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By Chris Lang
SUFFOLK — How dominant was Ross Funderburke in winning the 109th Virginia State Golf Association Amateur Championship on Friday at Cedar Point Club? Consider his shot on the par-3 12th hole in the afternoon session of the scheduled 36-hole title match.
Holding a commanding lead, Funderburke stepped to the tee on the 150-yard hole, grabbed 9-iron from his bag and hit a high, lofting shot that kissed the back fringe of the green behind the front-left hole location. It slowly trickled back, coming within inches of a walk-off ace against fellow finalist Grayson Wood.
When the two players walked to the green, Wood—whose ball was in the back right bunker—cracked a wry smile and simply asked Funderburke, “Do you want to putt that?”
“Not particularly,” Funderburke laughed. Wood conceded, scooped the ball from its landing spot about a foot from the hole and tossed it back to Funderburke. When Wood failed to hole his bunker shot, the two players shook hands, Funderburke’s 7-and-6 victory in the final complete.
“That would have been crazy,” Funderburke said. “My first hole in one was actually in the Junior Match Play and it got me back to 2 down. It would have been a little different to hit one to win. That would have been absolutely insane. I would have had no idea what to do. I definitely would have felt bad for Grayson, since he would have had to make it to extend the match.”
Funderburke, a member at Hidden Valley Country Club who plays at Furman University, became the first Roanoke-area player to win the VSGA Amateur since David Tolley in 1983. After falling behind on the first hole early in the morning, he quickly squared the match on No. 2, took the lead on No. 4 and never looked back.
The spoils: Funderburke’s first major tournament victory, his name on the Schwarzschild Brothers trophy, and a lifetime exemption into future Amateur Championships.
“It was nice getting out there and not having any nerves,” Funderburke said. “But now that I’ve won, it’s good to know that I know how to win. So hopefully, the next time the opportunity comes around, I’m ready to take it again.”
He also handed Wood—a 17-year-old from Fredericksburg—his first match play loss. Wood was a relative unknown heading into last week’s VSGA Junior Match Play Championship at Willow Oaks Country Club. He’s certainly piqued the interest of college coaches around the region after his performance the last two weeks. He won eight of his nine matches and became just the second player in VSGA history to win the Junior Match Play and reach the final of the Amateur, joining Mark Lawrence Jr., who won three Junior Match Plays and two Amateurs in his career before turning professional.
“Just making it to the final is a really big accomplishment for me,” Wood said.
The story on Friday was simple. Wood’s putter cooled off relative to his earlier match-play rounds, and Funderburke was so good with his irons and his flat stick that pars were not going to be good enough for Wood to overcome a significant deficit.
In the morning round, Wood made a clutch 25-foot birdie putt to tie the 17th hole, but he bogeyed the par-4 18th. Funderburke made par, and he went to the lunch break with a 3-up lead. After refueling, Funderburke simply blew Wood away. He nearly drove the green on the par-4 1st and made birdie and basically did the same on No. 2. Funderburke knocked home about a 15-foot eagle putt on 3, and Wood’s chances were on life support.
“I didn’t really back down at all,” Funderburke said. “I didn’t want to give him any chances.”
Added Wood: “I was telling him, I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t really have a choice but to try to make birdie every single hole. And in match play, you’re basically trying to make par. He just wasn’t allowing par to win holes.”
The players tied the next eight holes with pars. Wood had his chances to cut into the lead but simply couldn’t sink birdie putts, and by the 12th hole, Funderburke’s win was inevitable.
“Every single putt I had, I just left it short or I misread it,” Wood said.
In 30 holes, Funderburke made nine birdies, an eagle and two bogeys. Wood finished with six birdies, three bogeys and a double on No. 4 in the morning, a hole Funderburke won with a bogey.
Wood’s final appearance freed up next week for him, at least. He’s now exempt into the State Open of Virginia at Independence Golf Club in two weeks and no longer has to go through a last-chance qualifier. Funderburke will be there as well, looking to join Lawrence and Tom McKnight as the only players to win both the Amateur and State Open in the same year in the merged Open era (1983-present).
Lang is the VSGA’s manager of media and communications.