Centreville resident falls in Virginia Public Links
The last time Greg Morrison won a golf tournament, he was a 17-year-old in New Hampshire, a quarter century ago. So as he walked off the 17th green Monday in the Virginia Public Links Championship, Morrison confessed to some butterflies.
“Who’s got the Pepto-Bismol?” asked the Centreville resident, who was 1 down with a hole left in his match with Brad Chambers of Galax.
Morrison, 42, might have needed a double shot of stomach relief after his next tee shot — a pushed drive into thigh-high weeds — on the finishing hole at Laurel Hill, which sealed his fate in a 2 down defeat.
“I was running out of steam,” Morrison said. “It was tough coming down [the stretch] since it was 95 degrees and I haven’t played this many rounds in six weeks.”
Between his duties as director of golf at Twin Lakes, and as a father to daughters Ruth, 6, and Anna, 3, Morrison rarely gets a chance to play a full round. But because of his stellar play, he got his fill in the Public Links.
Morrison needed to go 21 holes Sunday afternoon in the quarterfinals to defeat 2004 Public Links runner-up Dan Hosek (Alexandria), then 19 on Monday morning to subdue medalist Vincent Nadeau (Richmond) in the semifinals.
“I never expected to play this well,” Morrison said. “I never expected to go this far.”
The same could be said of Chambers, 29, who won his first Virginia State Golf Association title.
“This is by far the biggest thing I’ve won,” said Chambers, who was eliminated in the opening round last year. “This is one of my biggest goals in life, to just win one of these [VSGA] championships.”
Chambers, a communications officer in Grayson County, had a remarkable trip through the draw as well. In the quarterfinals, he was 4 down with seven holes left, but rallied to defeat Conlin Giles (Portsmouth) in 20 holes. In the semifinals, Chambers toppled defending champion Jimmy Delp (Arlington), 2 and 1.
In Monday’s title match, Morrison took a 2 up lead through three holes, but Chambers quickly evened it up. At No. 7, a 321-yard par-four, Chambers blasted a driver that landed inches from the hole. He then rolled in an 11-footer for eagle.
That set the scene for a roller coaster back nine in which the players halved just two holes. Morrison’s putter was hot throughout the tournament, but a pair of 3-putt bogeys were costly, as he lost three straight holes to fall 2 down. Three holes later, however, they were back to even.
No. 16, a 185-yard par-three, was decisive. While Morrison missed right, Chambers hit a spectacular shot into the wind, which settled four feet from the hole. When Morrison failed to get up and down for a par, he conceded the birdie putt.
The hole turned out to be the difference in the match, providing Chambers a long-awaited title.
“I just hope I don’t hit somebody’s bumper, looking at this trophy while going through traffic,” said Chambers of the 300-mile drive home to rural southwest Virginia.
