Lake Country Club in the first round of the 45th playing of the VSGA Mid-Amateur and takes a two-shot lead over a trio of competitors into Saturday’s second round.
The low 45 players and ties after Saturday’s round will advance to Sunday’s third and final round.
THE STORY
Virginia Golf Hall of Famer Tom McKnight is the only player to have won both the Mid Am and State Open in the same year, accomplishing the feat in 1983. Beck, who recorded a one-stroke victory at the State Open at Independence in July, got off to a strong start in his pursuit of joining McKnight.
Beck (Princess Anne CC) made five birdies in his first eight holes, had only one miscue (a bogey on 11), and made birdie on three of his final six holes to post his 65. Jon Hurst (Fredericksburg CC), Garland Green (Tazewell County CC), and Stephen Bain (VSGA eClub) all returned 5-under rounds of 67 and enter the second round two shots behind Beck.
“I had a couple of tap-ins on the back nine,” Beck said. “No. 17, that was a good birdie. I had a 4-iron, 7-iron, then I made about a 25 footer. That was probably the longest putt I made. Everything else was pretty good. I hit a lot of close shots.”
Beck and Hurst teamed to win the National Senior-Junior Championship back in January, so Hurst was plenty aware of just how good Beck can be when he gets it going. The two were in the same group on Friday and rode in the same cart.
“His length sticks out, for one,” said Hurst, a two-time Mid-Amateur champion. “He hits this stinging 3-iron and 4-iron as far as I hit my driver. And he’s a really good putter. There’s really not anything bad about his game. He’s tough.”
Green, a former Virginia Tech standout, was 3 under through seven, made a bogey on No. 8, but bounced back immediately for a birdie on 9 to make the turn at 3 under. He notched birdies on Nos. 16 and 18 to finish in the tie for second.
Bain who lives in Salem and played for Virginia Tech’s club team, took some time off from competitive golf, but found the urge again in recent years. Bain got hot on the back nine, making a birdie on No. 11 before rattling off three straight birdies on 14, 15, and 16. His birdie bid on 18 just came up short.
“On the front side, I probably hit it just as well as I did on the back side,” Bain said. “I just didn’t make any putts.”
NOTABLE AND QUOTEABLE
- Past Mid-Amateur champions Buck Brittain (The Virginian GC) and Justin Young (Ballyhack GC) are tied for fifth at 4 under after posting 68s. James River CC’s Parker Wingfield shot 68 as well.
- Young has never made an albatross or an ace in his career, but he came darn close to checking one of those boxes on Friday. His second shot on the par-5 14th hole two hopped onto the green, clipped the flagstick, and settled 12 feet from the hole. Young sank the putt for eagle. “I hit hybrid, and it never left the flag. I couldn’t see it, so I didn’t know what happened. But for where it ended up, it had to have hit the flag.”
- Young was pleased after his round, considering the struggles he’s had thus far in 2021. After a year of tinkering with his swing, he went back to basics trying to find his previous form. “It was nice to put a decent round together. It’s been a tough year. It kind of feels like I’m coming out of a black hole. I’m hoping to keep the momentum going.”
- Brittain on the mental approach to a three-day tournament: “We got to 13, which is reachable, and I started to say, ‘I can’t win this today.’ So I just wanted to put it close and have a wedge in. Justin (Young) followed suit. Probably smart thinking, because we have some more golf to play.”
- Ryan Patrick (Hidden Creek CC) nearly joined Beck at the top of the leaderboard, but tough breaks on the closing hole of each nine left him sitting in a tie for eighth with Ryan Bishop (Hermitage CC) at 69. Patrick bogeyed No. 9 and came to No. 18 a shot back of Beck. He made triple bogey on the closing hole to fall back into the pack. Patrick made two eagles in his round Friday.
- Nineteen players shot even par or better on Friday.
- Marshall Tinsley (Winton Farm), the 2019 Mid-Amateur champion, shot a 1-over 71 and is tied for 20th. After the round, he noted that 38 of those 71 strokes were putts.
Lang is the VSGA’s manager of media and communications.