Va. Beach player runner-up in title defense
Radford University’s Nick Taliaferro made a 12-foot birdie putt on the final hole Sunday in Midlothian to win the State Open of Virginia by one stroke over defending champion Evan Beck of Virginia Beach.
Taliaferro, who grew up minutes from Independence Golf Club, the host of the event, posted a three-day aggregate 10-underpar 203, finishing with a 1-overpar 72 Sunday. He fended off Beck, who rallied for a 9-under 204 that included a 6-under 65 in Sunday’s final round.
“If you told me a month ago
I would win this tournament, I probably wouldn’t have believed you. I wasn’t hitting it well at all,” Taliaferro said on vsga.org. “But since the second round of the State Am, I’ve been playing really well . ... It’s obviously a big confidence boost to know I can play against the best players in the state and win.”
Richmond’s Mark Lawrence and Glen Allen’s Chris O’Neill shared low professional honors, each posting 5-under 208s. They tied for third with amateur Alex Price, who plays for Christopher Newport.
Beck, a Norfolk Academy and Wake Forest graduate, was already in the clubhouse when it appeared Taliaferro might coast to the title on the course where he played high school golf for James River. After 12 holes, he led by five shots, but he bogeyed the 13th and carded a triple-bogey 7 on the 15th.
After parring 16 and 17, Taliaferro hit a quality drive on 18 and an an 8-iron approach to 12 feet.
Taliaferro and caddie Channing Blevins, his Radford teammate, conferred for several minutes over the putt, and Taliaferro admitted he had some nerves as he lined up to hit it.
“Deep breaths,” he said on vsga.org. “Just kept telling myself, deep breaths. It’s something I was working on.”
He sank it, and the gallery roared.
An amateur won the tournament for the fourth year in a row. Prior to that, professionals had won seven straight.
Both the youngest player in the field — Brandon Sipe, 13, of Yorktown — and the oldest — Dick Mast, 71— made the cut. Mast tied for 23rd at 215, and Sipe tied for 39th at 218.