With three birdies on the final four holes, Richmond’s Glenn Mullian finished the Virginia Senior Amateur in style Friday, defeating Centreville’s John Long in the championship match, 3 and 2, at the Country Club of Virginia’s James River Course.
Becoming eligible for senior competition in January, Mullian, 55, is the third player to win both the Virginia Senior Stroke Play and Senior Amateur titles in the same year. The others were Stan Fischer (1996) and Moss Beecroft (1986).
Mullian threatened to run away with the title match, leading 4 up after eight holes before Long, a member at Evergreen and the medalist for the second straight year, rallied to win three of the next four holes.
Mullian began his decisive birdie binge by hitting it close at No. 13 for a conceded birdie. Then on No. 14, a par-three, Long, 58, had the advantage as he was well inside his opponent, but Mullian drained a downhill 35-footer for birdie and Long missed his attempt, falling 3 down with four holes left.
Mullian closed it out at No. 16, hitting a pitching wedge third shot on the par-five to within inches for another birdie.
“This is sweet. State tournaments have been hard to come by – and they’re not easy to come by in senior golf, either,” Mullian told Andrew Blair of the VSGA. “If there’s anything good about turning 55, it’s playing in these senior tournaments. I just hung in there through the ups and downs.”
