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Dates: Monday, June 16 and Tuesday, June 17
Format: Two 18-hole rounds of stroke play. If there is a tie after 36 holes, a sudden-death playoff will be utilized to determine a champion.
Host site: Fredericksburg Country Club
Day 2: Hurst holds on for two-stroke win at home
(Brent Holsten congratulates Jon Hurst on his victory on Tuesday. Credit: Chris Lang/VSGA)
By Chris Lang
FREDERICKSBURG -- Jon Hurst felt both the love and the pressure over two days at his home course, Fredericksburg Country Club, as he tried to navigate through a difficult field and claim the title at the 39th Virginia State Golf Association Senior Stroke Play Championship.
Hurst felt a certain responsibility to play well as the FCC membership gathered to watch during the closing stretch of the second and final round on Tuesday evening. He delivered, firing a dart from about 115 yards out on the par-4 15th to four feet. He sank the ensuing birdie putt, giving him enough cushion to claim his second Senior Stroke Play title. Hurst's two-day aggregate total of 67-71--138 gave him a two-stroke victory over three runners-up: Two-time champion Steve Serrao, Tom Vlahakis, and Scott Shingler.
"The members out here are awesome," Hurst said. "Every tournament we have, we always come out and support each other. It's always nice to win at home. ... It was very special, and to win it during our club's 100th anniversary year was pretty sweet too."
Hurst previously won in 2021, a rain-shortened 27-hole victory at Two Rivers Country Club in Williamsburg. A morning cloudburst pushed starting times back 90 minutes on Tuesday and threatened another shortened finish. But players were able to complete the full 18 holes before darkness settled in.
Hurst clinched the win with a two-putt par on 18. There was a scenario where a Shingler eagle (he had about a 25 footer for three on the par-5 finishing hole) and a Hurst three-putt would force a playoff. But Hurst hit first and hit his birdie putt to kick-in range, ending any drama. Matt Sughrue had the best chance of catching Hurst, heading to 18 at 5-under. He hit out of bounds on that hole, though, and a double-bogey finish dropped him into a fifth-place finish.
Hurst continued his climb up the all-time VSGA wins list, claiming his 12th title, one short of Bob Moyers, who is in the Virginia Golf Hall of Fame, as is everyone else ahead of him on the list.
"Hopefully I have plenty of more good years left in front of me in VSGA championships," Hurst said. "Obviously Vinny (Giles) isn't going to win more VSGA championships, and I don't know how many more (David) Partridge is going to win, he can still win some super senior stuff. I'd love to be second some day in VSGA wins. Sure, I think about it."
NOTABLE
- Heading to the par-5 13th, Hurst trailed Shingler and Sughrue by a stroke. Shingler hit his approach into the tall grass right and short of the green and couldn't find his ball and eventually made bogey. Hurst birdied that hole, a crucial swing that put Hurst back into a tie for first.
- After playing bogey-free golf on Monday, Hurst had to navigate a pair of bogeys on Tuesday.
- This is the fourth time Hurst has registered wins in multiple events. He and Buck Brittain won three Senior Four-Balls and he won the Senior Multi-Format Team Championship and Mid-Amateur Championship twice apiece.
- Hurst's victory earned him an exemption into next week's VSGA Amateur Championship at Birdwood Golf at Boar's Head Resort, but he declined the exemption, meaning an alternate will get into the field.
- Past champions Brittain and David Jordan tied for sixth at 2-under 142. Mark McCoy finished alone in eighth at 1-under, and Bowen Sargent and Peyton Lawson tied for ninth at even par.
- Serrao rallied from Monday's 73 to post a 5-under 67 on Tuesday, the best score of the day. He moved 20 spots up the leaderboard.
- The biggest mover of the day was Serrao's brother Jay, who jumped 41 spots after following his opening-round 78 with a second-round 70.
QUOTABLE
- "I bogeyed 12th. I play out here every day and I've never hit a 7-iron over that green in my life. I just flushed it, and it went right over the stick, and I had a pretty difficult chip. I thought I hit a better chip than I did." -- Hurst
- "I was watching Sughrue. He's obviously a Hall of Famer, a national player. He's one of the better players in the state. Him hitting it out of bounds on 18 gave me a little breathing room." -- Hurst
- "Just being at home, and showcasing what Scott, our superintendent, has done with the course, and our pro shop staff. We just have a great club here. The size of the field shows that. I got a lot of positive feedback on the golf course from people. It's an old golf course, 100 years old. It was fun. It was good to be here." -- Hurst on the best part of the week.
Day 1: Hurst holds lead on home course
(Jon Hurst tees off on 17 Monday at Fredericksburg Country Club. Credit: Chris Lang/VSGA)
FREDERICKSBURG -- For Jon Hurst, the pressure to play well in the 39th Virginia State Golf Association Senior Stroke Play Championship comes from within the building, so to speak. A longtime member at Fredericksburg Country Club, Hurst posted a 5-under-par 67 on Monday to take the 18-hole lead heading into Tuesday's second and final round. He nearly shot 66, but with members and pro-shop staff watching, Hurst's birdie putt on 18 ended on the lip, leaving him to settle for par.
"You feel a little pressure to play good," Hurst said. "People say, you've got to win this tournament, it's on your home course, you know, just all the members here saying things like that."
Hurst, the 2021 SSP winner, holds a two-shot edge over a quartet of competitors, including Scott Shingler, Tom Vlahakis, Mark McCoy, and Brent Holsten, all of whom posted 3-under rounds of 69. UVA men's golf coach Bowen Sargent is alone in sixth after returning a 2-under 70.
Four players, including past champions Buck Brittain and David Jordan, were tied for seventh at 1-under 71.
NOTABLE
- Hurst will be joined by Shingler, McCoy, and Holsten in the final grouping, which will go off at 12:27 p.m.
- Hurst posted a bogey-free round with five birdies, including three in a row from 13-15.
- Shingler has won the VSGA Amateur, VSGA Senior Amateur, VSGA Four-Ball and VSGA Senior Four-Ball but has not won this championship.
- McCoy is the father of Mason and twins Reagan and Delaney McCoy, all of whom played junior golf in VSGA events, often with Mark following along. This is his first real individual event in a long time, though he and Mason teamed to shoot an 8-under round in four-ball for Virginia Beach National GC at the VSGA Club Championship in April.
- Vlahakis did not play a practice round and was seeing FCC for the first time.
- Holsten, a member at Hermitage CC, made his SSP debut last year at Williamsburg GC and shot 72-74 to finish in a tie for 15th.
- Defending champion Steve Serrao posted a 1-over 73 and is tied for 18th.
QUOTABLE
- "Probably the greens. We've got a little sloping on the greens, so I know where to hit it and where not to hit it." -- Hurst on the advantage of playing his home course
- "Started off with five pars in a row, then I missed the sixth green. We had a lot of winter kill out here, and I was in a really bad spot. I had to chip with a hybrid, and it rolled up there and went in hole, which was unexpected. That kind of settled me a little bit, because I hadn't made any putts yet." -- Hurst
- "The course is great, we had a little mist, but we were able to deal with that. I drove the ball well, so I was able to hit a lot of greens. When you can hit par 5s in two, it makes it a little easier." -- Holsten
- "Had the best bogey of my life on 16. I hit it out of bounds, managed to get it on and make a long (25 foot) putt. It was a fun group, I think we all just fed off each other." -- Holsten on his group that included Jeffrey Klatt, Keith Decker and Mike Garner.
- "It played right in front of you all day. I drove the ball pretty well and made a few putts. Had three good people to play with today." -- McCoy
- "I just want to go out there and focus on each individual shot, and it went pretty well today. We'll see what tomorrow brings. Golf's different every day. So you never know. But it was a pretty good round today." -- McCoy
- "He's certainly one of a handful of guys who is going to play really well around here. I expect him to play very well tomorrow. Nothing I can do except stick to my strategy, execute my shots, and see where I stand at the end." -- Shingler on Hurst in the lead.
- "Seeing that ball go in was really positive and something to build on." -- Vlahakis on making a 6-foot comebacker for birdie on 18 after leaving his eagle putt long.
- "I wouldn't expect anything else. So we just come out tomorrow, play some golf again and see what happens, see if we can make some birdies." -- Vlahakis on Hurst in the lead.