Mark Lawrence Jr. advances to final round of Virginia State Amateur

Rising junior wins two matches on Friday to advance

June 30, 2017

Virginia Tech golfer Mark Lawrence Jr., won both his quarterfinal and semifinal matches on Friday and has advanced to the finals of the 104^th Virginia State Golf Association Amateur Championship. The tournament is being played at the 7,061-yard, par 72 Club at Creighton Farms in Aldie, Virginia.

Lawrence, a rising junior from Richmond, will play Jordan Utley of Richmond in the 36-hole final on Saturday. The match will begin at 7:30 a.m.

In the morning quarterfinal round, Lawrence defeated Ji Soo Park 4 & 2. Lawrence was up four holes at the turn and led by as many as five holes on the back nine, before finishing the match on the 16^th hole.

In the afternoon semifinal match, Lawrence bested Steve Serrao, 8 & 7. Lawrence won the first six holes and closed the match out by halving the 11^th hole.

This marks the third consecutive year that Lawrence has advanced to Friday at the State Amateur and the second time in the last three years that he has made the finals. He lost to the Hokies’ Maclain Huge in the finals in 2015 and fell to teammate Joey Lane in the semifinals of last year’s event, held at the Pete Dye River Course of Virginia Tech. Lane went on to win the title. This also marks the third consecutive years that a Virginia Tech golfer has made the finals at the State Am.

Lawrence will be trying to join his father, Mark Lawrence Sr., as VSGA State Amateur champion. The elder Lawrence won the event in 1980 at Willow Oaks Country Club in Richmond.

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