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Dates: Monday, September 8 and Tuesday, September 9
Format: Two rounds of stroke play. If there is a tie after 36 holes, a sudden death playoff will be utilized to determine a champion.
Note: The Senior Open of Virginia is conducted jointly by the Middle Atlantic PGA and the Virginia State Golf Association.
Host site: Independence Golf Club
Day 2: Schuller repeats as Senior Open of Virginia champion
(Rick Schuller, middle, tips his cap to the gallery after winning the Senior Open of Virginia on Tuesday. Credit: Chris Lang/VSGA)
By Chris Lang
MIDLOTHIAN -- After Monday's first round of the 20th Senior Open of Virginia, Rick Schuller talked about motivation and how to find it when you've seemingly accomplished all that you've wanted over the course of a career. Senior Open and State Open of Virginia titles. PGA Championship appearances. A spot in the MAPGA Hall of Fame. Schuller had ticked all of those boxes. But, as he noted on a dazzling Tuesday afternoon at Independence Golf Club, winning never gets old.
Schuller posted an even-par 72 for a two-day aggregate total of 3-under 141, one better than fellow PGA professional Jimmy Flippen, to win his fourth Senior Open of Virginia title and his second in a row. He won by one stroke last year across the Richmond metro at Willow Oaks Country Club, and he won previous titles at Independence and The Country Club of Virginia's Westhampton Course. To put it in raw numbers, Schuller has won exactly one fifth of the Senior Opens contested since its inception in 2006.
"It's the thrill of competition, I think," said Schuller, who played through a thumb injury that forced him to change the grips on his clubs. "In this sport, we're able to do that, we're able to compete long past our prime, so to speak. There's a quality field here, and you know you have to play well to finish it. I don't care where you're playing, to win, you still have to do something well. I managed to do enough today to get it done."
Nabbing that fourth title wasn't easy. A tricky wind made for challenging conditions for the field, and Schuller was not exempt. He hit his opening drive into a penalty area and then misjudged the wind on No. 2, leading to a bogey-bogey start. He settled in after that, birdies on 5 and 9 getting him back to level par at the turn. Though Flippen was in the mix all day, amateur Jon Hurst -- the VSGA Senior Stroke Play champion -- was Schuller's biggest threat. The players were tied at 3-under at one point, but bogeys on 12 and 17 curtailed Hurst's chances.
Still, Hurst earned low amateur honors by two strokes over Scott Shingler, capping a strong year in VSGA championships that included a quarterfinal appearance in the VSGA Senior Amateur and a trip to the U.S. Senior Amateur, where he advanced to match play.
"It's been a successful year," Hurst said. "I've won a couple of good tournaments, all in all, a success."
The key sequence for Schuller was in the middle of the inward nine. He made a bogey on the par-3 14th but immediately rebounded with a birdie on the par-4 15th. He nearly added another on No. 16.
"My game could have gone either way today," Schuller said. "I guess it's that persistence and determination that I was born with. I refused to give up, even though I wasn't executing great."
Schuller, who teaches at Meadowbrook Country Club in south Richmond, went to 18 tee with a two-stroke lead. His drive strayed left and his approach came up just short of the greenside bunker. In preparation for his next shot, he asked a simple question: "Did Jimmy make par here?"
With the fact that Flippen had indeed made par confirmed, and knowing he'd need only to make bogey to win, he played it safe and gave himself about a 6-foot look for par after a nifty flop over the bunker. Schuller two-putted to seal the win.
"It was challenging out there today, but drawing on past experiences is what I did," Schuller said. "I feel like it's a rebirth now with these grips, trying to figure out a game again that I've done a certain way for 35 years. That's the challenge that keeps me going, to have some bragging rights as I age. Winning doesn't get old, I can say that."
NOTABLE
- Schuller won $1,050, which was 15 percent of the professional purse.
- Schuller made it five wins in a row for professionals in this event, following a run of four straight wins by amateurs.
- Hurst's struggles on the back nine cost him both days. He played the front at 6-under over the two days, and the back at 5-over. He didn't make a birdie on the back either day.
- Amateur Jeffrey Klatt and past champion Tim Lewis, PGA, posted the best rounds of the day, each player returning a 3-under 69. Klatt moved 29 spots up the leaderboard and tied for 10th. Lewis moved up 38 spots and tied for 16th.
- Jim Estes, PGA, a first-round co-leader, shot a 2-over 74 and finished at 1-under 141, tied with Hurst for third.
- Shingler and John O'Leary, PGA, rounded out the top 5, tying for fifth at 1-over 143.
- Next year's Senior Open will be held at Keswick Club's Full Cry Course.
Day 1: Schuller, Estes share 18-hole lead
(Rick Schuller tees off on No. 5 at Independence on Monday. Credit: Chris Lang/VSGA)
By Chris Lang
MIDLOTHIAN -- Defending champion Rick Schuller, PGA, and Jim Estes, PGA, each posted rounds of 3-under 69 on a cool, breezy day at Independence Golf Club to share the 18-hole lead at the Senior Open of Virginia.
Schuller, a professional at Richmond's Meadowbrook Country Club, said he was "ecstatic" with Monday's round, considering he's dealt with a ligament injury in his left thumb that has forced him to withdraw from several recent events, including the State Open of Virginia, held here in July. Estes, a professional at Virginia Golf Center, said he putted better than he has all year long, a big reason why he was able to post a low number.
Four players were tied for third at 1-under 71, two shots back of the leaders: Professionals John O'Leary, PGA, and Jimmy Flippen, PGA; and amateurs Jon Hurst and David Partridge. Three more amateurs were tied for seventh at even-par 72: Donnie Toney, Paras Pandya, and Thomas Garner.
NOTABLE
- O'Leary will join Schuller and Estes in the final grouping at 10:20 a.m. on Tuesday off No. 1.
- Schuller is looking to become the event's first four-time winner and the first professional to win back-to-back Senior Opens. Amateur Buck Brittain won back-to-back titles in 2017 and 2018 at Two Rivers Country Club.
- Estes made four birdies, including bombing home a 30-foot putt on the par-3 14th. His only bogey came on the par-5 17th.
- In dealing with his injury, in which Schuller said he left thumb pops out of place at times, Schuller ordered extra thick grips for his clubs. It's taken him some time to get used to them, but he clearly found a comfort level with them on Monday.
- Estes was runner-up to Schuller last year at Willow Oaks, finishing a stroke behind the winner.
- Hurst shot a 4-under 32 with four birdies on the front and a 3-over 39 on the back, including a double bogey on the par-3 11th.
- Both Hurst and Partridge had a chance to finish within a stroke of the lead but both made bogey on the par-4 18th.
- Among the five players tied for 10th at 1-over are past champions Brittain and Decker, along with past VSGA Senior Amateur and Amateur Championship winner Scott Shingler.
- Dick Mast, who has spent time on PGA Tour Champions, withdrew after nine holes on Monday due to a wrist issue.
QUOTABLE
- "I drove the ball in play, and my iron shots were really good. And I made a couple of putts I don't normally make. It was probably my best putting round of the year. I hit a couple of 25 footers, and you don't expect to make those. The greens are really fast. I'm just trying to get them close, and a couple of them went in." -- Estes
- "I was in the rough and I tried to get too aggressive and I hit it in the trees. I was on a root. But other than that, I played well." -- Estes on his bogey on 17.
- "I just want to put myself in position, get the ball on the green and give myself some chances. I've played well in this tournament before. Someone's going to shoot low. I think the par 5s are the key. They're all reachable except for 17. The par 3s are tough. The golf course is set up great. Fastest greens we've putted all year. We haven't played greens close to that speed. I like fast greens. We'll see how it goes." -- Estes
- "This is my first official individual event after playing about a week with these big fat grips. It's definitely an adjustment. I'm not totally sharp with my iron play at the moment. The woods aren't that big of a problem for me, but contact with the ground, it's just a nuance to the game. I'm happy that I can play and I'm not in pain. But I don't want to jump into surgery, trying to avoid it. This allows me to play." -- Schuller
- "Putting is a challenge out here, it always is. You've got to really be patient with pace. You can't get too greedy. A 5- or 6-foot birdie putt can then turn into a 4- or 5-foot afterward if you get a little hungry for it. I've learned my lesson." -- Schuller
- "It's not a switch you can just turn on and off. All of us who win tournaments -- and there are many of them in this field -- you just have to draw on those past experiences, going through your process and routine and trusting in your training. That's the hard part. As you mature into it, you start to trust that you can do it and believe you can do it. Without those two words -- trust and belief -- this game impossible. When you find the ball going out of the barrel you want it to, then it's how competitive are you? Everybody roots for each other and roots for each other to do well, but we all want to win." -- Schuller