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By Chris Lang
MARTINSVILLE — Richmond’s Steve Serrao posted a 2-under-par 70 on Tuesday at Chatmoss Country Club for a two-day aggregate total of 9-under 135 to win the 36th Virginia State Golf Association Senior Stroke Play Championship.
Serrao finished six shots clear of runner-up Buck Brittain of Tazewell, marking the second largest margin of victory in event history. Only Jim Kite’s seven-shot win over Arman Fletcher in 1989 was bigger.
Brittain shot 69-72 to finish with a two-day total of 141. Fredericksburg’s Jon Hurst, the 2021 Senior Stroke Play Champion, shot 72-71 for a two-day 143 to finish alone in third.
THE STORY
Hurst summed up the tournament succinctly when he stopped by scoring after Tuesday’s round as Serrao was signing for lead group’s score.
“Buzzsaw,” Hurst chirped, patting Serrao on the back.
You won’t get an argument from those in the field. Serrao, Brittain and Hurst were the only three players to break par over the two days at Chatmoss, and as Tuesday went on, it was clear neither Brittain nor Hurst really had much of a chance to catch Serrao, who now has wins in the Senior Stroke Play, Senior Four-Ball and Senior Amateur to his credit.
Serrao stumbled a bit early in the round. He made consecutive bogeys on Nos. 4 and 5, and at one point, Hurst had crept within three strokes of the lead. Brittain opened the round four shots out of the lead, but a disaster on the par-5 4th hole essentially ended his chances.
With Serrao in trouble off the tee, Brittain took the opportunity to play aggressive golf, made one bad swing and ended up putting a triple-bogey eight on his card.
“He did what I wanted him to do to start, then I went brain dead for a hole, and it was just watching Steve finish it out after that,” Brittain said. “He had hit it in the hazard off the tee, and I’m thinking he’s going to make bogey. I had hit it right, I’m in the rough. I’m thinking, be aggressive, you make birdie here, you pick up two shots. But I had a bad lie, hit the wrong club, made a bad swing, and ended up making an eight after I knocked it into the hazard.”
Hurst began the day seven shots back and was 2-under through five holes. Combined with Serrao’s 2-over start, Hurst found himself within sniffing distance of the lead. But he bogeyed the tough par-4 8th hole, and both made birdie on the par-5 9th. The lead was back to four at the turn.
“I got to the point where I was counting strokes already,” Serrao said. “So after No. 5, I just told myself to just try to shoot 70, make them do something amazing, and we’ll see what happens. I started hitting fairways and greens and making a lot of good two-putts.”
Serrao again took advantage of Chatmoss’ easier inward nine, playing it at 3 under on Tuesday. He was 5 under in Monday’s first round on the back. Meanwhile, Hurst’s birdie on the 9th was his last of the day, and by the time Brittain got going (he went 3-under on the back), he was too far behind.
Serrao’s biggest birdie came at the par-5 12th, when he needed to get up and down from deep in the right-front bunker to make birdie. He did just that, increasing his lead to six shots.
“No. 12, that was a great birdie. That bunker shot could have gone into the woods,” Serrao said. “But I hit a great bunker shot and hit a downhill 5-footer. That’s when I started—not to relax—but started thinking, OK, they’ve got to do something crazy to pass me. So I just tried to go through my routines, have my swing thoughts, and hope it was good enough. In the end, it was.”
Serrao appropriately closed the round with a 4-foot birdie putt. The birdie on 12 had eased his nerves, and afterward, he was left to reflect on beating such a strong field by such a wide margin.
“I did not imagine that,” Serrao said. “I’m used to trying to chase these guys, I’m not used to being ahead of them. It feels good to beat them occasionally.”
NOTES
- Brittain defeated Serrao 1 up in last year’s VSGA Senior Amateur final match.
- Two past champions of this event tied for fourth at 2-over 146: Dave Pulk of Williamsburg and Keith Decker of Martinsville. Decker finished best out of the eight-player Chatmoss contingent at the event.
- Brittain was runner-up in this event for the third time. He finished solo second in 2021 and tied for second in 2018.
- Layne Mills and Kevin Dillard tied for sixth at 3-over 147.
- Two players made massive improvements from their round-one showings on Tuesday. Hidden Valley CC’s Jeff Conner shaved 14 strokes off his first-round 90 and posted a 76 on Tuesday. Neil Davis (Keswick GC) improved by 13 strokes on Tuesday, shooting 86 on Monday and 73 in the second round.
Lang is the VSGA’s manager of media and communications.