Willow Oaks Fall Invitational

Thank you for playing in the 30th Annual Fall Invitational Four-Ball Tournament at Willow Oaks Country Club.

LOCAL TEAM WINS THE
WILLOW OAKS FALL INVITATIONAL

RICHMOND –– Central Virginians Larry Loving Jr. (Richmond) and Steve Jenkins (Chesterfield) shot a final round score of 6-under-par 66 to post a wire-to-wire two-stroke victory at the Willow Oaks Fall Invitational, which concluded today at Willow Oaks Country Club.

Loving, a Willow Oaks member, and Jenkins finished with a 13-under 131 aggregate. Defending champions Patrick Hawkins (Suffolk)-Kyle Martin (Newport News) logged a last day 66 to take solo second place (11-under 133).

Already a record five-time titleholder on his home track, Loving added number six—and his third in the past four years—having notched victories in 2004, 2008, 2014, 2016 and 2017. 

Four other teams finished at 9-under 135—Jimmy Delp (Alexandria)-Justin Young (Salem), Ted Dougherty (Mechanicsville)-Brandon Ramsuer (Henrico), Adam Houck (Richmond)-Brad Ferguson (Gordonsville) and Willow Oaks member Joe Pryor (Richmond)-Tyler Clark (Moseley). Houck-Ferguson returned 7-under 65, equaling the tournament-best first day total of Loving-Jenkins.

Ultimately, the tournament belonged to Loving-Jenkins. They played bogey-free with six birdies on the final round and never trailed amid a bunched leaderboard to start the day. Altogether, they accounted for 13 birdies without a blemish on their scorecard over the two days. The two longtime friends teamed well throughout the event, making plenty of birdies and picking each other up when trouble lurked.

“Every time I hit a bad shot—yeah, I hit a lot of good shots—but Larry was there for me every time. I was in a couple of bad places, especially the first day,” Jenkins said. “Larry makes you feel at ease. He could calm down a tiger.”

Jenkins, who regained his amateur status in May, collected most of the team’s birdies, but admittedly is still learning to play 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. Loving knows the intricacies of four-ball and helped guide his partner from a strategic standpoint.

“There’s a lot that makes four-ball work—you have to limit the pressure, but also freewheel it at times,” Loving said. “There is a lot of team chemistry golf.”

Hawkins-Martin also played bogey-free with six birdies, with each registering three apiece. Hawkins tamed the layout’s putting surfaces and made two long-distance putts of 40 feet. The remainder of the team’s birdies came inside 8 feet.

“We needed a couple of more (birdies), but we made some long putts,” Martin said. 

“There are always more (birdies) out there then happens,” Hawkins added.
Among the seniors (age 50 and older), Keith Decker (Martinsville)-Jon Hurst (Fredericksburg) shot 4-under 68 (11-under 133) to notch a three-stroke victory over a trio of other sides—Allen Barber-Bob Bailey of Yorktown (70), as well as Philip Mahone (Charlottesville)-Robert Nussey Jr. (Midlothian), who had 69, and John Sarrett (Richmond)-Larry Storck (Baltimore, Md.). Sarrett-Storck carded a final round senior-best score of 67.

Decker-Hurst used a strong second nine of three under par to secure the title. As they have for the past 10-plus years as regular four-ball partners and two of the premier competitors in the commonwealth, Decker-Hurst complemented each other perfectly.

After a pedestrian opening nine, Hurst made an important 30-footer for to start the inward half, then Decker made an eagle-3 from 7 feet at the par-5 12th hole to start to separate them from the field. Hurst made an important par at the penultimate hole, before he finished things off with a 6-foot birdie-make at the last.

“It was pretty much low-stress for the two days,” said Decker, the owner of 28 Virginia State Golf Association titles and a member of the Virginia Golf Hall of Fame. “We both played pretty well for most of the tournament.”

In the event’s super senior division (age 65 and older), Jeff Fleishman (Williamsburg)-Bill Cooper (Kingsport, Tenn.) outlasted Leon Roday (Henrico)-Tim Vigotsky (Centreville) on the seventh extra hole, the par-3 seventh. Both tandems finished at 3-under 141.

RICHMOND –– Scores from the final round of the Willow Oaks Fall Invitational at Willow Oaks Country Club on Saturday, Oct. 5.

Regular Division
Larry Loving Jr.-Steve Jenkins, 65-66—131
Patrick Hawkins-Kyle Martin, 67-66—133
Ted Dougherty-Brandon Ramsuer, 70-65—135
Adam Houck-Brad Ferguson, 69-66—135
Joe Pryor-Tyler Clark, 67-68—135
Jimmy Delp-Justin Young, 67-68—135
Buck Brittain-Tyler Guliksen, 69-67—136
John Reynolds-Jonathan Hand, 69-69—138
Matt Hedley-Drew Norris, 67-71—138
Steve Serrao-Jay Serrao, 70-69—139
Willy Thompson-Nick Thompson, 69-70—139
Joe Morton-Brian Amrhein, 66-73—139
Nicholas Weiss-Richard Bamber, 71-71—142
Kurt Williams-Ryan Walsh, 69-74—143
Scott Bemberis-Paras Pandya, 71-73—144
Jerry Wood-Mike Vogt, 70-74—144
Ryan Osborne-Troy Yeager, 74-71—145
Ryan Bishop-Donnie Frick, 72-73—145
Peyton Lawson-Chris Snow, 72-74—146
Charles Wentworth-Thomas Garner, 71-75—146
Chris Neville-Christian Dibert, 71-77—148
David Wilkinson-Brent Schneider, 75-74—149
Jim Pates-Ken Van Wyck, 75-74—149
Steve Isaacs-William Byrd, 78-72—150
Matt Hopkins-Wes Smith, 75-75—150
Brock Kelley-Spence Andrews, 79-74—153
Chris Corrada-Richard Wintsch, 80-74—154

Senior Division (age 50 and older)
Keith Decker-Jon Hurst, 65-68—133
Allen Barber-Bob Bailey, 66-70—136
Larry Storck-John Sarrett, 69-67—136
Philip Mahone-Robert Nussey Jr., 67-69—136
Jon Zampedro-David Johnson, 70-68—138
Randy Newsome-Neil Davis, 68-70—138
Frank Pegram-Pete Johnson, 69-70—139
Rich Buckner-Ron Clatterbuck, 69-71—140
Danny Yates-Dean Griffith, 72-69—141
Danny Hopkins-Mark Collins, 70-71—141
Roby Blair-Scott Gordon, 70-72—142
Greg Killian-Brian Borda, 75-76—151
Richard Lion-Phil Goldberg, 76-76—152

Super Senior Division (age 65 and older)
Tim Vigotsky-Leon Roday, 70-71—141
Jeff Fleishman-Jim Cooper, 71-70—141
Jimmy Angel-Bert Wilson, 71-73—144
Paul Malgee-Bill Schuler, 75-76—151

SKINS - Regular Division

Drew Norris (1) Eagle on 12

SKINS - Senior Division 

Larry Storck   (1)   Eagle on 14

Keith Decker (1)   Eagle on 12

Jim Cooper (1)   Birdie on 1

Jon Zampedro (1)   Birdie on 4

David Johnson (1)   Birdie on 6