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Dates: Friday, July 19 - Sunday, July 21
Format: Three rounds of stroke play. Field of 144 players (amateur and professional) will start on Friday, with morning (7:30 a.m.) and afternoon (12:30 p.m.) waves going off holes 1 and 10. The top 60 and ties advance to Sunday's final round. If there's a tie after 54 holes, a sudden-death playoff will be utilized to determine a champion.
Host site: Independence Golf Club
Note: The State Open of Virginia is conducted jointly by the Middle Atlantic PGA and the Virginia State Golf Association.
Sunday recap show: A wrap up of the State Open will be shown on the following stations around Virginia on Sunday.
- 5-6pm, WGNT (CW) Norfolk
- 5-6pm, WSET (ABC) Roanoke
- 5-6pm, WCYB (CW) Bristol
- 530-630pm, WVAW (ABC) Charlottesville
- 6-7pm, WTVR, (CBS) Richmond
Day 3: Reilly sinks 30-footer in playoff to win State Open title
(Logan Reilly with caddie Matthew Monastero. Credit: Kate Brown/VSGA)
By Chris Lang
MIDLOTHIAN -- Logan Reilly spoke openly after Saturday's second round of the State Open of Virginia about loving being in the position to put pressure on others in his group when it counted most. So imagine the feeling he had on Sunday afternoon on the 18th green at Independence Golf Club in a sudden-death playoff. He and four-time State Open champion Jay Woodson had each hit their approaches on the par-4 hole to about 30 feet. Woodson was about a foot closer, meaning the scenario Reilly envisioned had come to fruition.
Reilly was first to putt, and he delicately trickled his birdie putt toward the hole, where it made a subtle right turn at the last second and dropped in the cup. He celebrated wildly afterward, turning toward the gallery assembled, yelling, pumping his fists and flexing. Once the fervor settled, Woodson took his chance, hitting on roughly the same line. His attempt rolled toward the hole, dead center, before it stopped, two rolls short of going in.
Reilly, a 17-year-old from Lovettsville, became just the second player in the merged State Open era to win both the Virginia State Golf Association Amateur Championship and State Open of Virginia in the same year, joining Mark Lawrence Jr., who did it in 2020. Reilly posted rounds of 65-69-67 for a three-day aggregate total of 12-under 201.
"It hasn't really sunk in yet," said Reilly, a rising senior at Bishop O'Connell High School who is committed to play at Auburn University. "If you would have told me that earlier in the year, I would have definitely taken it. It's literally everything I could have asked for."
Woodson, who last won the State Open in 2016 at Ballyhack, forced himself into the conversation with an incredible round on Sunday. Starting in the fourth-to-last group, Woodson tied the Independence competitive course record with a 9-under 62 that included eight birdies, an eagle and a bogey. He got up and down for par on 18 to get to the clubhouse at 12-under (68-71-62) and waited. A similar scenario unfolded during his last victory in 2016 at Ballyhack, when he went out early and posted a 65 then waited patiently as Lawrence and Lanto Griffin struggled down the stretch, allowing him to join a playoff, which he won on the second hole.
"Did I think I had it in me? Sure, I thought I had it in me," Woodson said. "Did I think it was going to happen? Definitely not. You just keep thinking and believing and you just kind of talk yourself into it, that it's a possibility. Then you have to do this. I've done this a couple of times before, where I get hot on Sunday and just try to put some pressure on the lead. Today, we got it going and rode the wave as long as we could."
Both Reilly and Woodson bogeyed the par-3 14th for their only blemishes of the day. Woodson recovered with a key birdie on 15. Reilly made his on 16 and nearly had another on 17 to get to 13-under. But he said he misread a 6-footer and it slid left, leaving him to incredulously say, "no way!"
Reilly's worst swing of the tournament came on 18 on Saturday, a wayward drive that ended deep in a penalty area, leaving him to scramble and eventually make double bogey. He said he'd wiped that swing from his memory by the time he stepped to 18 tee on Sunday, and he striped his drive right down the middle. His approach wandered left of the hole, leaving him a long lag to ensure at worst par to force a playoff. He nearly sank the long birdie putt but tapped in for par. A key thing happened on that hole, though. One of his playing partners, Brandon Berry, had about a 30-foot putt from above the hole that he barely missed, which Reilly studied, not knowing he would have almost the exact same putt on the playoff hole. When Reilly stepped up to his putt in the playoff, he remembered Berry's read and took a similar line to the hole.
Reilly also became the first junior golfer to win the State Open in the merged era (1985-present). Next up, Reilly has two more chances to showcase his game on the national stage, as he'll compete in next week's Junior PGA Championship at Congressional Country Club in Maryland, and then head to Hazeltine in Minnesota in August to compete in the U.S. Amateur.
NOTABLE
- Reilly and Woodson finished two strokes clear of Berry, who finished with a 10-under total of 203. Berry quickly hustled to the Richmond airport afterward, where he was set to catch a flight to Minnesota to play in the Monday qualifier for the PGA Tour's 3M Championship.
- Three players tied for fourth at 9-under 204: Connor Burgess (the 2023 champion), amateur Sam Beach, and professional George Duangmanee.
- Larkin Gross, PGA, followed his opening round 72 with consecutive 68s to finish at 5-under 208, garnering low PGA professional honors.
- Twenty-four of the 60 players who made the cut posted under-par rounds on Sunday.
- The biggest mover of the day was Kyle Fuller, PGA, who posted a 65 to move up 30 spots on the leaderboard into a tie for 20th. Fuller opened with a 79 but finished 67-65 to finish 2-under overall.
Day 2: Reilly, Berry tied for 36-hole lead
(Co-leader Brandon Berry. Credit: Chris Lang/VSGA)
By Chris Lang
MIDLOTHIAN -- Logan Reilly appeared to be cruising to the clubhouse with a two-stroke lead on Saturday afternoon at Independence. But "one bad swing" led to a double bogey on the final hole, meaning there's a tie atop the leaderboard heading into the third and final round of the State Open of Virginia.
Reilly, the 17-year-old Virginia State Golf Association Amateur champion from Lovettsville, enters the final round tied with professional Brandon Berry, a former Loyola (Md.) standout from Great Falls. Each posted two-day aggregate totals of 8-under 134 over the event's first two days. They'll be joined by former UVA star George Duangmanee, who sits alone in third at 6-under 136. The final group will go off No. 1 at 9:10 a.m.
Cloudy conditions gave way to at times heavy rain in the middle of the afternoon on Saturday. By the end of the round, though, the rain cleared and gave way to sunshine and considerably less humid conditions. Sunday is expected to be sunny and seasonably warm.
Reilly's double left him with a 2-under 69 for the day. His drive on the par-4 18th leaked right and hit a tree before settling deep in a penalty area, costing him a stroke. His approach then came up short of the green, and he was unable to get up and down for bogey.
Berry posted a second straight 4-under 67, and Duangmanee returned a second straight 3-under 68.
Sam Beach, the 2023 VSGA Golfer of the Year, is tied for fourth at 5-under 137 after scrambling to an even-par 71 in Saturday's second round. He's joined by defending State Open champion Connor Burgess, who is lurking at 5-under 137 after returning a 3-under 68 on Saturday.
Reilly, 17, is looking to become just the fourth player in history to win both the VSGA Amateur and State Open in the same year. Mark Lawrence Jr. (2020), Steve Smith (1979), and Vinny Giles (1969) are the only ones to accomplish the feat. Reilly is also vying to be the first junior golfer to win the State Open in the merged open era (1985-present).
NOTABLE
- Four players are tied for sixth at 4-under 138: Adam Hooker, Ross Funderburke, Cameron Moore, and Greg Pieczynski, PGA. Pieczynski is currently the low PGA professional.
- Berry has made just two bogeys in the tournament, on No. 18 in Friday's first round and on No. 17 on Saturday. The one on 17 came thanks to a confluence of unfortunate circumstances. He hit a poor driver off the deck for his second shot, and then on the green facing a 30-foot par putt, someone in the gallery loudly opened a bag of potato chips in the middle of his backswing, causing him to lose focus and run it four feet past. "Unfortunate timing, it scared me a little bit, and I yanked it," Berry said.
- Berry has a late afternoon flight out of Richmond on Sunday to head to Minnesota, where he'll look to try to Monday qualify for a fourth PGA Tour event this season--the 3M Championship.
- Three other players in the morning wave Saturday joined Berry by shooting 4-under-par 67: Adam Hooker, Ross Funderburke, and Kyle Fuller. Hooker and Funderburke each posted even-par opening rounds and stand at 4-under overall. Fuller made the move of the day with his 67, which came after an opening-round 79. Fuller closed his round with a kick-in birdie on 18 after and excellent approach left him inside of a foot.
- Duangmanee got hot in the middle of his round, carding four straight birdies from 8-11 before hitting some speed bumps later on the back nine. He made another birdie on 15, but that was sandwiched by bogeys on 14 and 16.
- Duangmanee is competing in his first tournament as a professional. He said he plans on attending Korn Ferry Tour Q School in the fall.
- Burgess was 2-over through five holes in Friday's first round, but he's played his last 31 holes at 7-under to get back into contention.
- Among the notable players who missed the cut were Samir Davidov (past VSGA Junior Stroke Play champion), Alex Hoffman, PGA (winner of last week's Maryland Open), Isaac Simmons (played in 2023 U.S. Open), Roger Newsom (two-time State Open champion), and David Stanford (past VSGA Amateur finalist).
QUOTABLE
- "That was unfortunate. My one bad swing of the day, really. I just blasted it right, it hit the trees and bounced into the penalty area. Then I hit a good 7-iron but it got up on top of the false front and came all the way down." -- Reilly on his double bogey
- "It's not the way I wanted to end. But it's one bad swing. I can't be too mad about it." -- Reilly
- "I honestly like my position heading into tomorrow. I like being tied or a couple of shots behind, chasing, so yeah, I'm excited for tomorrow. I'm in a good position." -- Reilly
- "I just try to focus on my game. But I love putting pressure on other people in the group. If I'm pushing and attacking, I can kind of get them out of their rhythm, especially if they're trying to force stuff. So that's my plan tomorrow. Try to attack and put the pressure on my opponents." -- Reilly
- "Just really steady all day. It stings to bogey 17 and not finish bogey-free, and to bogey a par-5. But still, pretty pleased overall with today." -- Brandon Berry
- "I've hit it three times this week -- I'm pretty good at it. I'm really good at hitting this low tee stinger ball, and hitting (driver off the deck) is really similar." -- Berry
- "I was in the final group of the Mass Open last month and I won that, so I've had some experience there. And I've been in a lot of high-pressure situations this year. I've learned a lot and have executed pretty well in those situations." -- Berry
- "The feeling of successfully Mondaying is like nothing I've ever experienced. It's better than winning a tournament. You go into the day with no expectations. The next thing you know you're 5-, 6-under through 13 and all of a sudden you have a chance. Down the stretch, you're so nervous, because it's not like you're an alternate if you miss by one. You're trunk slamming and going home. So I've learned a lot from those high-pressure situations, and I think I'll be ready for tomorrow." -- Berry
- "I'm definitely not worried about people following me any more. In Detroit, there were a couple of holes where probably 1,000 people were watching me hit shots. I've gotten more comfortable playing in front of a ton of people." -- Berry on his PGA Tour experiences this year
- "With it being pretty wet, it was pretty scoreable. The greens were holding a lot better than yesterday. They weren't as firm, so it was easier to attack the pins. For my round, I attacked the pins and I made the putts. So it was good to see." -- George Duangmanee
- "Those are tougher holes on the back nine, so I'm not too worried about that. I knew coming into today, coming down the stretch, those would be tougher holes. I had to get through it. It is what it is, I made a couple of bogeys, but I'm still happy with today's round." -- Duangmanee
- "I'm hoping to get into the last pairing, to see what those guys do. It would be a good experience to finish off the tournament that way." -- Duangmanee
- "I've spoken with my team at UVA about this. It's about sticking to my game plan. Bob Rotella is a big influence for me, and he's big on sticking to a game plan. It's watching what those guys do, but not really focusing and changing how I play the golf course. The way I play the golf course has fit me, and it's worked for me so far, so I'm not really going to change it." -- Duangmanee
- "I've definitely matured a lot in golf, and in my life. Definitely a lot more consistency, a lot better coaching. I've seen a big improvement in my short game, and plotting my way around a golf course is really important. Coach (Bowen) Sargent, every tournament and every round, he's map out a game plan for us. And I've taken the same approach, and I've learned from that." -- Duangmanee on his career at UVA
- "Yesterday was definitely a difficult start, but that's going to happen, even if it's your home course. I've managed to find myself in that situation quite a bit this year, so I'm learning how to come back from that a little better. Today, I hit it a little better. I hit a lot more greens. I just couldn't get the putter hot. But all in all, a fine round." -- Connor Burgess
- "I think I'm in the exact same spot as I was last year. There's definitely more out there for me. I know I'm capable of shooting something really low out here. It's just hard to put it all together. That's just the way the game goes sometimes." -- Burgess
- "That's one of the reasons I wanted to play this week. I knew I could come out here and win. It's been a tough year obviously, but I just figured I'm come out here and try to enjoy myself. And I am for the most part. I'm looking forward to tomorrow. Hopefully I don't have to come back from too far behind." -- Burgess on his year to date
Day 1: Reilly sets early pace
(First-round leader Logan Reilly. Credit: Lauren Jones/VSGA)
By Chris Lang
MIDLOTHIAN -- Logan Reilly's sizzling summer continued in the first round of the State Open of Virginia on Friday at Independence Golf Club.
Reilly, the 17-year-old Virginia State Golf Association Amateur champion from Lovettsville, posted a bogey-free, 6-under-par 65 during Friday's morning wave to grab the early lead. Reilly holds a one-stroke lead over top mid-amateur Sam Beach of Richmond, who returned a 5-under-par round of 66 on Friday.
Along with the victory in the VSGA Amateur at Belle Haven CC last month, Reilly won the prestigious Scott Robertson Memorial at Roanoke CC in May, and he was part of the winning East squad at last week's AJGA Wyndham Cup. He's ranked No. 21 nationally in the AJGA boys rankings.
Radford University's Bobby Dudeck III also posted a bogey-free round, a 4-under 67 that left him tied for third, two strokes off the lead. Former Loyola (Md.) standout Brandon Berry of Great Falls also posted a 4-under 67 with five birdies and one bogey, on the par-4 18th.
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
- Reilly is looking to join an elite list of competitors who have won the VSGA Amateur and State Open of Virginia in the same year. The list is a short one: Mark Lawrence Jr. (2020), Steve Smith (1979), and Vinny Giles (1969).
- Reilly finished his round with consecutive birdies.
- Beach was the 2023 VSGA Golfer of the Year. He made seven birdies and bogeyed holes No. 1 and 9.
- Berry has played in three PGA Tour events this season via Monday qualifiers, and he won the Massachusetts Open last month. Though he scrambled to get to the 10th tee (where he started) on time, his round started with a bang as he drove the green on the par-4 hole but missed the 6-foot eagle putt and settled for birdie.
- Four-time State Open Jay Woodson posted a 3-under 68 on Friday that featured five birdies and three bogeys.
- Former UVA standout George Duangmanee of Fairfax, now competing as a professional, returned a 3-under 68. Starting on No. 10, he opened his round with back-to-back birdies before making nine straight pars. He added birdies on 3 and 8 on his back nine, with his only blemish being a bogey on the par-4 5th.
- Former Virginia Tech player Joey Jordan was 4-under through 15 holes but made bogeys on Nos. 7 and 9 (he started on 10) to finish at 2-under 69.
- Defending champion Connor Burgess was 2-over through five holes but rallied to play the rest of his round at 4-under to finish with a 2-under 69.
- Dick Mast, PGA -- who at 73 is the oldest player in the field -- posted a wild round. He shot 5-under on the front with six birdies and a bogey but struggled on the back. He made double bogey on the par-3 11th and made two more bogeys to finish the back at 4-over, leaving him with an opening-round 1-under 71.
QUOTABLE
- "I got through some of the tougher holes, 11-15, at even. If you can do that, it should be a good round." -- Logan Reilly
- "I got to the front nine and played perfect golf, really. I didn't miss any shots. Just hit to the middle of greens, 10-15 feet every time. I took advantage of the par-5s. Then on 9, I hit a good 7-iron to about 8 feet and made it." -- Reilly
- "Ever since the start of the year, I've just been playing really good golf. I'm not sure what it is. It doesn't feel too hard right now, which is the best feeling in the world. Whenever I'm playing right now, I just don't feel like I'm going to miss many shots. That's definitely helpful in attacking some pins. If it's tucked, I'm not scared of it. That's freeing me up so much. Once you get to playing some consistently good golf, it keeps on going, it feels like." -- Reilly
- "Definitely, getting off to a hot start is very important. I think there's rain coming tomorrow, so it can help, getting off to a hot start, rather than having to battle back through multiple delays tomorrow. I'm in a good place right now, and I'm looking forward to the next couple of days." -- Reilly
- "I feel like I got a lot of good breaks, where some shots that I thought were maybe marginal landed soft and hung in there. It was just one of those days where it kind of all went my way." -- Sam Beach
- "I think it's very important, especially in weather like this. It rained last night, so the greens aren't super firm. So getting off to a good start is very important. You don't want to put yourself behind the 8-ball. It's a good start, so I hope I can keep it going the next two days." -- Beach
- "I haven't really played that much lately. But when you're out there and you get it going and the juices get flowing, it can be a little easier. I was able to keep it in front of me. I didn't hit many errant shots. I hit greens and gave myself a lot of looks at birdie, and I was able to capitalize on a few of them." -- Beach
- "The putter was a little off today. The approach shots were good pretty much all day. The par 3s are probably the toughest thing out here, and I hit every one to 20 feet or in. You can kind of spray it out here, which I did. But the approach shots can keep you in it. I probably hit 15 greens, and I had about 25 feet for birdie a lot today. But the putter was just a little off." -- Bobby Dudeck III
- "Early in the round, I hit a few wedges tight and knocked them in. Bogey avoidance, as I like to say. It's a lot easier to shoot 4-under with only four birdies rather than with seven or eight birdies." -- Dudeck
- "I felt really good all summer until the last week. I got with my coach, Chris George, and we worked on some things, with the irons especially. And I absolutely striped it today with the mid-irons. If I can get the putter going tomorrow, it'll be way lower out here." -- Dudeck
- "I think the best putters in this field are going to be the ones who do the best. I played with Logan at the Am, and he absolutely rolls it. I'm sure he made a lot of putts today, and I'm sure I'll make some more tomorrow. Hopefully I can make just as many and be in the mix on Sunday." -- Dudeck
- "I made a lot of really nice saves on my front nine to really keep the round going. I hit it great today and made some nice putts. The game is really solid. I felt like I left a couple out there, but I'm looking forward to getting back after it tomorrow." -- Brandon Berry
- "I expected to contend. I came in third last year, lost by two. I won the Mass Open earlier this summer, so I'm no stranger to playing State Opens. I really wanted to give myself a chance come the last day, and I feel like I got off to a great start today and hopefully I can have another great round tomorrow." -- Berry
- "I think it's just maturing a little bit. When a lot of people tell you you're playing really well, it definitely rubs off on you. I just have a lot of confidence right now." -- Berry
- "My speed was a little off with the putter. I made a lot of nice comebackers, but I was a little firm and high all day. If I have a little better speed, I'm probably three or four (shots) better today. Hopefully I can sort that out before I go tomorrow and just keep hitting it like I'm hitting it, because I'm hitting it great." -- Berry
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