2023 State Open of Virginia
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Dates: Friday, July 21 - Sunday, July 23
Format: Three rounds of stroke play with competitors going off in morning (7:30 a.m.) and afternoon (12:30 p.m.) waves on Friday and Saturday. Field will be cut to the low 60 players and ties for Sunday's third and final round. Note: The State Open is jointly conducted by the VSGA and Middle Atlantic PGA.
Host site: Independence Golf Club
Round 3: Professional Connor Burgess wins State Open of Virginia
(Pictured: Connor Burgess birdies 18. Credit: Abby All/VSGA)
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MIDLOTHIAN -- Connor Burgess sunk a 10-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole on Sunday, celebrated, then retreated to the patio at Independence Golf Club on Sunday and waited. Having only tied for the lead in the final round of the State Open of Virginia, he figured his best hope was to stay warm for a potential playoff.
Then a funny thing happened. One by one, his closest pursuers stumbled down the stretch. First it was Rylan Shim, who had a 25-foot birdie putt on 18 but three-putted for bogey. Then it was Justin LaRue, who came to the 18th hole needing a birdie to win and a par to force a playoff, only to pull his drive deep into a penalty area right of the fairway. The tee shot proved fatal to his hopes, as he was unable to hole out from a greenside bunker for par, leaving Burgess standing alone atop the leaderboard.
Burgess' 10-under-par three-day aggregate total of 203 (70-67-66) gave him the biggest victory of his burgeoning professional career, and it marked the first time since 2018 that a pro had won the State Open, ending a streak of four straight wins by amateurs. Burgess finished a stroke clear of Shim, who finished as low amateur with a three-day 204 (69-68-67).
Burgess, a former Virginia Tech standout who grew up in Lynchburg and played for E.C. Glass High School, plays out of Independence on a daily basis, so the win was extra special. He had a large group of family and friends supporting him.
"It means the world," Burgess said. "Obviously, I've been trying to win one of these things for a while. Feels nice to get it done, especially here. I guess I can call this my home now. To win in front of this entire support system I have, it feels amazing."
Four players tied for third at 8-under 205: professionals Mark Lawrence Jr. and Brandon Berry, and amateurs Scott Shingler and LaRue. Amateurs Bryce Corbett and Drew Brockwell tied for seventh at 7-under 206. Rounding the the top 10 were three players tied for ninth: amateurs Patrick Gareiss, Sam Beach, and Mehrbaan Singh.
LaRue, who plays at Longwood University, reached 10-under with a birdie on the par-3 14th. After hitting his drive right on 15, he hit his approach over the green before making a marvelous up-and-down to save par. After a par at 16, his driver again went astray on 17. His tee shot on the par-5 hole rattled through the trees lining the left side of the fairway and eventually settled in the rough left of the cart path near No. 12 tee. Unfazed, LaRue hit an excellent shot over the trees to the edge of the fairway, then hit his approach to four feet. His birdie putt lipped out, sending him to the final tee still at 10-under.
Shim, a University of Florida signee who recently qualified for the U.S. Amateur, surged at the end of his round to get himself in position to at least force a playoff. He birdied 15, 16, and 17 before the fateful three-putt on the final green.
"I knew the position I was in, and I would have loved to have made the putt," Shim said. "I really felt comfortable over it and I was really focused, but the last thing I forgot about was the speed. It happens. It hurts to miss a comebacker, but that's golf."
Shingler (Dominion Valley CC) opened Sunday with the lead but made bogeys on Nos. 3 and 4 to fall down the leaderboard. Though he rallied back to level par for the day with birdies on Nos. 6 and 8, he was never able to get it going on the back nine, making one birdie, one bogey, and seven pars.
Burgess netted $9,000 for his victory, a nice payday as he hopes to continue his professional career. He plans on giving Korn Ferry Tour qualifying school another shot this fall, and the confidence gained from winning against a strong field this week can only help.
"Professional golf is tough," Burgess said. "You kind of have to ride the momentum when you have it and get lucky at the right time. ... Just small steps in the right direction. Hopefully I can play well and advance to the next stage, and from there, hopefully everything goes well."
Notable:
- Burgess, Berry, and amateur Jordan Utley each shot 5-under 66s on Sunday for the low round of the day. Utley's round helped him move 24 spots up the leaderboard to 21st.
- Berry, a former Loyola (Md.) standout who grew up in Great Falls, finished second in last week's Maryland Open.
- Kyle Fuller, PGA and Josh Speight, PGA each posted three-day totals of 4-under 209 to tie for 12th and tie for low PGA professional honors.
- Shim and Corbett were the only players to shoot all three rounds in the 60s this weekend.
Round 2: Shingler clings to one-shot lead
(Pictured: Scott Shingler. Credit: Chris Lang/VSGA)
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MIDLOTHIAN -- Haymarket amateur Scott Shingler backed up an opening-round 66 with a second-round 68 on Saturday for a two-day aggregate total of 8-under 134 and will enter Sunday's third and final round of the State Open of Virginia at Independence Golf Club with a one-shot lead over collegians Mehrbaan Singh (Virginia Tech) and Justin LaRue (Longwood).
Shingler, winner of the 2011 Virginia State Golf Association Amateur championship and a member at Dominion Valley Country Club, is seeking his first title in the State Open of Virginia. He finished with six birdies and three bogeys on Saturday. He got it to 9-under at one point before back-to-back bogeys on 6 and 7. He recovered for a birdie on the par-5 8th and a par on No. 9 to end his round.
LaRue, a member at The Golf Club at the Highlands, rode a sensational front-nine 30 to rise into contention. He started off No. 10 and was 1-over at the turn with eight pars and a bogey. But a chip-in on No. 1 (his 10th hole) jumpstarted the round and was the first of six consecutive birdies. His only blemish was a bogey on No. 8, but he rallied on No. 9 by sticking his tee shot to two feet and converting the birdie putt to end his round.
Singh, a member at The Golf Club at Lansdowne, finished with five birdies and three bogeys and continued to ride a hot putter to success.
Seven players were tied for fourth at 5-under-par 137: Amateurs Samir Davidov (George Mason), Drew Brockwell (recent Virginia Tech graduate), Ashton Harper (Virginia Tech signee), Bryce Corbett (Radford), Rylan Shim (University of Florida signee), Adam Hooker (Western Carolina), and professional Connor Burgess.
Four are tied for 11th at 4-under 138: Liberty's Isaac Simmons, professional Mark Lawrence Jr., Virginia Tech's David Stanford, and Richmond mid-amateur Sam Beach.
Play will begin off tees 1 and 10 on Sunday, starting at 8 a.m.
Notable:
- Sixty players made the cut for Sunday's third and final round. Among those who made the cut on the number at 5-over 147 was 2022 champion Nick Taliaferro, who shot 73-72 over the tournament's first two days.
- The low PGA professional after two rounds is Springfield G&CC Larkin Gross, who is tied for 15th at 3-under 139.
- Eight of the nine eagles over the first two days came on the par-5 8th, which has played as the easiest hole all three years the event has been held at Independence. The other eagle came when amateur Austin Smith holed out from the fairway on the par-4 5th.
- Brandon Sipe (Kiln Creek GC & Resort), the youngest player in the field at age 14, made the cut and is tied for 19th at 2-under 140. The oldest player in the field, 72-year-old PGA Life Member Dick Mast, shot 3-over 145 and also made the cut.
Quotable:
Scott Shingler
- "I'm obviously in a good spot. I'm still playing pretty well, hitting fairways and greens and getting some good looks at putts. I'm not getting out of position often. Just kind of grinding away at it."
- "I was trying to get 4- or 5-under again for today to get to double digits. I was close. I had a couple of mistakes. I let a flier lie get away from me on 6 and I hit a bad tee shot on 7. Other than that, I played a pretty solid round of golf."
- "Just sticking to the game plan. I know where to put the ball. It's just executing the shots and staying in the right frame of mind, and we'll see what happens."
Mehrbaan Singh
- "I'm proud with the way I played today. My only goal for today was to give myself a shot going into tomorrow, and I did that. You have to stay pretty close to Scott, because as you saw the first day, he can get pretty hot. Putting myself up near the top was what my goal was at the end of the day."
- "It definitely helps the confidence knowing that it wasn't just a one time thing, knowing that I have the game in me. I've been hitting the driver well, putting well, doing everything well, and saving pars when I need to. It's pretty important." -- on backing up Friday's strong round with another one on Saturday.
- "The greens are really firm and fast, so you take a little less club going into them. The fairways are starting to bake out a little bit. Knowing where to hit the driver and where to miss it ... I've done a really good job of controlling where I miss the ball this week. That's definitely helped."
Rylan Shim
- "My irons have been the strong suit of my game right now. I've been hitting them well enough that some putts are bound to fall. I've just got to keep the driver in play where ever I'm at, and I can set myself up for a good round for the day."
- "Sometimes you have a little luck in your game. I pulled it, and it got a good kick and rolled right up there. I was really excited when I got to the ball." -- on his birdie on 6, where he hit his approach inside of a foot.
- "I played in the afternoon yesterday and it played a little tougher. The greens out here get a little quicker. I'm really happy with how I played today and I'm looking forward to tomorrow."
Mark Lawrence Jr.
- "Not a whole lot. I guess the ball went a little straighter for me. I'm not really striking it the way I'd like to, so I'm kind of scrambling out there. But I made a couple of putts and at least had a decent round today." -- on the difference between Friday and Saturday.
- "My wrist is OK. It hurts, but I can play. It's just an adjustment. I'm trying to sort of figure out my golf swing with it. It's a work in progress."
- "It does give me an advantage to an extent, but I get the feeling I'm going to be a few shots back, so I'm going to have to put something really low up tomorrow to have any kind of chance."
Isaac Simmons
- "Honestly, not that much. It's golf. I actually thought tee-to-green I played better yesterday. I just had some weird, uncharacteristic bad mistakes. I hit it out of bounds on 17 and I had a couple of three-putts. I just told myself today my goal was to not make a bogey and see how many birdies I could make. I did that today, had five birdies and no bogeys. Pretty similar round to yesterday, but I just kind of cleaned it up and didn't make those mistakes."
- "Kind of? I feel that in the past 10- or 11-under has won this in the past. I'm at 4-under. I haven't really looked at the scores, but that would be my goal, to get to 10-under. I think I could get to 6- or 7-under tomorrow, but it's not easy. I'll be in the mix. I would have liked to have gotten one or two more today, but I've got a chance."
Justin LaRue
- "I didn't have any good looks throughout the day. I had all pars and a bogey on the back nine, which was my front nine. The chip-in (for birdie on 1) really helped me out. I started getting a lot more aggressive wedges and hitting better tee balls from there. I started making a lot of good putts, which really helped me out."
- "You try to make more birdies. I made my putt on 6 and I was like, 'I just need three more.' I just wanted to keep making as many birdies as I could. I was doing everything the same, not trying to change up what I had been doing all day." -- on his six-birdie streak
- "I just went to the next shot. I made a lot of mistakes on the 8th hole, but you've still got to stay in the moment, you know?" -- on sticking his tee shot on the par-3 9th to 2 feet.
- "My game has just gotten a lot better. I've been working really hard at it, spending many hours a day grinding at it, and the work is starting to pay off, which is really nice."
Drew Brockwell
- "I hit it alright. I had a rough start again but I kind of got it going. I felt alright coming in, but I hit a little bit of a bumpy stretch the last three holes."
- "I didn't even it hit it that had. I hit a good shot, caught a bad break in the bunker. I missed a close putt and made double. But I knew I was playing well. I just continued to hit good shots, hit a few good putts coming in, and got it back."
- "I just want to go out and play my game. Hopefully the putter gets rolling, and we'll see what happens."
Ashton Harper
- "I got off to a slow start, 2-over on my front nine, which is the back nine here. Then I caught fire. I made a 30-footer on No. 1 (for birdie) really get my round going, then I just had a huge chip-in on 3 from behind the green, really well executed and it dropped right in, so that was big. Then I made a few more short putts for birdie on the back nine and kept it going from there."
- "I was just trying to stay in contention and have a good spot to go after the lead tomorrow."
- "My expectations are to go out and have a good round and maybe make a run at the lead. If not, a top 10 would be great."
Round 1: Shingler posts 66, takes early lead
(Pictured: Scott Shingler. Credit: Chris Lang/VSGA)
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MIDLOTHIAN -- Haymarket amateur Scott Shingler fired a 5-under-par 66 on Friday morning at Independence Golf Club to take the 18-hole lead at the 2023 State Open of Virginia.
Shingler, the 2011 VSGA Amateur champion and former George Mason standout, rode a streak of six straight birdies in the middle of his round to the lead. He ended the day one stroke clear of George Mason's Samir Davidov (a past VSGA Junior Stroke Play champion), and Virginia Tech teammates Mehrbaan Singh and David Stanford, all of whom returned rounds of 4-under 67. Former Hokie Drew Brockwell shot the best round of the afternoon, his 4-under 67 allowing him to join the current Tech players in the tie for second.
Five players were tied for sixth after posting 3-under 68s. In the morning wave, Radford University's Bryce Corbett, past VSGA Amateur champion Joey Lane, and Charlottesville amateur Brian O'Dea, a member at Farmington Country Club, all posted 3-under rounds. They were joined by rising Virginia Tech freshman Ashton Harper and Greene Hills Club's Mikey Moyers, who also returned 68 playing in the afternoon.
After Saturday's second round, the field will be cut to the low 60 players and ties for Sunday's third and final round.
Notable:
- Shingler opened par-bogey before making two straight birdies. After two consecutive pars--including a nice comebacker save on No. 6--Shingler made birdies on his next six holes to get to 7-under for the round before cooling off. He hit his drive on No. 17 out of bounds ("Worst shot I've hit in 10 years, he said"), leading to a double bogey that brought him back to the pack.
- Davidvov, a member at Roanoke Country Club, started on No. 10 and was 1-over through six holes but rallied with birdies on 16 and 17. He played his final 12 holes at 5-under. Davidov closed his junior career last summer by winning the VSGA Junior Stroke Play title at River Bend Club.
- Singh started off the back and finished hot, making four birdies in his last five holes, including two straight to end his round.
- Stanford posted a bit of a psycho scorecard, finishing with six birdies, an eagle, and four bogeys. Stanford is a past winner of the VSGA Junior Stroke Play and Junior Match Play championships and a past finalist in the VSGA Amateur.
- Corbett, who tied for the low competitive round at Independence with a 62 in the third round in 2021, seemed on track to have a chance to at least match that on Friday. He was 5-under through 12 holes but hit a snag with bogeys on 14 and 18 to finish at 3-under.
- Lane was the low professional on Friday. Kyle Fuller, tied for 11th at 2-under, was the low PGA professional.
- Defending champion Nick Taliaferro is a 3-over 74 and is tied for 62nd
- Of the past champions in the field, four-time champ Jay Woodson's 1-under 70 was the best score, followed by Mark Lawrence Jr. at even-par 71.
- No. 1, a 460-yard par-4 playing into the wind, was the toughest hole on Friday. No. 13, which has been the toughest hole the last two years at Independence, was the second toughest. The 535-yard par-5 8th was the easiest hole once again, playing to a 4.79 scoring average while yielding three eagles.
Quotable:
- "The ball was in the fairway, and I had some good numbers into the pins. I hit some decent shots, nothing really tight. I hit one tight on 9. The rest of them, I was making I'd say 7- to 14-footers. I snuck in a long one on 3, that was pretty good--a 25- or 30-footer. I had some good looks and I was able to convert the putts." -- Shingler on his six-birdie streak
- "You're just trying to stay with your process, not only physically with your pre-shot routine, but mentally as well--keeping that mental focus. It's easy to try to think ahead or get excited, but the game's a brutal game. If you start doing that, you can start giving shots back. You're just trying to put everything on repeat mentally and with the swing." -- Shingler on staying focused during the birdie run.
- "Yeah, I didn't have many pars today. It kind of started off rocky. I bogeyed the second hole and birdied the next one. I had a rough bogey on the par-5 and then it was kind of a birdie train from there. Highlight of the day was hole 8, I made an eagle. I hit it in from 212 (yards out) to 8 feet or so and cashed the putt." -- Stanford
- "I've been playing really solid, just pretty consistent in every tournament. I've just been kind of waiting for that tournament where I go off. Hopefully it'll be this one." -- Stanford
- "I feel pretty good. Had a great start, and it's always good to get off to a good start in these tournaments where the field is so deep. Just happy with the start I had." -- Singh
- "I was at 3-under going into the last hole. I honestly just hit a good shot and then I was kind of just hoping. I had a 30-footer (for birdie) and I was like, 'if it goes in, it goes in.' I just wanted to give myself a tap-in for three. Fortunately it went in. That's always a good feeling." -- Singh on his closing birdie on 9.
- "I definitely have to keep it up. The guys in this tournament aren't going to let down, so I'm going to have to go post a score tomorrow to keep in contention." -- Singh
- "Really, I just started putting it well. On the front nine, I didn't hit it horrible, but I didn't hit anything close. I hit a couple of putts but didn't putt phenomenal. When I got to the back nine, I missed a close one on 11, but one fell on 12, and it was like the gates opened. Everything started falling." -- Brockwell
- "They were tough. The greens were definitely tougher than in the practice round yesterday. I played earlier in the week and they were a little softer. They've definitely firmed up. I hit a couple of wedges that definitely bounced farther than I thought they would. It definitely toughened up, but it's still pretty scoreable." -- Brockwell
- "I'm excited to get up and play when it's a little less hot. I'm excited to get some fresh greens in the morning. Looking forward to going out there and hitting it solid, and hopefully hit a few putts as well." -- Brockwell