VIRGINIA TECH Golf Guide | 2018 Edition

28 On July 1, 2017, Mark Lawrence Jr. defeated Jordan Utley to win the 104th Virginia State Golf Association Amateur Championship at The Club at Creighton Farms in Aldie, Va. He became the third consecutive and sixth overall Virginia Tech player to win the event, joining Connie Sellers (1951), Neff McClary (1977), Allen Barber (1992), Maclain Huge (2015) and Joey Lane (2016). Lawrence took a one up lead after the first 18 holes in the scheduled 36-hole final, eventually winning 3-and-2 on a steamy day that included a 90 minute weather delay. The first thing he did when he finally got his hands on the Schwarzschild Brothers trophy, awarded to the winner of the championship, was to find one name in particular: “Mark Lawrence”, who won the title in 1980. He found it at the bottom, near where the trophy settles against its wooden base. “I’m so pumped to have my name on the trophy with my dad,” Lawrence Jr. said. “I’ve wanted to do that for a long time.” In August, Lawrence continued his fine play in the 117th U.S. Amateur Championship at historic Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif. He finished sixth in the 36-hole stroke play portion to qualify for match play, then won four matches to advance to the semi finals. This run marked the furthest a Virginia Tech golfer has ever advanced in the event. His match against eventual champion Doc Redman was back-and-forth throughout and came down to the final hole, with Lawrence losing 1 down. MARK LAWRENCE JR. VIRGINIA STATE AMATEUR CHAMPION AND US AMATEUR SEMI FINALIST 2017 Virginia State Amateur champion Mark Lawrence Jr. with his father, Mark Lawrence Sr., the winner of the event in 1980.