Eight players in contention heading into Kenridge’s final round Sunday

By Jerry Ratcliffe

After posting a 6-under 64 in Friday’s opening round of the 84th Kenridge Invitational at Farmington Country Club, everyone was wondering what tournament leader Charlie Hanson would do for an encore.

While Hanson’s second-round experience on Saturday couldn’t match his previous effort, he managed to keep his poise and his lead heading into Sunday’s final round. The Virginia Tech rising junior managed a 1-over par 71 for a two-day total of 5-under 135, and holds a two shot lead over a logjam of golfers knotted at 3-under 137.

Lou Baker (University of Richmond), Rui Chang (first-year UVA student from China) and Trey Wren (former professional golfer who recently regained amateur status) are tied for second at 137, while Charlie Kennedy stands at 138. A trio of golfers are deadlocked at 1-under 139: Bryce Corbett, Jake Newman and Farmington’s own Philip Mahone.

A total of 15 golfers broke par Saturday, twice as many as Friday, with Saturday’s low round posted by Wren, a former golfer at Temple, with a 64 (see complete scores below).

“Had a good round today, obviously no part of my game was quite as good as it was Friday, but you can’t really ask much after a round like that,” leader Hanson said of his first round. “My wedges were a little off and my putting was a little nervy, so I just need to be conscious of those going into Sunday.

“Nothing was really great, but nothing was terribly off, so it was just one of those days right in the middle,” said the Richmond native. “It’s going to take a solid round [Sunday], but if I can avoid bogeys and hit fairways and greens, I think I’ll be in good position.”

Hanson has worked hard on not putting pressure on himself, particularly in tournament play. Instead, it will be up to his pack of pursuers to turn up the heat.

One of those will be Baker, who played last season for the UR Spiders. He felt like his 1-under 69 was a bit shaky and admitted he felt some nerves playing in the lead pack with Hanson and Chang.

“I definitely didn’t have my best stuff, but I was happy with how I grinded it out and got up-and-down when I needed to, especially on 18,” Baker said of the challenging, par-4 finishing hole.

His birdies at Nos. 3 and 7 kept him in contention, with only one bogey, that coming on the back nine.

“I’m hoping I got some nerves out a little bit today and just get ready to go tomorrow,” Baker said. “I’m two shots back, which obviously is not ideal, but still within reach.”

If anyone should have a case of the nerves, it should be Rui (pronounced Ray) Chang. A native of Tianjin, China, Chang is playing in the biggest tournament of his young life.

“I’ve never really played in big tournaments before,” Chang said, after putting up rounds of 68 and 69. “I played in a few tournaments in China and had some good finishes, but it’s not recognized here. I’m really excited to play with these guys, playing against these Division-I golfers.”

Chang played on a club team at UVA and is thinking about trying to walk on to the varsity for next season, but that’s down the road. Right now, trying to keep his game together in the thick of a championship competition is the only thing on his mind.

Calming his mind will be a key Sunday. After an admittedly awful start Saturday (Chang was 2-over at the turn), he collected himself.

“I made some stupid mistakes for sure,” Chang said. “Being in the last group, I thought I really had to turn it on and try to sink pins for sure, but you know when you have that mentality, a lot of things can go wrong, and it did.”

A well-struck wedge shot set up Chang’s birdie at No. 12 and kick-started his comeback as he went on to birdie 13, draining a 25-foot putt, settling his nerves. He added a birdie at 16 to keep him in contention.

“Until I got to [hole] 11, I was just thinking a lot (about keeping up with Hanson and Baker),” Chang said. “I’ve gotta stop overthinking and stick to my game plan. I’m not going to fall into that trap again Sunday. I’m just going to play my game and ignore what everyone else is shooting and see how it turns out.”

Only four shots back and having an encyclopedia of knowledge about his home course and Kenridge background, longtime Farmington member Mahone remained within striking distance with a 1-under 69.

“Not bad for a 58-year-old,” Mahone grinned after finishing his round. “I’m playing against a bunch of college kids and this is a good course for it because you don’t need to be terribly long and that takes the driver out of their hands on a lot of holes.”

Mahone was 2-over for the day after 12 holes, but birdied 13, 17 and 18 (a 25-footer on the par-3 17th, and a gimme putt on the challenging finishing hole). Mahone, who is known for his superb short game, is a grizzled veteran who is playing in the British Senior Amateur next month at Royal Dornoch, so he knows what is required to compete.

“I’m probably too far back, but you never know,” Mahone said. “I was leading [the Kenridge] by five shots in 2011 and blew it, so maybe I’ll have a great round and redeem myself.”

KENRIDGE INVITATIONALSECOND ROUND RESULTS

Pos.; Player; To Par; Rd1; Rd2; Total

1. Charlie Hanson -5 64 71 135

2. Trey Wren -3 73 64 137

3. Rui Chang -3 68 69 137

4. Lou Baker -3 68 69 137

5. Charlie Kennedy -2 70 68 138

6. Philip Mahone -1 70 69 139

7. Jake Newman -1 71 68 139

8. Bryce Corbett -1 68 71 139

9. Tyler Dorsey E 73 67 140

10. Jimmy Delp E 73 67 140

11. William Peel IV E 71 69 140

12. Frank Alafoginis E 71 69 140

13. Scott Shingler +1 69 72 141

14. Max Green +1 72 69 141

15. Hunter Duncan +1 71 70 141

16. Chad Fultz +1 69 72 141

17. Kyle Bailey +2 73 69 142

18. Ryan Demit +2 72 70 142

19. Rij Patel +2 73 69 142

20. Marshall Meisel +2 69 73 142

21. Liam Powderly +2 71 71 142

22. Samuel King +2 69 73 142

23. Tim Pemberton +2 72 70 142

24. Steve Serrao +2 72 70 142

25. AJ Stouffer +3 73 70 143

26. Dawson Anders +3 72 71 143

27. Garnet Manley III +3 72 71 143

28. Ben Haggin +3 72 71 143

29. David Stanford +3 68 75 143

30. Matthew Monastero +3 70 73 143

31. Brad Whitaker +4 72 72 144

32. Zack Russell +4 77 67 144

33. Lance Yates +4 73 71 144

34. Edward Coffren +5 75 70 145

35. Channing Blevins +5 72 73 145

36. Michael Crowley +5 73 72 145

37. Trevor Binau +5 72 73 145

38. Mark Manwaring +6 74 72 146

39. Matthew Barnes +6 77 69 146

40. Pearse Lucas +6 73 73 146

41. Josh Pethel +6 72 74 146

42. Preston Burton +6 73 73 146

43. Pat McCarthy +6 74 72 146

44. Ian Hildebrand +7 76 71 147

45. Austin Turner +7 75 72 147

46. Benjamin Choe +7 74 73 147

47. Zach Henry +7 73 74 147

48. Dustin Groves +7 74 73 147

49. Cameron Moore +7 70 77 147

50. Andrew Kennedy +8 74 74 148

51. Buck Brittain +8 75 73 148

52. Ryan Monastero +8 75 73 148

53. Tim Morris +9 75 74 149

54. Bill Apple +9 76 73 149

55. Sterling Ruffin +9 73 76 149

56. Jack Barnes +9 75 74 149

57. Adam Horton +9 73 76 149

58. Nicholas Taliaferro +9 74 75 149

59. Jackson Lalonde +9 72 77 149

60. Turner Lisle +10 75 75 150

61. Joshuaa Robards +10 75 75 150

62. Cornell Beans +10 75 75 150

63. Brian Bassett +10 77 73 150

64. Peyton Lawson +10 75 75 150

65. Sam Sikes +10 77 73 150

66. Connor McGarrity +10 74 76 150

67. Jack Dannemann +11 75 76 151

68. Chris Leibl +11 77 74 151

69. Patrick Galleher +11 74 77 151

70. Sean McGarrity +11 78 73 151

71. Drew Brockwell +11 75 76 151

72. Lee Fisher +12 77 75 152

73. Jamie Agnew +12 77 75 152

74. Nate Faulkner +12 78 74 152

75. Parker Shimp +12 73 79 152

76. Kevin O’Connell +12 76 76 152

77. Ethan Ducharme +13 82 71 153

78. Charlie O’Shea +13 83 70 153

79. Will Crimmins +13 74 79 153

80. Aiden LeBlanc +13 75 78 153

81. Matthew Mielke +14 80 74 154

82. Nick Brediger +14 78 76 154

83. Will Wears +14 79 75 154

84. Willoughby Gasperini +15 77 78 155

85. Liam Foster +15 74 81 155

86. Nick Little +15 71 84 155

87. Dan Hosek +16 79 77 156

88. Drew Rowland +16 78 78 156

89. Mark Adams +16 78 78 156

90. Thomas Foster +17 80 77 157

91. Austin Fockler +17 78 79 157

92. Sam McNamara +18 82 76 158

93. Neil Davis +18 79 79 158

94. Jay West +19 79 80 159

95. Jack Bruns +19 79 80 159

96. Tim Beans +19 79 80 159

97. Chris Coyer +19 76 83 159

98. Jeremy Walsh +21 76 85 161

99. Wesley Sherrill +22 82 80 162

100. Brian O’Dea +23 81 82 163

101. Devin Cooper +23 83 80 163

102. Robby McKetta +23 81 82 163

103. Seward Totty +24 76 88 164

104. Matt Angelelli +27 87 80 167

105. Ed MacMahon +28 87 81 168

106. Cornell Beans IV +29 86 83 169

107. Jimmy Taylor +29 86 83 169

108. William Kurtz +30 86 84 170

109. Richard Sarver +32 91 81 172

110. Butch Mielke +33 87 86 173

111. Robert Deane +36 88 88 176

112. Jim Malone +39 89 90 179