Championship Website | Scoring | Preview | Record Book
Dates: Tuesday, September 29 and Wednesday, September 30
Format: Open to amateurs and professionals who have reached the age of 50 by the start of the competition. 36 holes of stroke play. If there is a tie atop the leaderboard after 36 holes, a sudden-death playoff will be utilized to determine a champion. The Senior Open of Virginia is conducted jointly by the VSGA and MAPGA.
Defending champion: Rick Schuller, PGA
Host site: Keswick Club
Day 2: Hutsell holds steady, claims first Senior Open title
(David Hutsell shakes hands with his playing partners on the 18th green at Keswick Wednesday. Credit: Chris Lang/VSGA)
By Chris Lang
KESWICK -- There's an art to going low on the way to winning a championship. There's also an art to playing defense when the tournament is on the line, as David Hutsell found out on Wednesday at Keswick Club's Full Cry Layout.
Clinging to a two-stroke lead over amateur Steve Serrao of Willow Oaks CC in the Senior Open of Virginia, Hutsell made a deft bogey save on No. 15 after flubbing a pitch shot. On the next hole, a long par 3, Hutsell thinned a 7-iron, leaving him on the front of the green. The problem -- the hole location was extreme back left, some 105 feet away.
Hutsell, the PGA lead instructor a Baltimore Country Club, nestled his lag putt within 18 inches for a stress-free par, allowing him to keep Serrao at bay.
"Never," Hutsell said with a laugh when asked if he ever practiced lag putts from such extreme distance.
Two pars later, Hutsell closed with a 7-under 137 to top Serrao by three strokes, giving him his first Senior Open victory in either Virginia or Maryland. He became just the second Marylander to win the Senior Open of Virginia in its 21 years of existence. Ricky Touma, PGA, of Burning Tree Club in Bethesda was the other, winning in 2016.
"It's a great tournament with a great history and great winners in the past," Hutsell said. "The opportunity to come down here and compete with the best amateurs in this area and professionals in our section, you always relish those opportunities."
Hutsell earned his separation from the field early, making birdie on the first two holes. After adding another on No. 7, he turned at 3-under 33. He opened the day tied with Jimmy Flippen, PGA, of Waterfront Country Club in Moneta. Flippen never got going, though, starting 3-over through seven holes to fall six shots back of the lead. He finished with a 5-over 77 and ended tied for fourth with John O'Leary, PGA, of Trump National Golf Club, Washington DC.
The biggest move of the day came from 2026 VSGA Amateur finalist Scott Shingler, who shook off Tuesday's opening round 75 by posting a 6-under 66, the day's best round on Wednesday. He was simply too far back to make a charge, though, and finished alone in third at 3-under 141, four shots back of Hutsell.
Like Hutsell, Serrao turned at 3-under 33, but he couldn't take advantage of Hutsell's missteps on the back nine, making three bogeys and six pars coming in. Serrao earned low amateur honors for the second time, the first coming in 2022 when he finished a shot behind winner Rick Schuller, PGA.
Hutsell made it six straight wins in this event for professionals since amateur Matt Sughrue hoisted the Harry W. Easterly trophy in 2020. He'll look to keep the momentum going at the end of October when he heads to Arizona for the Senior PGA Professional Championship at Superstition Mountain Golf Club.
"Looking forward to going out to Superstition in a couple of weeks," Hutsell said. "We'll try to keep the putter rolling and see what happens."
Day 1: Hutsell, Flippen share 18-hole lead
(Jimmy Flippen, PGA, left, and David Hutsell, PGA, each shot 6-under rounds of 66 on Tuesday at Keswick. Credit: Chris Lang/VSGA)
By Chris Lang
KESWICK -- Five weeks ago, David Hutsell fired a 6-under 66 at Keswick Club to take a one-shot lead in the MAPGA Senior Championship. Among those tied a shot back? Jimmy Flippen. Even recent history has a tend to repeat itself at times, it seems.
Hutsell again posted a 6-under 66 on Tuesday at Keswick in the opening round of the Senior Open of Virginia. This time, Flippen joined him atop the leaderboard, shooting a 6-under 66 that included eight birdies. The two MAPGA professionals are two shots clear of amateur Steve Serrao and professional Carey Hodsden, each of whom carded 4-under 68s on Tuesday.
The second and final round is scheduled for Wednesday morning.
Professional Dick Mast, who is still a force in events at age 75, shot a 3-under 69 and is three shots behind the leaders. Amateur Kevin Dillard posted a 2-under 70 and is alone in sixth.
NOTABLE
- Hutsell, who represents Baltimore Country Club in Maryland, shot an even-par 72 in the second round of that aforementioned MAPGA Senior Championship and won by one stroke.
-
Hutsell, Flippen and Hodsden will be in the final group off No. 1 at 10:20 a.m. Serrao, Mast and Dillard will be in the penultimate group at 10:10.
-
Hutsell made his birdies in bunches on Tuesday. He was 1-over through five holes after a bogey on the par-4 5th before rattling off three straight birdies to get to 2-under. After parring the next five holes, he finished his round with birdies on four of the final five holes to finish at 6-under.
- Flippen went on a heater as well before cooling off at the end. He made four straight birdies from 11-14 to get to 8-under for the round before making two straight bogeys and finishing with a pair of pars.
- Flippen was runner-up in last year's Senior Open at Independence Golf Club. Hutsell finished in a tie for seventh.
- Two-time defending champion Rick Schuller shot a 4-over 76 and is tied for 32nd, 10 strokes behind. Of the past champions in the field, two-time winner Brendan McGrath posted the best number on Tuesday, an even-par 72 that put him in a tie for ninth with professional John O'Leary.
QUOTABLE
-
"Little bit of a shaky start. Was just making pars and trying to stay patient. I had a nice feel for the greens. They were awesome and had a nice speed to them. I made a couple of 30-footers in the middle of the round, so that's always good for the confidence." -- David Hutsell
- "It's a golf course that looks familiar to me. There's a golf course in my hometown that was built by Pete Dye in the 1990s called Bulle Rock, and it's a very similar feel to this place. There's bentgrass fairways (there), but the greens, the tee shots, everything looks very familiar to me." -- Hutsell
- "They are subtle. The tendency is to over-read them a little bit. To me, I just try to go with my first instinct. I'm an old-school plumb bobber. If you throw a greens book in my face, it just throws me off. I've got to feel it. That's the way I've always played." -- Hutsell
- "My putter was definitely working well. I've got to credit my buddy Carey Hodsden. We played a practice round yesterday, and he helped me reaffirm something, and I started hitting the ball really well, especially with my irons. The driver still needs some work, but I had great feel with the irons and wedges today." -- Jimmy Flippen
- "I love the golf course. I feel like I have a little bit of history with it, because we used to play this golf course for qualifying when I played on UVA's team. I played in the Lewis Chitengwa Memorial on the Canadian Tour when it was here. I played on the Teardrop Tour when it was here. That was before all of the renovations, but the golf course still feels like home." -- Flippen
- "I did make some putts that were definitely tricky to read. I was seeing the lines pretty well. I opened up having to make a 15-footer from off the green for par on No. 1, and when I saw that one, I was like, 'OK, I'm all right." -- Flippen
- "The greens are extremely hard to read. I've had a hard time with them ever since I started playing here. Yesterday after the practice round, we had a little putting contest with myself, Paras (Pandya) and David Williams, and that really helped me. Just hitting some 40-footers with money on the line, it helped a lot to gauge the speed and gauge the breaks." -- Steve Serrao
- "The last month, I've been playing really well, but I haven't had many tournaments to play in. I was a little anxious today, because I wanted to keep it going. I didn't hit the ball as well as I have been the last couple of weeks, but I had a great score, I hit a few up and downs. It was just a good round altogether." -- Serrao