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MIDLOTHIAN, Va. –– Top point-earners in the VSGA player rankings and past champions headline a contingent of 24 golfers who will help represent the Virginias team against their Carolinas counterparts at the 68th Captain’s Putter Matches, set for Friday-Saturday, Oct. 11-12 at Grandfather Golf and Country Club in Linville, N.C.
Altogether, each of the top-five ranked golfers in the VSGA player rankings were selected to the squad. Charlottesville-area golfer Vincent Nadeau (Gordonsville), who leads all point-earners, as well as Mikey Moyers of Stanardsville (No. 2), Fredericksburg’s Jon Hurst (No. 3), seven-time VSGA golfer of the year Keith Decker of Martinsville (No. 4), and Scott Shingler of Haymarket (No. 5), will be a part of the Virginia contingent.
Nadeau owns eight top-five finishes in points’ events this season, including a win at the VSGA Four-Ball Championship (with Brad Ferguson). Moyers, meanwhile, tied for low amateur honors at the State Open of Virginia, was a semifinalist at the VSGA Amateur Championship and won the Eastern Amateur. Hurst claimed the VSGA Mid-Amateur Championship and has posted three other victories in events throughout the commonwealth. Decker, a longtime staple of the team, has recorded four triumphs in player rankings’ events and has collected five second-place finishes. Though he’s playing as a regular, Decker won the VSGA Senior Amateur and the VSGA Senior Stroke Play. Shingler’s season has been, in part, highlighted by reaching the round of 16 at the VSGA Amateur and placing second at the VSGA Four-Ball (with Decker).
Roanoke’s Justin Young, this year’s VSGA Public Links winner, as well as the Roanoke Valley Hall of Fame Match Play champion, was selected. He’ll be joined by fellow western Virginians Matt Chandler (Hardy) and Buck Brittain (Tazewell). Chandler won last year’s VSGA Mid-Amateur, while Brittain, a veteran of the matches, has eight top-10 showings during the 2013 campaign.
The Virginia regular contingent is completed by Ben Beach (Glen Allen), Jimmy Delp (Arlington), Wes Eklund (Charlottesville) and Adam Horton (Chesapeake). Beach has registered a pair of top-five finishes in points’ events. Delp was runner-up at the VSGA Publinx and has finished second in three other events. Eklund made it to the round of 16 at the VSGA Amateur and won the Boar’s Head Inn Jefferson Cup. Horton won the Sleepy Hole Invitational and has recorded three top-five finishes in other events.
Also in the regular division are West Virginians Pat Carter of Huntington a 13-time West Virginia Golf Association Amateur champion and Sam O’Dell, this year’s WVGA Amateur and WVGA Mid-Amateur winner. Charleston’s Philip Reale, the third low amateur at the West Virginia Open Golf Championship and a quarterfinalist at the WVGA Amateur,as well as Trent Roush, who tied for second at this year’s WVGA Mid-Amateur,were named to the squad.
The eight-player senior contingent includes Col. James Gallagher (Ret.) of Yorktown, the runner-up at the VSGA Senior Amateur. In addition to winning the VSGA Senior Four-Ball (with Catlett’s Jim Nirich), Gallagher qualified for the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship and the USGA Senior Amateur Championship.
The senior contingent also includes northern Virginian Pat Tallent (Vienna), a quarterfinalist at the USGA Senior Amateur Championship, Roanoke-area golfer Jack Allara (Salem), the third low amateur at the Senior Open of Virginia.
Rounding out the Virginia players on the senior side are Tom Grady (Marshall), Billy Jahn (Virginia Beach) and John Long (Centreville). Grady owns six top-10 finishes in senior points’ events and was in the round of 16 at the VSGA Senior Amateur. Jahn advanced to the quarterfinals of the VSGA Senior Amateur Championship and placed fourth at the VSGA Senior Stroke Play. Long reached the round of 32 at the USGA Senior Amateur, was a semifinalist at the VSGA Senior Amateur and placed second at the VSGA Senior Stroke Play Championship.
The senior contingent is completed by West Virginians Steve Fox of Huntington and Harold Payne (Hurricane). Fox won the 2013 WVGA Senior Amateur and was runner-up and low amateur at the Senior Open. Payne was runner-up at the WVGA Senior Amateur and was low senior at the WVGA Amateur. He was inducted into the West Virginia Golf Hall of Fame in 2011. Fox and Payne teamed to place third at the WVGA Senior Four-Ball Championship and Payne tied for third at the WVGA Senior Amateur.
In last year’s matches, the 24-golfer Virginias squad posted a five-point victory in final-day singles matches against their Carolinas counterparts to score a 27-21 triumph at The Resort at Glade Springs’ Cobb Course in Daniels, W.Va..
Virginias retained the Captain’s Putter Trophy awarded to the champions and notched its first repeat victory in the matches since 2003-04.
The matches consist of two days of competition, with opening round foursome and four-ball matches (Friday, Oct. 11), followed by final-day singles matches (Saturday, Oct. 12). A victory in each match scores one point in the Ryder Cup-style format, and if a match goes 18 holes without a decision, one-half point is awarded to each side.
Carolinas leads the all-time series 47-19-1, but Virginias owns a 6-5-0 lead dating back to 2002. The matches annually rotate between sites in the Virginias and the Carolinas.
The Virginias team will be led by Richard Wight of Virginia Beach, Va., and Steve Fox, a team playing co-captain. Wight is a past VSGA president (2010-11), the VSGA rules’ chairperson, and a longtime member of the VSGA board of directors.
The matches are making their fifth visit to Grandfather Golf and Country Club, where Carolinas owns a 3-1-0 all-time advantage. Virginias won the last time the matches were held at Grandfather in 2003. Previous encounters in 1971, 1985 and 1999 were claimed by Carolinas.
Nestled in the heart of North Carolina’s majestic Blue Ridge Mountains in Linville, N.C., Grandfather Golf and Country Club is a private club community, owned exclusively by its membership. Designed by Ellis Maples, the championship course is listed among Golf Digest’s 2013-14 ranking of ‘America’s 100 Greatest Golf Courses.’ Grandfather has been hailed by the North Carolina Golf Panel as the second best course in North Carolina; only Pinehurst No. 2 has been rated higher.
MIDLOTHIAN, Va. –– The Virginias and Carolinas teams for the 68th Captain’s Putter Matches at The Resort at Glade Springs’ Cobb Course on Friday-Saturday Oct. 11-12 (24 golfers listed alphabetically).
VIRGINIAS TEAM CAPTAINS: Richard Wight, Virginia Beach, Va. and Steve Fox, Huntington, W.Va.
CAROLINAS TEAM CAPTAIN: Walter Todd Sr. (Laurens, S.C.)
VIRGINIAS REGULAR TEAM
NAME
HOMETOWN
Ben Beach
Glen Allen, Va.
Buck Brittain
Tazewell, Va.
Pat Carter
Huntington, W.Va.
Matt Chandler
Hardy, Va.
Keith Decker
Martinsville, Va.
Jimmy Delp
Arlington, Va.
Wes Eklund
Charlottesville, Va.
Adam Horton
Chesapeake, Va.
Jon Hurst
Fredericksburg, Va.
Mikey Moyers
Stanardsville, Va.
Vincent Nadeau
Gordonsville, Va.
Sam O’Dell
Hurricane, W.Va.
Philip Reale
Charleston, W.Va.
Trent Roush
Mason, W.Va.
Scott Shingler
Haymarket, Va.
Justin Young
Roanoke, Va.
CAROLINAS REGULAR TEAM
NAME
HOMETOWN
Blair Bowland
Burlington, N.C.
Steven Bramme
Henderson, N.C.
Sherrill Britt
West End, N.C.
Daniel Claytor
Rocky Mount, N.C.
Matthew Crenshaw
Burlington, N.C.
Scott Harvey
Greensboro, N.C.
J.D. Hoft
Bluffton, S.C.
Jonathan Jackson
Chapel Hill, N.C.
Joe Kastelic
Newton, N.C.
Ron Kirkpatrick
Charlotte, N.C.
Chris Mitchell
Prosperity, S.C.
Gary Robinson
Fayetteville, N.C.
Rob Simmons
Beaufort, S.C.
Pat Thompson
Asheville, N.C.
Walter Todd Sr.
Laurens, S.C.
Brian Westveer
Charlotte, N.C.
VIRGINIAS SENIOR TEAM
NAME
HOMETOWN
Jack Allara
Salem, Va.
Steve Fox
Huntington, W.Va.
Col. James Gallagher (Ret.)
Yorktown, Va.
Tom Grady
Marshall, Va.
Billy Jahn
Virginia Beach, Va.
John Long
Centreville, Va.
Harold Payne
Hurricane, W.Va.
Pat Tallent
Vienna, Va.
CAROLINAS SENIOR TEAM
NAME
HOMETOWN
Rick Cloninger
Fort Mill, S.C.
Andy Congdon
Murrells Inlet, S.C.
Preston Edmondson
Morrisville, N.C.
Jim Grainger
Charlotte, N.C.
James Pearson
Charlotte, N.C.
Russ Perry
Winston-Salem, N.C.
Paul Simson
Raleigh, N.C.
David Strawn
Charlotte, N.C.
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