Congressional member teams up with Reeves to win at Belle Haven
At age 55, Vienna’s Pat Tallent was eligible to compete in the Senior Division at the Belle Haven 4-Ball last weekend. But that would have left his friend, 37-year-old Chris Reeves, without a partner in the 60th annual event.
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After winning in a playoff, it was clear that Tallent still has the game to compete with the top amateurs in the Washington area. Firing a 13-under-par 203 (68-65-70) in the best ball tournament, then outlasting Mike Wah and Vance Welch in five soggy playoff holes, Tallent and Reeves won for the second time in the last three years.
“I owe it all to my partner,” said Reeves, who now lives in Jupiter, Fla. “I’m glad he decided to play in the Regular Division for another year.”
Tallent, a former basketball standout at George Washington University, and Reeves, a former mini-tour professional who regained his amateur status, made only two bogeys over 59 holes.
“We just complement each other so well,” said Reeves. “Pat’s seasoned and so steady. And that frees me up to go for a lot of things.”
At 6-foot-4, 220 pounds, Reeves can hit it long, and in fact reached the green in two on six of the 12 par-fives, making birdie on each occasion. When Reeves gambles and loses, however, he can usually count on the 6-foot-3 Tallent, a member at Congressional, to make par.
The duo made a lot of pars in the rain on Sunday as the sudden-death playoff went to five holes. Playing holes No. 18 and No. 10 to break the tie, Reeves kept hitting fairways and greens. Each hole of the playoff, he had a birdie putt inside 18 feet to win, but came up empty.
Finally on the fifth hole, No. 18, Welch hit a wayward drive and Wah hit an off-target approach. Neither player could get up-and-down for par, so Reeves lagged his 12-foot birdie putt to tap-in range for the par that clinched it.
Two years ago, when Reeves and Tallent won, they each made clutch birdies at No. 18, Reeves hitting an iron to tap-in range on the 54th hole to get into a playoff, then Tallent pitching to within a foot to defeat Lee Fields and Gary Hill.
“We’re pretty comfortable on that hole,” said Reeves, who grew up playing at Belle Haven. With his win in 2007, the former Gonzaga and Seton Hall University standout became the first Belle Haven member to win in 40 years.
Reeves and Tallent needed their best stuff against Wah and Welch (68-64-71 — 203), both members at the University of Maryland Golf Course. When Wah birdied the first two holes Sunday, Reeves and Tallent were two back. But they recovered immediately, Tallent making a 15-footer for birdie at No. 3 and Reeves overpowering the 530-yard, par-five 4th hole for another birdie to square it.
“I think Pat will keep playing with me — at least for another year,” said Reeves.
