Shingler wins VSGA State Am cup

Holding off a hard-charging 18-year-old in match play is one thing.

Having a 3½-year-old at home wanting daddy to bring home a trophy is another.

Scott Shingler didn’t let the pressure of either of those situations keep his name from being etched on the Schwarzschild Brothers trophy Saturday, as the 39-year-old held off University of Virginia signee Ji Soo Park, 3 and 2, for the title at the 98^th Virginia State Amateur Championship at The Virginian Golf Club.

“Every night [this week] my wife calls and I say goodnight to the kids, and every night [son, Luke] kept asking me if I can bring the trophy home,” Shingler said between laughs. “Oh jeez, oh man. [He] just put more pressure on me, I don’t need this.”

Park provided more than enough during the 36-hole match play final Saturday.

With Shingler sitting at 4 up after the first 16, Park came roaring back, winning the final two holes of the morning round and winning the first hole of the afternoon round to whittle the lead to 1 up.

“I thought I was going to get the momentum,” Park said. “But Scott just comes back all the time.”

Shingler’s birdie to win No. 3 stopped Park’s upward swing.

Another birdie from the Haymarket resident on No. 4 – one of his nine during the two rounds of play – was a crusher.

After pulling his drive, Shingler found himself with a decent lie on the fairway 188 yards from the pin. He followed by dropping a 7-iron four feet from the cup, a shot that sent the growing caravan of golf carts following the pair into a round of applause.

Shingler acknowledged the crowd with a wave before sinking the putt for a birdie and the 3-up lead.

“I guessed correctly,” he said of his 7-iron decision, “put a good swing on it and knocked it in there tight.”

Park, who needed 19 holes in both the semifinals and quarterfinals Friday to advance, sandwiched a win on No. 6 between two draws to pull Shingler’s lead back to 2 up before making a final charge over the last five holes.

Shingler went 3 up with his eighth birdie of the day on 12 and Park countered with a birdie of his own to win the next hole.

That’s when Park’s short game left him. With two chances to extend the match, Park missed a short putt on the par-5, 14 and followed with a mirror-image performance on 15.

Those two birdies would have squared the match, instead it allowed Shingler, with his ninth birdie of the day on the par-4 No. 16, to take home first place.

“I just couldn’t putt today,” Park said. “I just couldn’t get the hole.”

With plenty of the cart caravan cheering for Park, the mobile gallery erupted into applause and cheers as Shingler’s putt drained into the green and then cheered louder as the State Am veteran shook the 18-year-old Centreville resident’s hand and patted his back. As he left the green, he again waved to the crowd, unaware that his play produced nine birdies, which even had Park smiling.

“That was amazing,” he said. “I couldn’t do nothing better than that.”

Shingler eyes lit up when told of his feat.

“I had no idea,” he said. “I knew if I kept plugging away and trying to make birdies, it would be tough for him to catch me. It was a good match, he never gave in and I never expected him to.”

Despite what he called a rough day, Park said he isn’t backing away from the State Am any time soon.

“I’ll be back to play in this tournament,” he said. “Until, one day, I put my name on that big trophy.”

After posing for photos with the coveted trophy and VSGA officials, Shingler still had one more task at hand – call his wife, Arshia, who urged him to pick the clubs back up in the summer of 2007, and let her know he had won.

“My phone is off and I haven’t turned it on yet,” he said. “I’m sure there’s going to be a bunch of messages, text messages.”

After he took one more glance at the trophy, Shingler broke into a smile and let out a laugh.

“But I’ll torture her a little bit longer, maybe leave it off for another half hour.”

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