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Quarterinals and semifinals are Friday, July 2 before the scheduled 36-hole final on Saturday, July 3. CLICK HERE TO FOLLOW THE QUARTERFINALS
ALEXANDRIA –– At age 19, Brinson Paolini of Virginia Beach already seems like a veteran when it comes to handling the uncertainties that accompany match play at the Virginia State Golf Association Amateur Championship.
Paolini, the two-time defending VSGA State Am champion, scored two victories to open match play and was one of eight players to advance to Thursday’s quarterfinals at the 97th renewal of the State Am at Belle Haven Country Club (6,940 yards, par 36-36—72). He has won 12 consecutive matches dating back to his 2008 triumph at Kingsmill’s River Course and his pursuit of an unprecedented third consecutive title in the championship is still alive.
A sophomore at Duke, Paolini, who elected to take a golf cart for this first time this week, took two different routes to victories on Wednesday. The second-seeded Paolini manufactured a 3 and 2 victory over Midlothian’s Austin Gray in the morning session and then played the stroke play equivalent of four under par to get past 17-year-old Jake Mondy of Blacksburg, 2 and 1 in the afternoon.
A passionate supporter of Duke’s basketball program, it appears that Paolini, the Atlantic Coast Conference freshman of the year as a member of the golf team, has learned the particulars of survive and advance in a single-elimination championship.
“I was very lucky to play a match like that this early in the tournament,” Paolini said of his afternoon encounter against Mondy. “He made so many putts and so did I, right on top of him. It was a great experience. No matter what happens, that match was worth it. He played well enough to win, but today, I played as well as I’ve played in the three years that I’ve been playing in [the State Am]. I was making tons of putts when I needed to make them. I had as much fun out there as I’ve had in a really long time.”
 Next up for Paolini on Friday morning is a match against 20-year-old Paul Woodson of Powhatan. A rising junior at Radford University, Woodson (pictured right) won four of the final five holes in his first round encounter to outlast ’09 event quarterfinalist Buck Brittain (Tazewell) in 19 holes. He admittedly used that momentum to won the first three holes and four of the first five in the afternoon against Salem’s Aaron Eckstein en route to recording a 2 and 1 victory.
Woodson’s older brother, Jay, now 28, won back-to-back State Am titles in 2002 and 2003; his first State Am victory came as a 20-year-old in 2002 at Bayville Golf Club in Virginia Beach.
Paul hopes history repeats itself, but by now, knows better than to look too far ahead. The Woodson family had plans to travel to Orlando for a family vacation on Thursday afternoon; instead, many of them, including perhaps Jay, will be traveling to northern Virginia to watch Paul take on Paolini on Friday.
“Maybe one day I’ll be up there [with Jay], but not quite yet,” says Woodson, a rising junior at Radford University. “I have some good players ahead of me.”
Twenty-two-year old collegians Seth Norman (Norfolk), a senior at Old Dominion, and Garland Green (Tazewell), a senior at Virginia Tech, meet on the same side of the bracket. Norman ended the title hopes of northern Virginian Scott Shingler (Haymarket), scoring a 1-up second round victory, while Green also beat a northern Virginian in the afternoon session, getting past Gary Barton Jr. of Alexandria, 2 and 1.
Meanwhile, it appears that a hazardous material sign ought to come with the medal from stroke play qualifying as top-seed and medalist Lanto Griffin (Blacksburg) was eliminated in the first round of match play, falling in 19 holes to 25-year-old local Mike Kirby of Fairfax. Kirby two-putted for birdie on the first extra hole, the par-5 first to win the match; first to putt, Griffin’s 40-footer for birdie hit the cup, but had too much pace and popped out.
Over the past 41 years, only Leesburg’s Billy Hurley, who captured the 2004 championship at Roanoke Country Club, has won the medal and gone on to capture the title. For one, Griffin, who made the State Am his last tournament as an amateur, wasn’t willing to discount the pressure and expectations associated with being the No. 1 seed.
“It puts a little added pressure on you, because you feel like you’re supposed to win, and the other player feels like he’s the underdog and has nothing to lose,” Griffin says. “I didn’t play my game. I have no excuses. It’s a tournament I wanted to win. That’s the most disappointing part.”
Kirby went on to answer a 2-down deficit in the afternoon by winning four consecutive holes on the second nine (Nos. 13-16) to best Brett Williams (Alexandria), 1 up. Kirby is making his first appearance in match play at the State Am, and hasn’t played the format in recent years, with his last appearance being at the VSGA Junior Match Play Championship 10 years ago or so.
“I just haven’t broken into match play, but I’m glad I’m here now,” Kirby says.
 He’ll take on 19-year-old Jeremy Wells of Hopewell in the quarterfinals. A rising sophomore at the College of William & Mary, Wells (pictured left) registered a 4 and 3 win over fellow central Virginian Nick Austin (Midlothian) in the afternoon. Wells estimated that he missed all but four greens during stroke-play qualifying, but his putter held him back. It woke up on Thursday; against Austin he holed a 30-footer for an important halve at the par-4 third hole and knocked in another lengthy putt at the par-3 ninth to own a 3-up lead headed to the second nine; he won the last two holes of the match to advance.
“I knew I could wins some matches if things started to fall into place, and they did this afternoon against Nick,” Wells says.
In the bottom half of the same bracket, 1992 State Am champion Allen Barber, 51, of Yorktown takes on another Hampton Roads player in recent Old Dominion University graduate Matt Watson, 23, of Portsmouth. Watson knocked in a 20-footer for birdie at the 21st hole, the par-4 third, to defeat Ben Lasso of Falls Church in the second round. Barber, meanwhile, was 3 up after 10 holes on Scott Marino of Fairfax in the afternoon, and went on to notch a 1-up victory to advance to the State Am quarterfinals for a second time in the past five years. He also reached the round of eight in 2006 at The Homestead’s Cascades Course.
“It’s nice to be here again,” Barber said. “I feel really good about my game."
The championship’s quarterfinals and semifinals are Friday, July 2 and the scheduled 36-hole championship match is on Saturday, July 3.
ALEXANDRIA –– Results from the first round of match play at the 97th VSGA Amateur Championship at Belle Haven Country Club (6,940 yards par 36-36––72) on Thursday, July 1 (stroke play qualifying score indicated in parentheses).
(32) Mike Kirby (Falls Church), 148 def. (1) Lanto Griffin (Blacksburg), 19 holes
(16) Brett Williams (Alexandria), 146 def. (17) Larry Loving (Richmond), 146, 20 holes
(8) Nick Austin (Midlothian), 144 def. (25) Weston Eklund (Charlottesville), 1 up
(9) Jeremy Wells (Hopewell), 144 def. (24) Erik Ruce (Arlington), 147, 3 and 2
(29) Ben Lasso (Falls Church), 148 def. (4) Vincent Nadeau (Richmond), 142, 5 and 4
(13) Matt Watson (Portsmouth), 145 def. (20) Lee Fisher (Altavista), 146, 6 and 5
(5) Scott Marino (Fairfax), 142 def. (28) Ji Soo Park (Centreville), 148, 4 and 3
(21) Allen Barber (Yorktown), 147 def. (12) Adam Horton (Chesapeake), 145, 3 and 2
(2) Brinson Paolini (Virginia Beach), 140 def. (31) Austin Gray (Midlothian), 148, 3 and 2
(15) Jake Mondy (Blacksburg), 146 def. (18) Korey Watts (Buchanan), 146, 3 and 1
(26) Aaron Eckstein (Salem), 148 def. (7) Mikey Moyers (Stanardsville), 144, 3 and 1
(10) Paul Woodson (Powhatan), 145 def. (23) Buck Brittain (Tazewell), 147, 19 holes
(3) Scott Shingler (Haymarket), 141 def. (30) Kyle Bailey (Fincastle), 148, 3 and 2
(19) Seth Norman (Norfolk), 146 def. (14) Evan Beck (Virginia Beach), 146, 1 up
(6) Garland Green (Tazewell), 142 def. (27) Starell Cox (Chesterfield), 148, 3 and 1
(22) Gary Barton (Alexandria), 147 def. (11) Adam Webb (Ridgeway), 145, 1 up
ALEXANDRIA –– Results from the second round of match play at the 97th VSGA Amateur Championship at Belle Haven Country Club (6,940 yards par 36-36––72) on Thursday, July 1 (stroke play qualifying score indicated in parentheses).
(32) Mike Kirby (Falls Church), 148 def. (16) Brett Williams (Alexandria), 146, 1 up
(9) Jeremy Wells (Hopewell), 144 def. (8) Nick Austin (Midlothian), 144, 4 and 3
(13) Matt Watson (Portsmouth), 145 def. (29) Ben Lasso (Falls Church), 148, 21 holes
(21) Allen Barber (Yorktown), 147 def. (5) Scott Marino (Fairfax), 142, 1 up
(2) Brinson Paolini (Virginia Beach), 140 def. (15) Jake Mondy (Blacksburg), 146, 2 and 1
(10) Paul Woodson (Powhatan), 145 def. (26) Aaron Eckstein (Salem), 2 and 1
(19) Seth Norman (Norfolk), 146 def. (3) Scott Shingler (Haymarket), 141, 1 up
(6) Garland Green (Tazewell), 142 def. (22) Gary Barton (Alexandria), 147, 2 and 1
ALEXANDRIA –– Pairings and starting times for the quarterfinal round of match play at the 97th VSGA Amateur Championship at Belle Haven Country Club (6,940 yards par 36-36––72) on Friday, July 2 (stroke play qualifying score indicated in parentheses).
Friday (July 2), Hole No. 1
8 a.m.: (32) Mike Kirby (Falls Church), 148 vs. (9) Jeremy Wells (Hopewell), 144
8:10 a.m.: (13) Matt Watson (Portsmouth), 145 vs. (21) Allen Barber (Yorktown), 147
8:20 a.m.: (2) Brinson Paolini (Virginia Beach), 140 vs. (10) Paul Woodson (Powhatan), 145
8:30 a.m.: (19) Seth Norman (Norfolk), 146 vs. (6) Garland Green (Tazewell), 142
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