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Virginia Club Golf Jumps JMU, Va Tech for Nationals Birth

By Austin Dillard

The NCCGA’s Capitol Region finished its second regional tournament this past weekend at Forest Greens Golf Club in Triangle, VA. At only 6377 yards, the course was not particularly long. It played to a rating of 71.3 and a slope of 139. It certainly had challenging characteristics and pin positions proved to be difficult. The tournament began with teams eyeing a qualifying spot for Nationals. This was particularly the case for the teams who had earned points towards qualifying in the last tournament: James Madison, Virginia Tech, and Virginia.

The event started out slow, with a last minute switch to tee times for Saturday’s round. On a chilly and overcast Saturday afternoon, the tournament kicked off with tee times beginning at 11 a.m. The first round was, by anyone’s account, slow. In fact, there were a number of players who did not finish eighteen holes on Saturday and were forced to play more than eighteen on Sunday. Out of these issues, though, emerged a competitive tournament with direct implications on qualifying for Nationals. At the end of day one, the standings were not entirely clear. This was due to the fact that the whole field was not able to finish their rounds on Saturday. However, of the teams that finished, Virginia carried a slight lead over Maryland with James Madison holding off Virginia Tech for third place. Sean Heintzelman of Maryland took the day one individual lead with a solid one-over par 73.

A crisp Sunday morning gave way to a beautiful, sunny October day. Players began with a 9 a.m. shotgun. Those who had not completed their rounds the previous day began on the holes they were forced to stop on the previous night—finish round one—and then play round two. A long day ended in victory for the University of Virginia, who, with a score of 784, earned six points (adding to the 1 point earned by the team at Colonial Heritage) and the region’s automatic qualifying spot for Nationals. In second place, with a score of 801, was Towson. Virginia Tech who finished in third place with a score of 806 followed them. Virginia finished with a total of seven points towards qualifying for Nationals with James Madison earning six and Virginia Tech four.

Pulling away from the field to take the individual title was Austin Doebler of Virginia. His rounds of 76 and 75 for a seven-over par total of 151 gave him a three shot victory over Tyler Wallace of James Madison and Andrew Wiley of Towson. The rest of the All-Tournament Team was as follows: Bryan Carter (Virginia) 155 (+11), Sean Heintzelman (Maryland) 155 (+11), Mark Hourigan (Virginia Tech) 156 (+12), Jeremy Goodwin (Towson) 157 (+13), and David Heller (Virginia Tech) 157 (+13).

Overall, the second NCCGA Capitol Regional of the fall season proved to be successful. The course was extremely helpful in running the event and a big thank you must go out to Ryan Carney and all of the staff. Congratulations again to the University of Virginia for qualifying for Nationals. See you in Myrtle!

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