Suffolk golfer on winning team
Published 8:16 pm Thursday, January 13, 2011
Suffolk’s J.P. Leigh teamed with Charles Green of Tazewell to win their division’s championship in the 21st Annual National Senior-Junior Amateur Team Championship Monday-Wednesday at The Dye Preserve course in Jupiter, Fla.
Leigh and Green shot under-par each round, with rounds of 71, 70 and 65 to finish 10-under par and five shots clear of the rest of the field in the Legends Division, one of two divisions in the event with 43 teams overall at the Florida course designed by golf legend Pete Dye.
The 54-hole tournament has a unique format both in the “senior-junior” element and in each of the three rounds.
Each team must have one golfer 50-or-older and one golfer younger than 50 years old. Leigh was the senior member of his team. The seniors play the course at 6,450 yards and the juniors play from 6,850 yards.
The first round is a four-ball stroke play format, in which each player records his own score on each hole. The lower of a team’s two scores on a hole counts. The second round is alternate shots between teammates. The final round is a best-ball scramble for each twosome.
Leigh won the Virginia Senior Stroke Play Championship four straight years from 2003-06. He reached the USGA Senior Amateur Championship in 2009.