Ben Hunter and Keith Cooper, both of Suffolk, are veterans of the Eastern Amateur golf tournament, but they have never been better in it than they were this past weekend.

The Elizabeth Manor Golf and Country Club’s signature event featured 169 golfers this year and was shortened to three rounds due to inclement weather on Saturday.

After the second round, which took place on Friday, the field was cut to the players with the top 80 scores.

Hunter, the graduate and former golf star of The Apprentice School, ended the tournament in a four-way tie for 17th with a one-under-par 209 aggregate score.

“I met my expectations as far as my goal coming into the tournament, so overall, I was satisfied,” he said.

Cooper, recently graduated golf standout at Nansemond-Suffolk Academy, finished the tourney on Sunday in a six-way tie for 37th with a three-over 213 aggregate.

“I felt great,” Cooper said of his performance. “I made the cut for the first time.”

Hunter shot a one-over 71 in the first round on Thursday, a three-under 67 in the second round on Friday and then a 71 in the third round, which was split between Saturday and Sunday.

“I hit the ball good every day, really, but I didn’t make any putts, really, the first day,” he said. “And I was rolling the ball exceptionally well the second day, and I just managed to get up and down when I needed to, and I made some really good birdie putts. That’s really what did it for me on the second day.”

Hunter said he felt his momentum carry over from Friday into Saturday.

“I birdied two out of the first three holes on Saturday, and I managed to be two-under through seven until they stopped play,” he said.

The weather was not negatively affecting him, as the tourney continued for a while in the rain, but the eventual break in the midst of the third round “took away from the momentum that I had going,” Hunter said.

Nevertheless, of his four years participating in the Eastern Amateur, “this was the best,” he said.

Cooper shot a two-under 68 on Thursday, a two-over 72 on Friday and a three-over 73 across Saturday and Sunday.

“It affected me a lot, not going to lie,” Cooper said of the schedule readjustment. He was under par for the day on Saturday, and “I was putting for birdie at the break.”

When play resumed on Sunday morning, he ended up making par.

“I just never got on a good track,” he said.

However, he was pleased by his overall performance in the event and said that it was bolstered by his strong play as of late and his increased familiarity with the course since it was NSA’s home course in 2015.

NSA coach Katie Murphy is the PGA professional at Elizabeth Manor and was pleased by Cooper’s play over the weekend.

“He played excellent, a great showing for him as he’s getting ready to go into college,” she said. “I actually was on the bag caddying for him Saturday before we got rained out, and he was playing very well.”

Cooper will compete for Virginia Wesleyan College moving forward.

Other Suffolk golfers competing included John David Sanderson, Trey Wren and Will Comer, but they did not make the cut.

“It’s tough to make the cut,” Murphy said, noting the field of competition included golfers from Argentina, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, All-Americans at Georgia Institute of Technology, with other golfers from schools like Campbell University, Loyola University, University of Virginia, Virginia Tech and James Madison University.

James Clark, a rising sophomore at Georgia Tech, won the tournament with a 12-under 198 aggregate.