VSGA GOLF: Not-so-young Buck advances to State Am quarters

Facing a bracket stacked with young bucks Thursday at the 98th Virginia State Amateur Championship, it was a wee bit older Buck who seized the day.

Tazewell attorney Buck Brittain, 44, ousted a pair of competitors exactly half his age during match play competition at The Virginian Golf Club to nab a spot in the tournament quarterfinals.

In addition to being one of the elder statesmen in the field, Brittain also was the lowest of the 32 seeds after he finished in a nine-way tie for the final nine match play spots Wednesday and lost a seeding draw.

“With these young college kids I figure I’m the underdog anyway,” Brittain said. “So it’s just go out and play well, make them beat me – don’t give it away. You go 36 holes with guys half your age and you’re hanging in there and still playing good, oh yeah, it feels real good.”

Brittain first took down Lane Hite 3 and 2 Thursday morning to advance to the Round of 16. Hite, who just finished his college career at Radford University, led after both days of stroke play to earn the No. 1 match play seed.

After dispatching Hite, Brittain then faced another 22-year-old recent collegian in Ben Lasso of Falls Church and defeated the former Queens University golfer 2 and 1 in a match that nobody led by more than one until Lasso hit his tee shot out of bounds on 16 and lost the hole to put Brittain 2 up.

“I think experience counts for a whole lot in playing golf,” Brittain said. “A lot of these young kids just have pure talent, but they make some mental mistakes, which I hope I don’t make because I don’t have that talent to be able to afford to make those kind of mistakes.”

Brittain, who has been competing in the State Am longer than his opponents Thursday have been alive, will face an even younger foe in today’s quarterfinals when he takes on 18-year-old Bryce Chalkley.

Chalkley, who just completed his freshman season of collegiate golf, pulled off one of the bigger upsets of the day, edging his Virginia Tech teammate and Virginian member Garland Green 2 and 1 to reach the quarterfinals.

Green, a former Tazewell High School star, had made it to the semifinals of the previous two State Ams, but lost the first two holes Thursday on each nine, twice fell 3 down and couldn’t get the match back to all square despite multiple charges.

“I just dug myself a hole real quick and then I’d get back to one down and he’d make a couple of birdies,” said Green, who ended his college career last month. “… I just didn’t have it today.”

Although Chalkley said he didn’t relish beating a fellow Hokie and the local favorite, he said there was no doubt in his mind that he and Green would have an exciting match even after Green’s poor start.

“I got off to the start I wanted to … but I knew Garland, especially his home course and playing with him enough – he’s going to make birdies,” Chalkley said. “If you just kind of think you’re going to cruise around, you’ve got one thing coming for you.”

Despite his disappointment in being ousted, Green said he’ll throw his support behind Chalkley for the rest of the tournament.

“He played great,” Green said. “I think he’s got a chance to get the finals. You’ve got to root for a teammate.”

While Green was the biggest local name to go down in the Round of 16, and even more surprising result occurred shortly after he finished his tournament.

Three-time defending State Am champion Brinson Paolini rallied from 2 down with just three holes left to force a playoff against Sam Beach, but lost on the first playoff hole when he missed a four-footer after Beach had rolled in a lengthy birdie putt.

“I hit a decent putt,” Paolini said. “It just broke more than I thought and it’s unfortunate, but it’s been a great run.”

Paolini, a Duke University golfer, extended his own record Thursday morning by winning his 16^th consecutive State Am match and said he couldn’t be too upset about losing to Beach, who wrapped up his collegiate career at Richmond this spring.

“He made I’d say probably about 200 feet of putts, maybe 250,” Paolini said. “I’ve never seen anything like it. He putted better than anything I’ve ever seen. If he was on the green, he was going to make the putt. It’s disappointing, but I lost to the better player today.”

The Round of 32 was unkind to a number of local golfers Thursday morning as Jay Vandeventer (Bristol), Conner Hayden (Chilhowie) and David Schmidt (Wytheville) were all ousted by their first match play opponents.

Today’s action at The Virginian, which will feature morning quarterfinals and afternoon semifinals, could shape up as another battle of the old guard versus the new.

Joining Brittain in the quarterfinals are Scott Shingler, 39, Jon Hurst, 41, and 51-year-old Keith Decker, a two-time State Am champion. Meanwhile Chalkley, Ji Soo Park, 18, Weston Eklund, 21, and Beach, 22, will represent the up-and-comers.

Chalkley said he knows better than to discount his elders.

“They’re all great players,” he said. “They’ve all been in this position before.”

While the grueling five-day tournament will be on day four today, Brittain said he thinks he and the rest of the long-in-the-tooth contingent have some fuel remaining in the tank.

“I still feel,” Brittain said, “pretty good.”

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