37th VSGA Senior Stroke Play Championship Event Hub
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Dates: Tuesday, June 13 and Wednesday, June 14
Format: Two rounds of stroke play. Starting times between 8 on both days off both No. 1. If there's a tie after 36 holes, a sudden-victory playoff will be utilized to determine a champion.
Host site: Winchester Country Club
Round 2: Brittain completes VSGA Senior Slam
(Pictured: Buck Brittain/Credit: Chris Lang, VSGA)
WINCHESTER -- Tazewell's Buck Brittain navigated a difficult Winchester Country Club setup and a tricky, persistent wind to post a 1-over-par total of 73 on Wednesday, his two-day aggregate total of 4-under 140 securing a five-stroke victory in the 37th Virginia State Golf Association Senior Stroke Play Championship.
With the win, Brittain (The Virginian GC) completed the VSGA Senior Slam, adding a Senior Stroke Play title to a resume that also includes two Senior Open victories, two Senior Amateur victories, and three Senior Four-Ball wins. Brittain also won the VSGA Mid-Amateur at Winchester in 2018.
The wind consistently howled at 15-20 mph (with gusts over 30 mph), making an already difficult course even more challenging. Brittain survived back-to-back bogeys at Nos. 6 and 7, and at one point his lead -- which was three strokes to begin the round -- dipped to one. But a key birdie on the par-3 8th helped stabilize his round. He played the final 11 holes at 2-under to finish comfortably ahead of runner-up Jeffrey Klatt, who shot a 1-over 145 (72-73) over the tournament's two days.
Four players tied for third at 2-over 146: Paras Pandya (Kinloch GC), Allen Barber (James River CC), Steve Serrao (the 2022 champion, Willow Oaks CC), and Kevin Dillard (Army Navy CC).
Notable:
- Brittain joins Virginia Golf Hall of Famer Keith Decker as the only players in VSGA history to win all four senior events. The Senior Open of Virginia was played for the first time in 2006.
- Brittain had been runner-up in three of the last four Senior Stroke Play Championships.
- Brittain's 140 was the best two-day total of the four championships held at Winchester. The previous best was Jim Gallagher's 142 in 2015.
- Serrao and Phil Mahone were the only players to shoot even par on Wednesday. Mahone tied for seventh with Tony Good at 3-over 147.
- Klatt earlier this year won the senior division at the Fredericksburg Amateur, and his runner-up showing was his best in this event. He was 2-over through five holes but settled down to play the rest of his round at 1-under.
Quotable:
- "It meant a lot because I knew I hadn't won this one. Coming back to Winchester was great, because I play well up here." -- Brittain
- "I really felt like I wasn't hitting bad shots. I missed some easy putts early on and I knew everyone was struggling with the wind, so I just told myself to stay patient. I made a real good shot on 8 and made a big putt there, so that sort of gave me a sigh of relief." -- Brittain
- "It was very hard to pick the right club. I hit two or three shots where I thought I hit really good shots and I just misjudged the wind, and they were too long. It fooled me. But looking at the scores today, it fooled everybody." -- Brittain
- "I thought from the start that it was going to be extremely difficult, just watching guys teeing off No. 1, right into that wind when it was just howling. It's just a day where you've got to make the best swings you can and just do your best." -- Klatt
- "This is a big one. I won a tournament earlier this year, the Fredericksburg Amateur, I placed a lot last year, but I just didn't have the wins. I'm very happy to be where I'm at for this one." -- Klatt
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Round 1: Brittain seizes early lead
(Pictured: Buck Brittain. Credit: Chris Lang, VSGA)
WINCHESTER -- Tazewell's Buck Brittain is off to a good start in his quest to win the only Virginia State Golf Association senior championship that eludes him. Brittain posted a 5-under-par 67 on Tuesday at Winchester Country Club to grab a three-shot lead after the first round of the 37th VSGA Senior Stroke Play Championship.
Brittain (The Virginian GC) has won two Senior Opens of Virginia, three VSGA Senior Four-Ball titles and two VSGA Senior Amateur titles. He's finished as runner-up in three of the last four Senior Stroke Play championships and will look to break through to complete the VSGA "Senior Slam" during Wednesday's second and final round.
Brittain finished Tuesday's round three strokes clear of three players tied at 2-under 70: Paras Pandya (Kinloch GC), Tony Good (The Hollows GC) and Allen Barber (James River CC). All three are seeking their first VSGA Senior Stroke Play title.
Kevin Dillard (Army Navy CC), Jeffrey Klatt (Medal 0f Honor GC) and Jon Zampedro (Pleasant Valley GC) are five shots back after each opened with even-par rounds of 72.
Notable:
- Brittain has history at Winchester, having won the 2018 VSGA Mid-Amateur Championship at the club by four strokes over Kyle Martin and Harold Dill III. His best score during that win was a 3-under 69 in the third and final round, though that event was played in October in cold and wet conditions.
- Brittain finished with five birdies and just one bogey, on the par-4 16th.
- Defending champion Steve Serrao, who won by six shots last year at Chatmoss CC in Martinsville, is tied for 10th after posting a 2-over 74.
- Barber was 2-over through four holes but made birdie on four of his next seven holes to get to 2-under before finishing with seven straight pars.
- Brittain, Pandya, Barber, and Good will play in the final grouping and are scheduled to tee off at 12:46 p.m.
- Jon Hurst, Brittain's partner in each of his three Senior Four-Ball victories, withdrew from this event on Monday.
- How other past champions in the field fared: Pete DeTemple (T10, 74), Keith Decker (T19, 75), Dave Pulk (T26, 76), David Jordan (T57, 81). Jordan, however, made the day's only eagle, on the par-5 13th hole.
Quotable:
- "For some reason, it suits my game. Growing up playing Fincastle, these greens have a lot of slope in them, and you've got a lot of short putts that will break a foot. So I'm a little used to that." -- Brittain on his comfort level at WCC.
- "I was thinking back on my way back up here, I could remember all of the holes, but I couldn't remember where the range was. I remember the last five holes, I think I played 4-under in the Mid-Am, and the weather was crappy. So, yeah, I have good memories up here." -- Brittain
- "It was definitely choppy early on. We were just kind of hanging on for dear life. All of us were getting up and down and making 8-, 10-footers, stuff like that." -- Pandya.
- "Once we got settled in with the round, I actually started feeling better and made a couple of birdies in the middle of the round. I had a lot of good looks. I probably had five 8-footers and in for birdie that could have gone. It could have been a really, really good round." -- Pandya.
- "It's not really a course where you can try harder, or whatever. Being careful out here doesn't necessarily help you. You've got to hope that you're hitting it solid that day and getting it up and down. The greens are tiny. ... If you're just hitting it solid and hitting good shots, you've just got to tally them up and see what happens." -- Pandya.
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