State Open
Left: Worker goats behind the 12th green aren’t shy. Above: The par-5 No. 2 at Ballyhack is known to be generous.
little success. He had varying degrees of
status on both the Web.com Tour and PGA
Tour Latinoamerica. The top five finishers
on the Mackenzie Tour earn Web.com
Tour status the following year, with the
winner gaining a full-season exemption.
Players finishing No. 6 through 10 on the
season-ending Order of Merit are exempt
into the final stage of Web.com Q School.
PROS IN CHARGE
Professionals have won the last five State
Open of Virginia championships, with
Woodson taking four and former Virgin-
ia Commonwealth University standout
Lanto Griffin claiming the other. There’s a
good chance neither will be in attendance,
as Griffin has conditional Web.com Tour
status this year and the Web.com has a
stop in Omaha, Neb., that week.
The last amateur to win was Roger New-
som (Elizabeth Manor G&CC) in 2011. In
the following four years, no amateur got
closer than four strokes of the champion.
Mark Lawrence Jr. (Hermitage CC) tried to
reverse that trend in 2016, reaching a three-
man playoff before bowing out.
SWING HOLES
For the most part, Ballyhack’s layout has
remained the same during the State Open
vsga.org
of Virginia’s three-year run there. So what
holes have been the toughest on the com-
petitors? The easiest? Let’s take a look.
• If you’re going to score low at Bally-
hack, you need to make hay on No. 2, a
wide-open par 5 hole. From the teeing
ground, you’ll find breathtaking views of
the mountains and the entire golf course,
along with multiple routes of play. Play-
ers need to hit a strong drive over one of
three fairway bunkers and make a deci-
sion from there, depending on the hole
location. Even at 538 yards, the green is
reachable for most competitors. Dubbed
“Skyline,” No. 2 has been the easiest
scoring hole in each of the last three years
at 4.813, the only hole on the course that
plays under par for the field.
• Don’t get too comfortable, because two
holes later, players encounter “Terrace,”
a 447-yard par 4 that has been the second
toughest on the course during the State
Open’s run at Ballyhack. The four-ter-
raced fairway is protected by Saul’s Run
on the right and trees down the left. Long
drives are rewarded with a chance to ride
down the considerable slope, leaving a
short approach into an expansive green.
Steep greenside bunkers punish poor
approaches. The scoring average the last
three years: 4.474.
• Four of the toughest five holes on the
course are on the inward nine, none more
difficult over the years than the par-4
16th hole, which plays to a 4.507 scoring
average. “Cape” provides a chance to
attack, but perhaps at a cost, because any
drive that strays too far