SUFFOLK, Va., July 28,
2011 – Blacksburg
’s
Jake
Mondy likely couldn’t
have scripted the final round of his last start
at the Virginia State Golf Association Junior
Stroke Play Championship any better.
The 18-year-old Mondy delivered a
championship-best 6-under-par 66 on the last
day to blow past the field and post a four-
stroke victory as the 59th renewal of the
championship concluded today at Cedar Point
Country Club.
Playing in the last Junior for which he is
eligible before passing the age eligibility limit of
18 in September, Mondy, a spring graduate of
Blacksburg High School, finished at 7-under
209 (72-71-66). Local Alex
Lloyd, 17 of Virginia Beach, a rising
senior at Floyd E. Kellam High School, closed
with even-par 72 (3-under 213) to finish
second. Fellow 17-year-old Richmond
residents Christopher
Kapsak (70), a rising senior at
Trinity Episcopal School, and
Adam Ball (74), a
rising junior at St. Christopher’s School
and a semifinalist at last week’s U.S.
Junior, concluded play seven strokes back at
even-par 216.
Even though he started the day two
strokes off Lloyd’s lead, it would
ultimately matter little for Mondy, who shined
on the final day, collecting seven birdies
against a bogey while missing just one green in
regulation.
Talk about
exiting the stage in a memorable way. With the
triumph, Mondy (pictured right),
who won last year’s Junior at Roanoke
Country Club, became the third player to claim
back-to-back titles in the past four decades
and the sixth player ever take home the F.J.D.
Mackay Trophy in consecutive years. Most
recently, Virginia Beach resident Brinson Paolini
(now a rising junior at Duke University) claimed
back-to-back Junior titles in 2007-08 and then
went on to win a record three straight VSGA
Amateur Championship titles (2008-10). The
others to repeat are: Cameron Yancey (1995-
96); Jimmy Ellis (1968-69); Lloyd Liebler (1966-
67) and World Golf Hall of Fame member Lanny
Wadkins (1964-65).
“For it to be my last Junior, to
repeat and to have my name on that trophy
with Brinson, Cameron and the other great
players is special,” said Mondy, bound
for Auburn University in the fall on a golf
scholarship. “It was big to finish on a
high note like that.”
Mondy played nearly flawlessly on the final
day and was sharp from tee to green. He
stuffed controlled wedge shots to inside 6 feet
at the two par 5s on the outward half, Nos. 3
and 6, to set up birdies. He holed a 20-footer
at the par-4 eighth to tie Lloyd for the lead at
four under at the turn.
Mondy would leave the field in the distant
on the second nine, playing a six-hole stretch
from Nos. 12-17 in three under par. At the
par-3 12th hole, he drilled a pure 8-iron
through the wind, nearly holing out the tee
shot that came to rest 10 inches from the
flagstick.
“That was huge. I don’t know
how it didn’t go in,” Mondy said.
“The ball mark was right next to the
hole. After that shot, I knew that it was
probably going to be my day.”
He was right. He hit the par-5 14th in two
to set up another birdie, then escaped a little
trouble after an errant tee shot at the par-4
14th, recovering to punch an 8-iron to 4 feet.
After his only blemish of the day at the par-3
16th, Mondy rebounded and detonated a 315-
yard tee shot through a headwind at the 500-
yard, par-5 17th leaving with him just a 7-iron
in to set up one last birdie.
The long-hitting Mondy admittedly likes the
Cedar Point layout, a layout that rewards
bombers who are accurate. He reached the
quarterfinals of the VSGA Amateur
Championship conducted at the course in
2009. Mondy had all parts of his game in order
on the closing day in accounting for the low
round of this year’s championship.
“I’ve been waiting for
something to click,” he said.
“I’ve changed my swing a little
bit this summer and haven’t quite
played the way I wanted to. It clicked a little
bit [Wednesday] and it really clicked today.
“I hit it probably the best
I’ve ever hit it in my life today. It was a
very non-stressful round, which was
nice.”
Lloyd made back-to-back bogeys at Nos.
15 and 16 to drop back to two under before
collecting a birdie at the 17th hole. As they
were exiting the green at the next-to-last
hole, Ball and Lloyd, a part of the last group of
three in the final round, told their friend
Mondy, playing a grouping ahead of them,
what the leader board would soon
unmistakably reveal: another Junior title was
his.
Mondy dedicated the victory to his late
father, David Mondy Jr., who died on Oct. 26,
2010, two weeks after Jake won the Virginia
High School League Group AA individual title.
For Jake, his father brought him to the game
and remained his teacher and mentor through
the years. He could fix Jake’s swing in a
moment’s notice, sight unseen. Jake
admitted he gained inspiration from the
memory of his father.
“I know my dad was with me today
when I was playing the back nine,”
Mondy said. “He was my only swing
coach since I picked up a club when I could
first walk. He’s meant everything to my
golf game and there’s no way I would
be here in this position without him. I know he
was looking down on me today.”
View results for Virginia Junior Stroke Play
ABOUT THE
Virginia Junior Stroke Play
54-hole stroke play competition (18 holes per day).
The field will be cut to the top 45 players and ties
following round two. All non-exempt players must
qualify to play in the championship. Open to VSGA
members who have not reached their 19th birthday
and
who hold an active GHIN number issued by a licensed
VSGA Member Club in good standing.
View Complete Tournament Information