September 16, 2019 at Bull Run Golf Club, Haymarket, Virginia —– Ron Clatterbuck (Evergreen CC) and Rich Buckner (RTJ Club) combined forces to win the 24th Northern Virginia Senior 4-ball tournament in a sudden-death playoff with Bob Digby and Paul Gural (both of International CC).
When entering this tournament Ron Clatterbuck had a plan and recruited Rich Buckner to be his partner. Buckner, just 1-week past his 55th birthday and fresh off his playoff victory in the Northern Virginia Amateur Championship in August, had just become eligible for this senior (age 55+) event. Clatterbuck almost didn’t need help from Buckner as he made 5 birdies (holes #2, 3,7 14 and 15) while Buckner added two birdies (holes #6 and 16) with a lone team bogey on #18 to score a 6-under par 66 over the 6200 yard layout at Bull Run.
Bob Digby, the 2019 Northern Virginia Senior Amateur Champion, and his club-mate Paul Gural from International CC also carved out a 6-under par 66 with a bogey-free round. Digby made four birdies (holes #4, 6, 10 and 18) and Gural added two birdies (holes #7 & 8) to put them into a tie with Clatterbuck and Buckner.
The playoff for the championship began at 6:30 pm on the 338 yard par 4 first hole with the sun almost setting and the winds calm. Buckner and Gural both put their approach shots on the green about 25 feet from the hole while Clatterbuck and Digby missed the green and failed to get up and down to make par. Buckner putted first but his uphill putt came up about 4 to 5 feet short. Gural hit a great putt which hit the hole and nearly went to the bottom but took a nasty spin out to the right leaving a short tap-in for par. Buckner studied his putt and calmly stroked it in to extend the playoff.
The second hole is a 482 yard par 5 which is reachable for longer hitters like all four players in the playoff. Clatterbuck and Gural however pushed their drives to the right into the fairway bunker and couldn’t reach the green in two shots. Digby pulled his drive left of the cart path and was a couple of inches from being out of bounds, but it was playable and only about 200 yards from the green. Digby pushed his shot from the rough a bit and it ended up a little short and right of the green. Buckner’s drive found the fairway a little less than 200 yards from the green but his second shot was long and carried into the rough about 5 yards over the green. Gural pitched to about the middle of the green while Digby made a great pitch shot to about two and a half feet from the hole. Clatterbuck’s approach shot ended up nearly hole high but about 14 feet to the right. Buckner’s flop shot found the edge of the green pin high about 10 feet away from the hole. After Gural’s birdie attempt missed, Clatterbuck rolled his 14 footer into the hole for his 6th birdie of the day. Digby now had a very short putt to extend the match but his tap-in putt misfired and the ball did a horse-shoe around the hole and didn’t fall in. Digby dropped his putter in disgust and later added the comment “S*** happens.” The missed putt gave the championship to Clatterbuck and Buckner who were pleased to escape without having to play another playoff hole.
Eleven teams scored under par gross including two teams at 5-under 67 (Dave LeClere and Mike Howell of International CC, and Dave Prokop and Charlie Jurgonis of Evergreen CC) and two teams at 3-under 69 (Keith Morgan and Greg Williams of Bull Run, and Lynn Wessman and Peter Jacobi of Army Navy CC).
This tournament includes both gross and net prizes. On the net side of the competition Roger Pitkin (Army Navy CC) and Ron Cornelison (RTJ Club) took advantage of their stroke holes plus two normal birdies each (including a birdie 3 for a net 2 on #17 for Pitkin) to carve out a 9-under par 63. Doug Wade (Army Navy CC) and Jeff Johns (Dominion Valley CC) had an 8-under par 64 for second place net. Five other teams tied with a score of 7-under par 65 net.
Full tournament results:
The Northern Virginia Golf Association gives special thanks to Bull Run Golf Club head professional, Chris Lewis, PGA, and to General Manager Mike Tate for their hospitality and support in hosting this event on short notice. The golf course was enjoyable to play and in good condition. Thanks!
