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Pictured (l-r): John Rosenstock, Trey Wren, Jon Hurst, David Jordan
By Chris Lang
GLEN ALLEN — A pair of first-time winners earned the title in the open division of the 4th Virginia State Golf Association Multi-Format Team Championship, and a side featuring the last two winners of the VSGA Senior Stroke Play Championship earned the title in the senior division. The season-opening championship concluded on Tuesday afternoon at The Dominion Club.
John Rosenstock and Trey Wren posted a 1-under par 71 in Tuesday’s modified alternate shot competition for a two-day total of 131, good enough for a one-stroke open-division win over 2021 champions Evan Beck and Mikey Moyers.
In the senior division, David Jordan and Jon Hurst backed up their opening-round 59 with an even-par 72 for a two-day 131 and a one-stroke victory over Neil Davis and Randy Newsome.
In Tuesday’s competition, both players teed off on every hole and the side chose which ball to play from there. The player whose tee shot wasn’t used then hit the second shot, and players alternated shots from there until the ball was holed.
THE STORY
Rosenstock has been runner-up in VSGA championship so many times that he called Tuesday’s round “a vendetta,” as it was time to finally break through and win one. He has finished second in the VSGA Amateur, Mid-Amateur and Four-Ball Championships. Wren, a recently reinstated amateur, reached the semifinals of the 2016 VSGA Amateur but was also seeking his first VSGA championship.
That changed Tuesday, thanks to some clutch play after a tough break on the short par-4 15th hole.
On 15, both players attempted to drive the green but both went long into the bunker behind the green. Rosenstock had an awkward stance to escape and could only hit his second shot to the other side of the bunker. Wren escaped, and Rosenstock missed a medium-range par putt, giving the side bogey.
“That was really just a bad break,” Rosenstock said. “Trey hit a great 3 wood, just a towering shot right at the flag, and it ends up in a horrendous spot in the bunker. I’d chalk that up to a bad break. We made bogey, but we bounced right back with a birdie on 16.”
Indeed, Wren rolled home a 14-foot birdie putt on 16 to stabilize the round. They finished with a birdie on 18, which provided the winning margin. On the other side of the course, Beck and Moyers, who started the shotgun round on No. 2, finished with a par on No. 1, clinching the title for Wren and Rosenstock.
“We really didn’t hit too many bad shots, so we didn’t have a lot of finger pointing going on,” Wren said. “It was just a great time all around.”
Beck and Moyers entered Tuesday four shots off the pace and nearly made it up. Their 4-under 68 tied for the second-best round of the day in the open division, only behind Joey Jordan and Trent Young, who shot 67. But a miscue late in Monday’s first round was costly in the end.
“The bogey in the scramble yesterday didn’t help,” Beck said. “We didn’t have any easy birdies, really. We had to make putts. We weren’t hitting it close.”
Added Moyers: “In the scramble especially. We thought we would do better than that.” (Moyers and Beck shot 64 in Monday’s two-person captain’s choice portion of the event.)
The side of Conor Trainor and Jed Rasnick finished third with a two-day 133. Three sides tied for fourth at 10-under 134.
In the senior division, Hurst’s sublime iron play was the difference as he and Jordan squeaked out a one-shot victory over Davis and Newsome. The sides were paired together in the final round and started off No. 10. An eagle on No. 18 allowed Davis and Newsome to pick up a shot, and they picked up two more with a birdie on No. 5, a hole Jordan and Hurst bogeyed, to get within one.
Davis and Newsome gave it right back on No. 6 with a bogey as Jordan and Hurst made par, giving the leaders a two-shot cushion going to the final three holes. Hurst made a nervy four-foot par putt on No. 9 after Davis had birdied the hole, clinching the win.
“Hurst just doesn’t miss,” Newsome said. “Hurst is probably the best iron player over the age of 50 in the state of Virginia. And it showed in the long run. So congrats to them.”
Added Davis: “I was happy on No. 9 to at least make him have to make that four footer for par. I had made birdie ahead of him after Randy hit it to seven feet. Straight uphill putt that went in, so at least he had to make his putt to win.”
Cam Young and Hank Klein—runners-up in the last two playings of this event—tied for third with Greg Kozy and Steve Firkins with two-day totals of 133.
Hurst and Jordan were only paired together because Hurst’s normal partner, Keith Decker, was unable to play. Hurst made a call to Jordan, who had played all of two rounds of golf since October, and the pairing proved fruitful.
“We were still in control of our own destiny,” Hurst said. “We were still leading. We knew if we kept making pars, they’d have to make birdies, and birdies aren’t easy to come by in this format.”
NOTABLE
Lang is the VSGA’s manager of media and communications.