Moore, Foster leads VSGA Amateur after first round of stroke play

A pair of collegians jumped to the early lead at the Virginia amateur at Keswick (Va.) Golf Club’s Full Cry Course after opening rounds of 4-under 68. The two men lead by two shots entering the second round.

Cameron Moore, a rising sophomore at Virginia Tech, and Clifford Foster, who is set to begin his second year at Virginia Commonwealth University, effectively got a head start in qualifying for the 32-man match-play bracket. The field will play one more round at Keswick before the bracket is finalized.

Virginia Commonwealth advanced won the Atlantic 10 Championship and advanced to NCAA Regionals, but Foster wasn’t in the lineup.

“I had a poor fall, and coach (Matt Ball) kind of lit a fire under me, honestly, going into the spring season,” Foster told VSGA writer Chris Lang. “That made me work a lot harder, and I had a better spring. I had some starts and kind of lost it a little bit. We won conference as a team, which was awesome, but I didn’t play in either conference or NCAAs, so there’s a lot of motivation there for me now.”

Moore, meanwhile, found his stride late in the season, even though Virginia Tech didn’t advance to the postseason.

Both players are seeking their first appearance in match play at the VSGA Amateur. Moore came tantalizingly close to advancing last year, losing out in a playoff at The Federal Club.

“I’ve learned a lot from the last two years, coming close and not quite getting there,” Moore said. “I just tried to stay focused today.”

Behind the leaders, David Rabil and Greg Pappas are tied for third at 2 under. Pappas is a former Greensboro College player.

“The course is in good shape, and I was keeping it in front of me pretty well,” he said. “I didn’t have to scramble or grind too hard. I made a good number of easy pars, but had a little hiccup on the 8th hole (his 17th, he started on the back), but other than that, it was good.”

Quotes and information used in this report courtesy of VSGA