NOTE TO MEDIA: Links to scoring, photos, previous recaps and the event preview can be found on the event portal at the link posted above. Please click on the “Media” tab to find those items. Photos are downloadable and can be used in print. Please credit Ben Walls/VSGA.
By Ben Walls
RICHMOND—On a rainy first day of match play at Willow Oaks Country Club Thursday, eighth seed Ryan Wheeler, fifth seed Jake Albert, 10th seed Logan Reilly and sixth seed Grayson Wood advanced to the 31st VSGA Junior Match Play Championship semifinals, which begin Friday.
Thursday in Richmond proved not to faze the Match Play Championship quarterfinalists as cool rain and mist surrounded the course. When asked about how the weather affected him, Chesapeake’s Wheeler said “honestly, not that much. I’ve played in a lot of it before. In fact, almost too much.
“I feel like it was almost an advantage it was happening because a lot of people might not have felt as comfortable.”
Wheeler, who beat fellow Chesapeake resident and stroke-play medalist Xander Goboy 4 and 3, was up 6 through nine holes and mentioned that his competition eventually “played like Xander does.” Despite winning holes 10, 11 and 14, Goboy fell victim to Wheeler’s No.15 drive, which set him up for a 3-foot putt for birdie, punching his ticket to the semifinals.
At No. 15 too, Reilly set himself up for a two-stroke birdie to defeat Manakin-Sabot’s Grady Williams 4 and 3. “I definitely struck the ball way better, so I gave myself a ton of birdie opportunities, and I made the ones I needed to,” Reilly said.
Meanwhile, Albert from Blacksburg and Wood from Fredericksburg stayed neck-and-neck with their quarterfinal competition, winning 2 and 1 and in 19 holes, respectively. Albert said Thursday’s weather conditions affected his game from the tees and with his hands slipping from his driver’s grip, those conditions may have contributed to him spraying on No. 5 and 8.
According to Albert, No.10 and its hole location made the difference, posting birdies in his round of 16 match against Williamsburg’s Ryan Leach and in the quarterfinal round. Referencing what motivated him to change his game in the rain and making necessary adjustments on No. 5 and 8, Albert said, “I wanted to play tomorrow, and I didn’t want to go home early…I’m going to have to keep the ball in-play.”
Giving praise to his competition’s play in the quarterfinals, Wood says his expectations exceeded what he had set for himself Thursday adding, “I thought about how far I come and how big this tournament is. I played super well the first two days in stroke play and match play I haven’t been playing as well, but it’s been working out… I’m excited to be playing in the semifinals.”
The 18-hole championship match is scheduled for Friday afternoon after the completion of the semifinals.
Walls is a P.J. Boatwright intern for the VSGA.