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By Chris Lang
ARLINGTON — Buck Brittain and Jon Hurst closed out the 40th Virginia State Golf Association Senior Four-Ball Championship in style, with Brittain making birdie on the 18th hole at Washington Golf & Country Club to secure a two-day aggregate 15-under 125 and a three-shot victory, their second straight in the event.
Brittain (The Virginian GC) and Hurst (Fredericksburg CC) became the sixth side in the history of the event to repeat as champions, and the first since Keith Decker and Pat Tallent did so in 2014-15. They finished three shots clear of the hard-charging brother duo of Jay and Steve Serrao, who shot a 10-under 60 on Tuesday for a two-day 128 to finish as runners-up.
Scott Shingler and Rick Peel finished alone in third at 11-under 129.
THE STORY
Brittain and Hurst won by five shots last year at Boonsboro Country Club, as no one was able to match their steady, consistent play and they slowly separated from the pack on the back nine. Things were a little tighter on Tuesday. The round was played in cool, misty conditions, and the weather worsened as the day went on.
In classic four-ball fashion, each partner shouldered part of the load. Hurst was hot early, making birdies on four of the first six holes to keep the pursuing pack at bay. Brittain picked up the slack later, making the first of his four birdies on No. 9.
“We just pick each other up when we’re down,” Hurst said. “Today, I was hot at the start. Then I kind of faded a little bit and Buck showed up on the back nine. We’ve just been able to pick each other up when the other one is out of the hole. It’s nice knowing you’ve got a partner where if you hit a bad shot, he’s got your back.”
They made three straight pars after Brittain’s birdie on 10. By the time they left the 13th green, the wind picked up considerably, making club choice a tricky proposition on the downhill par-3 14th. Also complicating matters, the Serraos finished their blistering round, and Hurst and Brittain were up only one shot with five holes to play.
The Serraos started the day five shots back of the leaders, and with that much ground to make up, Jay said the goal at the start of the round was simply “to get in the top 5.”
But once in the clubhouse, Steve said: “We just kept telling ourselves, they have all of those hard holes left to play. We’ll see what happens.”
Back to 14. Hurst advised Brittain to just hit something in the middle of the green for a comfortable two-putt par. Brittain obliged, though his ball settled about 50 feet short and right of the hole. Brittain is one of the best lag putters in the state, however, and he was able to knock it close and secure the par. (Hurst missed the green left on his tee shot, making Brittain’s par a critical one.)
“At that distance, you’re never comfortable,” Brittain said. “But when it left the putter, I thought it had pretty good speed, I thought I was in control. … Fortunately, I’ve just got pretty good feel. I think you’ve got to see it. There’s not a whole lot of mechanics to lag putting, you’ve just got to feel it. And I had a feel for these greens, they were very consistent. So you didn’t get a lot of surprises from them.”
The Serraos stuck around, watching the live leaderboard, hopeful they may have gotten a shot in a playoff. Brittain squashed those thoughts with a birdie on 16 to put his side two shots ahead, a welcome cushion heading to the final two holes.
“I hit it in the fairway, I was sort of steering it, and I got it to a good number,” Brittain said. “I hit it to five or six feet and made it.”
Prior to 2021, it had been seven years since the Senior Four-Ball Championship had been decided by more than a stroke. Brittain and Hurst bucked that trend with a five-shot win last year, and their three-shot margin of victory this year cemented their place as two of the top senior players in the state. Only one side has ever won three in a row—Bob Moyers and Jim Kite, who won five straight in the early 1990s.
Expect the two-time champions to come out in 2023 ready for more.
“That’s the plan,” Hurst said.
NOTES
- Pete DeTemple and Dean Griffith, who played in the final grouping with Hurst and Brittain, returned a 4-under 66 Tuesday for a two-day 131, six shots off the pace. They tied for fourth with Terry Reilly and Tommy Harrison, who posted a second-round 63 to shoot up the leaderboard.
- DeTemple made an eagle on the par-5 4th hole, as did Tripp Baird. They joined Elmer Amaya, who had made eagle there in Monday’s first round. Baird and partner Kevin Dillard finished tied for sixth at 8-under.
- Shingler played part of the round with a blown-out shoe. The sole had nearly completely disengaged from the rest of the shoe, so he had to buy a new pair mid-round and have them delivered on course.
- Only 17 of the 43 sides that finished the tournament finished under par.
Lang is the VSGA’s manager of media and communications.