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Pictured: Jon Hurst and Buck Brittain celebrate Brittain's chip-in birdie on 12.
By Chris Lang
ARLINGTON — Defending champions Buck Brittain and Jon Hurst posted an opening-round 7-under-par 63 on Monday at Washington Golf & Country Club and hold a two-stroke edge heading into the second and final round of the 40th Virginia State Golf Association Senior Four-Ball Championship.
The championship will conclude Tuesday, with play beginning at 8 a.m. and the leaders teeing off on No. 1 at 10 a.m.
Three sides were tied for second after shooting 5-under-par rounds of 65: Pete DeTemple and Dean Griffith, Jason Dunn and Pete Lutkehus, and Tripp Baird and Kevin Dillard.
Brittain and Hurst are looking to become the event’s first repeat champions since Keith Decker and Pat Tallent won in 2014 and 2015.
THE STORY
Brittain (The Virginian GC) and Hurst (Fredericksburg CC) finished 1-2 in last year’s VSGA Senior Player Rankings, with Brittain just edging Hurst out for VSGA Senior Golfer of the Year honors. They jumpstarted their year by shooting 63 at Boonsboro Country Club in the 39th VSGA Senior Four-Ball Championship, then followed it up with another 63 to win the title by five strokes.
That number seems to suit the duo, as they hit the benchmark again on Monday. They worked around a pair of bogeys and notched nine birdies on Washington G&CC’s tricky, undulating, hilly layout.
Brittain rode around on Sunday with Harry Thomas, a Washington G&CC member, and that helped he and Hurst navigate some of the more than century-old club’s many quirks.
“Harry showed me around yesterday, showed me some of the shots where you want to hit it, where you want to miss it,” Brittain said.
Hurst added that he liked the layout: “I feel like it sets up pretty good for both me and Buck. We both hit it pretty straight, and it’s not super long.”
Deft touch around the greens helps, too. Brittain recorded a key birdie on the par-4 12th hole. Nestled on a downhill lie in fluffy rough just behind the hole, he chipped the ball softly and it rolled out perfectly to the center of the hole.
“All I was trying to do was to hit it maybe two feet and land it on the green,” Brittain said. “I figured it would get to the hole. I don’t know why, but it didn’t bounce. It just hit and started rolling like it was a putt, and it was just right in the heart of the hole.”
The three sides chasing the leaders all reached the championship through qualifying at Potomac Shores Golf Club. DeTemple is a past champion of this event, having teamed with Mike Krulich to win on a marathon day in 2016 at Williamsburg Golf Club, as rained washed out the first day, forcing players to play 36 on the second day.
DeTemple and Griffith shot 5-under despite carding a double bogey on the par-3 14th hole.
“We missed one 3-footer for birdie, and we didn’t birdie the par 5s, so we left some shots out there,” DeTemple said. “But overall, we can’t complain.”
Lutkehus and Dunn finished with six birdies and one bogey for their 5-under round. Baird and Dillard started on No. 10 and opened with eight straight pars before making a birdie on the par-4 18th. Their round got considerably more interesting on the front, as they made five birdies—including one to close the round on 9—and one bogey.
Among the sides lurking at 4-under are Washington G&CC members Elmer Amaya and Patrick Bogue, who said local knowledge helped them post a low score on Monday. Amaya made the lone eagle of the day, on the par-5 4th hole.
“One hundred percent yes,” Amaya said. “There are places here where you hit away from the pin to get to the pin. The fairways too, you need to know where to play the slopes. So yeah, I think we have a little bit of an advantage on that part.”
NOTES AND QUOTES
- Brittain on opening his side’s title defense on a much shorter course than last week’s VSGA Four-Ball Championship: “Well, we played with the regulars last week (at Bay Creek) and got a little humbled. I said, if we can hit some wedges into the greens, I can help you, Jon.”
- Both Brittain and Hurst noted that the greens played much softer than they expected on Monday after some late rain on Sunday softened the course up, leading to more backspin on approach shots.
- Scott Shingler, who won the VSGA Amateur Championship in 2011, made his debut in a VSGA senior event, pairing with Rick Peel to post a 4-under 66 on Monday, leaving the side tied for fifth. They also reached the championship through the Potomac Shores qualifier. Asked to recall the last time he had to go through qualifying for a VSGA championship, Shingler said it had probably been at least 14 years since it had happened, as he’s been exempt from qualifying for most regular events.
- The front nine played far easier than the back on Monday. Each side is par 35. The front played to a 35.98 stroke average. The back played to a 37.59 average.
Lang is the VSGA’s manager of media and communications.