Timesland golfer still alive in VSGA Junior Match Play Championship

IRVINGTON — Roanoke’s Nick Brediger is the only Timesland player left standing at the 23rd VSGA Junior Match Play Championship at King Carter Club.

Brediger, a recent Cave Spring High graduate, won a pair of matches Thursday to advance to today’s semifinals against fourth seed Mark Lawrence of Richmond.

After beating ninth seed Bryce Johnson of Oakton 3-and-2 in the morning’s first round, No. 8 Brediger squandered a 3-up lead with five holes left to play in the afternoon quarterfinals against qualifying medalist Logan Yates of Ruckersville. However, Brediger refused to wilt and eventually emerged victorious when he won the 20th hole with a par.

No. 2 seed Griffin Clark of South Chesterfield will face No. 6 Casey Bannon of Alexandria in the other semifinal.

The semifinal victors will meet in this afternoon’s 18-hole championship match.

Roanoker Drew Lagan , the 14th seed who upset No. 2 Michael Mead of Spotsylvania 2-and-1 in Thursday’s first round, was all square through 10 holes before losing four of the next five holes and dropping a 4-and-3 decision to Bannon in the quarterfinals.

Blacksburg’s Ty Olinger and Salem’s Andrew Butts each lost their first-round matches by 2-and-1 scores.

Olinger, the 11th seed, had an early 1-up lead on Bannon before losing four of the next nine holes. Olinger birdied No. 14 to trim his margin to 2-down, but Bannon managed to halve the next three holes to close out the match.

Butts fell 4-down to Yates in the first eight holes before winning Nos. 13 and 14 to trim the deficit in half. Butts, however, couldn’t draw any closer as the two players halved Nos. 15-17 to seal Yates’ victory.

Brediger, who will begin his college golf career at Radford this fall, is attempting to become the first Timesland player to win the title since Ridgeway’s Dylan Jensen in 2010. The last Roanoke player to capture the crown was Scott Wise in 1998.

Hunnell, Hollandsworth score top-5 finishes

LEXINGTON — Troutville’s Lyndsey Hunnell finished fourth and Floyd’s Amanda Hollandsworth tied for fifth in the 36th VSGA Women’s Stroke Play Championship that concluded Thursday at Lexington Country Club.

Hunnell fired a final-round 3-over-par 74 to finish with a 54-hole total of 14-over 227. Hollandsworth closed with a 75 that left her at 228.

Salem’s Kristin Hearp carded a 73 to take eighth at 232. Roanoke’s Meagan Board posted a 78 to tie for 14th at 242. Roanoke’s Sara Moir (88) finished 29th at 275, with Willis’ Morgan Cox (91) settling for 30th at 290.

Chesterfield’s Lyberty Anderson closed with a tournament-low 68 to finish at 3-under 209 to punctuate a wire-to-wire five-shot victory over runner-up Casey Kennedy of Centreville.

Defending champion Amanda Steinhagen took third at 225.

Brewbaker tied for 121st

RALEIGH, N.C. — Fielding Brewbaker will have to paint his scorecard with a lot of red numbers if he plans on playing the weekend at the Rex Hospital Open Web.com Tour event.

Brewbaker, who earned a spot in the 156-player field by in a Monday qualifier, settled for a 2-over-par 73 in Thursday’s first round at TPC Wakefield Plantation. The 26-year-old Salem native is tied for 121st in the 156-player field.

Andrew Putnam posting a blistering 9-under 61 to snare the first-round lead. With 88 players posting 70 or better in the first round, Brewbaker will likely have to shoot 67 — perhaps even lower — in order to have any shot of making the low 70 players and ties who will make the 36-hole cut.

COLLEGES

Burgess headlines Radford Hall of Fame class

Former basketball standout Don Burgess headlines this year’s class of the Radford University hall of fame.

Burgess, a former All-Big South pick who is now the men’s basketball coach at Bridgewater College, and the rest of the class will be inducted on Oct. 18.

The other new members are former women’s basketball players Karen Bowles-Jordan and Sheila Branch Turpin, former volleyball player Gretchen Foster Donaldson and former men’s lacrosse player Rich Hogan.

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