PORTSMOUTH –– Northern Virginian Peter Jacobi (Arlington) teamed with Tom Flory (Madison) to return their second straight round of 4-under-par 66 and posted a one-stroke victory as the 1st Virginia State Golf Association Super Senior Amateur Championship concluded today at the 5,910-yard, par-70 Elizabeth Manor Golf and Country Club. The event was comprised of golfers, ages 65 and older.
Jacobi-Flory, stoked by a second nine score of 3-under 32, recorded a comeback victory, finishing with an 8-under 132 aggregate. The combination of Tom Grady (Marshall)-John Casstevens (Glen Allen) carded 67, while overnight co-leaders Roger Pitkin (Springfield) and Robert Murphy II (Reston) logged 68 as both tandems finished a shot back at 7-under 133.
Central Virginians John Mann (Richmond)-Tony Aguiar (Glen Allen) closed with 67, while Lou Moelchert (Richmond)-Tom Hackett (Powhatan) had a last-day 68 and Midlothian residents Jim Hudson and Tom Rash, co-leaders after the opening day, shot 70 in the final round and finished play three back at 5-under 135.
JacobiFloryinsideJacobi-Flory trailed Pitkin-Murphy and Grady-Casstevens by a stroke at the turn but surged into the lead by birdieing four of the first five holes on the second nine, including three straight from Nos. 10-12, to move to nine under par for the championship.
Flory got things started by knocking in birdie putts of 12 and 6 feet at Nos. 10 and 11. Jacobi then drained a 10-footer at No. 12 before Flory completed the flurry by making a 7-footer at No. 14. The onslaught of birdies gave Jacobi-Flory a two-stroke lead over Pitkin-Murphy and they pushed three clear of Grady-Casstevens, with whom they were in the penultimate grouping with in the final round, with four holes to play.
Once Jacobi-Flory grabbed the lead, they didn’t relinquish the advantage the rest of the way.
“We were fortunate, but we kept our heads down, kept plugging away and had a good back nine” said Flory, twice a winner of the VSGA Senior Four-Ball and a past VSGA Senior Amateur champion. “It was right down to the wire.”
Jacobi and Flory, who are both 70 years old, have partnered together in various four-ball events for nearly 30 years and their games are a fit in the four-ball format in which each player plays his ball into the hole, but only the best score is counted toward the team aggregate.
“We hit some good shots and like old guys will do, we hit some bad shots. Our good shots were one shot better than our bad shots,” laughed Jacobi, who won the 70 and over division of the VSGA Super Senior Amateur Championship in July.
The tandem of Grady-Casstevens birdied two of the last three holes of the first nine and were tied for the top spot with Pitkin-Murphy at six under par headed to the inward half. Casstevens knocked in a 12-footer for birdie at the par-4 12th hole that kept them within one of the lead overtaken by Jacobi-Flory, but they couldn’t overcome consecutive bogeys at Nos. 14 and 15.
For Jacobi-Flory, a bogey at No. 15 that dropped them to eight under par for the championship ultimately did no harm, though Casstevens chipped in for birdie from just off the green at the par-3 16th to reduce the margin to a single stroke.
“When they had to hit shots, they hit good shots. They played solidly,” said Grady, who nearly holed out his bunker shot at the par-5 finishing hole that would’ve resulted in a birdie and tied them for the lead.
Things dried up in the closing moments for Pitkin-Murphy, who made one birdie with eight pars on the final nine holes. Following a birdie at No. 14, they played a demanding four-hole stretch thereafter in even par. Pitkin-Murphy shot 1-under 34 on the first nine, but looked back at some missed putts on the outward half as a difference-maker.
“We had chances. We just didn’t make the putts,” Murphy said.
View results for VSGA Super Senior Four-Ball
ABOUT THE VSGA Super Senior Four-Ball
36-hole four-ball stroke play competition (18 holes
per
day). Open to VSGA members who are at least 65
years old and hold an active GHIN number issued by
a
licensed VSGA Member Club in good standing.
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