Hokie ClubROANOKE — Before he left for the 69th Virginia State Golf Association Junior Stroke Play Championship at Roanoke Country Club this week, David Stanford was sure to pack his striped, light blue Army Navy Country Club golf shirt. After all, it was the sartorial choice in 2019 when he won the Junior Stroke Play title at Winchester Country Club.
Stanford admits to being a bit superstitious. Along with the shirt, he had the same breakfast on Thursday as he did in 2019—a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich, and a strawberry banana smoothie.
With all that in mind, a player doesn't win golf tournaments on superstition alone. Stanford earned his second title in the event on Thursday, sinking a 15-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to clip Charlottesville's Preston Burton by a stroke. With the victory, the Virginia Tech-bound Stanford became just the fifth player to sweep the VSGA's two major junior titles in the same summer, Mark Lawrence Jr. being the last to do so in 2015.
"It's great. The successful part of my junior career started with the VSGA (Junior Stroke Play in 2019), so I'm very happy to leave it like this," said Stanford, who will compete in next week's U.S. Amateur at Oakmont CC. "It feels like a full-circle moment right now."
After opening the 54-hole event with a 5-under 66, Stanford shook off a shaky driver and grinded over the last two days for rounds of 71 and 70 to finish at 6-under 207 for the tournament. Along the way, he faced plenty of challenges, none greater than the one at the end from Burton, a rising junior at Charlottesville High School.
Stanford held the lead through eight holes but hit it out of bounds off the tee on 9 and made double bogey to fall behind Fairfax's Michael Lee. The momentum swung back in Stanford's favor on the 13th hole when Lee made bogey and Stanford notched a birdie, giving Stanford a one-stroke lead once again.
Burton seemed out of it after 10 holes, 2 over for the round and struggling to find any momentum. But back-to-back birdies on 11 and 12 righted the ship, and he was hot on Stanford's tail the rest of the way. He finished with four birdies in his final eight holes.
"That back nine, that might have been as much fun as I've had on a golf course," Burton said. "Just a really fun week."
On the par-5 17th, Burton trailed Stanford by two strokes, hit the green in regulation and sank a 15-foot birdie putt. Stanford missed the green and hit his third shot past the hole, leaving him a weird downhill shot from the fringe. He chose to putt it, left it short, missed the par putt and suddenly, Stanford and Burton were tied going to 18 tee.
"It's weird, I wasn't really that nervous about that shot, so I just swung away at it," Stanford said of his drive on 18. "I think if I had gone into that hole ahead, I might not have hit driver, just to take the left out of play."
Both players were in the middle of the fairway on 18. Stanford hit his approach first, a 50-degree wedge shot settling hole high, 15 feet to the left. Burton's approach was on the green, 20 feet short. He gave the birdie look a great run, but it dove right at the last second.
Stanford's birdie putt rolled true, and he pumped his fist as it fell to the bottom of the cup.
"I just have a ton of confidence," said Burton, who shot 68-71-69 for a three-day 208. "Just to try to pressure a player like David at the end like I did, that means a lot to me. I have a lot of confidence going forward."
Lee and Penn Laird's Ryan Slonaker tied for third at 209. Four players tied for fifth at 210: Chesapeake's Trey Marrion, Great Falls' Chase Nevins, Vienna's Matt Moloney, and Richmond's J.J. Powell.
For the second straight year, Powell made an ace in the Junior Stroke Play Championship, this one coming on the par-3 14th hole. In all, he played the five par 3s at 4 under par on Thursday.
"It was 170 into the wind, and usually I'd hit a full 8-iron," Powell said. "But there was a lot of wind in our faces, so I hit kind of a 7-iron, a low one. I did catch it a little fat, a little chunky, but you know, it worked out pretty well."
The day—and the VSGA junior season—belonged to Stanford, who won on Thursday in front of his soon-to-be Hokies coach, Brian Sharp, who posed for photos with Stanford and his family after the round.
"I joke about David being a very boring golfer, because typically, he's driving it in the fairway, hitting greens, making putts, a lot of pars," Sharp said. "It always impresses me that he never gets too high or low. He just kind of figures out what he needs to do and does it. I can't wait for him to come."
As for Sharp's expectations of Stanford in his first year at Tech?
"I expect him to make a pretty significant contribution this year," Sharp said. "Just with the way he plays and how steady he is. … The school side is the most important part, getting his classes and his schedule right. But hopefully, you'll hear his name a lot this fall and certainly next spring. He's going to be a great teammate. We're very much looking forward to getting him here."