Hokie Hanson surprise leader at Kenridge with red-hot 6-under 64

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Charlie Hanson kept a couple of his Virginia Tech teammates up half the night Thursday, stressing about his golf swing.

The Hokies’ rising junior was confident in his putting skill and his short game. He just couldn’t figure out what was wrong with his swing, his ball-striking ability. Hanson didn’t have long to figure it out before Friday’s first round of the Kenridge Invitational at Farmington Country Club in Charlottesville.

Apparently, Hanson found his answer on the practice range Friday morning. The Richmond native fired a rare, 6-under 64 and owns a four-shot lead over his closest pursuers heading into Saturday’s second round of the 54-hole tournament.

Lou Baker (University of Richmond, Atlantic-10 Golfer of the Year), Rui Chang (No. 1 ranked U.S. college club golfer in Fall 2021 season), Bryne Corbett (third place 2021 State Open) and David Stanford (Virginia Tech freshman, 2021 U.S. Amateur) are all log jammed in second place with 2-under 68’s, while Scott Shingler, Samuel King, Marshal Meisel and Chad Fultz are five back at 69. Charlie Kennedy, Philip Mahone (Farmington member), Cameron Moore and Matthew Monastero are tied for sixth place at even-par 70.

Hanson, a rising junior on Virginia Tech’s golf team and a member of Deep Run High’s four-state championship run, said he just kept things simple in his warmup and his ball-striking was near-perfect in his opening round. He hit 10 fairways and 14 greens in regulation and got up-and-down for saves on No. 7 and No. 11 to help him keep his momentum going.

Posting a bogey-free round, the Richmonder made the turn at 3-under (birdies on Nos. 1, 3 and 9), then pulled away from competition with a torrid stretch on the back with three consecutive birdies at Nos. 13, 14 and 15.

When his teammates learned of Hanson’s spectacular round, well …

“They gave me hell because I was complaining so much after the practice round (Thursday),” Hanson chuckled. “They didn’t want to hear any of it. It was funny.”

While Thursday thunderstorms softened up the course a bit, the greens were still quick and should be even more so the remainder of the weekend.

Because of his lack of confidence in his swing in advance of the tournament, Hanson didn’t have any expectations.

“I just couldn’t figure out what I was doing wrong with my swing,” the leader said. “I kind of never expect a lot out of myself, just to keep the pressure off my shoulders. Today was awesome. I was finally able to hit it well enough to post a number and hold onto it.”

While Hanson likes to keep the pressure off, he’ll face some of that in Saturday’s second round, although he has held the lead in tournaments before. He said he is more of a tournament player because he can better lock in and focus stronger under tournament conditions.

“For the longest time I would put a ton of pressure on myself, and I was very hard on myself to get better,” Hanson said. “I think in the past year, with some bad golf, came a lot of growth.

“Scottie Scheffler said, I think it was at the Masters, that he wasn’t defined by his goals or the numbers he shoots. So, I’m Charlie Hanson, and whatever I shoot is what it is, but that doesn’t define me. That’s kind of mainly the mental thing that I’ve been focusing on of late — not putting all that pressure on myself and just playing.”

Wonder how Hanson kept his teammates up all night Friday?

KENRIDGE INVITATIONAL

FIRST ROUND RESULTS
1. Charlie Hanson -6 64
T2. Lou Baker -2 68
T2. Rui Chang -2 68
T2. David Stanford -2 68
T2. Bryce Corbett -2 68
T6. Scott Shingler -1 69
T6. Marshall Meisel -1 69
T6. Chad Fultz -1 69
T6. Samuel King -1 69
T10. Philip Mahone E 70
T10. Cameron Moore E 70
T10. Matthew Monastero E 70
T10. Charlie Kennedy E 70
T14. Liam Powderly +1 71
T14. Hunter Duncan +1 71
T14. Nick Little +1 71
T14. Frank Alafoginis +1 71
T14. William Peel IV +1 71
T14. Jake Newman +1 71
T20. Brad Whitaker +2 72
T20. Channing Blevins +2 72
T20. Jackson Lalonde +2 72
T20. Max Green +2 72
T20. Dawson Anders +2 72
T20. Steve Serrao +2 72
T20. Josh Pethel +2 72
T20. Ryan Demit +2 72
T20. Garnet Manley III +2 72
T20. Ben Haggin +2 72
T20. Trevor Binau +2 72
T20. Tim Pemberton +2 72
T32. Zach Henry +3 73
T32. Michael Crowley +3 73
T32. Trey Wren +3 73
T32. Pearse Lucas +3 73
T32. Kyle Bailey +3 73
T32. Sterling Ruffin +3 73
T32. AJ Stouffer +3 73
T32. Preston Burton +3 73
T32. Parker Shimp +3 73
T32. Tyler Dorsey +3 73
T32. Lance Yates +3 73
T32. Rij Patel +3 73
T32. Jimmy Delp +3 73
T32. Adam Horton +3 73
T46. Patrick Galleher +4 74
T46. Dustin Groves +4 74
T46. Benjamin Choe +4 74
T46. Andrew Kennedy +4 74
T46. Connor McGarrity +4 74
T46. Nicholas Taliaferro +4 74
T46. Mark Manwaring +4 74
T46. Will Crimmins +4 74
T46. Liam Foster +4 74
T46. Pat McCarthy +4 74
T56. Buck Brittain +5 75
T56. Joshuaa Robards +5 75
T56. Drew Brockwell +5 75
T56. Edward Coffren +5 75
T56. Peyton Lawson +5 75
T56. Aiden LeBlanc +5 75
T56. Jack Dannemann +5 75
T56. Cornell Beans +5 75
T56. Ryan Monastero +5 75
T56. Austin Turner +5 75
T56. Turner Lisle +5 75
T56. Jack Barnes +5 75
T56. Tim Morris +5 75
T69. Ian Hildebrand +6 76
T69. Chris Coyer +6 76
T69. Kevin O’Connell +6 76
T69. Jeremy Walsh +6 76
T69. Dave Scialabba +6 76
T69. Bill Apple +6 76
T69. Seward Totty +6 76
T76. Zack Russell +7 77
T76. Sam Sikes +7 77
T76. Jamie Agnew +7 77
T76. Willoughby Gasperini +7 77
T76. Matthew Barnes +7 77
T76. Chris Leibl +7 77
T76. Lee Fisher +7 77
T76. Brian Bassett +7 77
T84. Drew Rowland +8 78
T84. Sean McGarrity +8 78
T84. Austin Fockler +8 78
T84. Nate Faulkner +8 78
T84. Nick Brediger +8 78
T84. Mark Adams +8 78
T90. Neil Davis +9 79
T90. Jay West +9 79
T90. Tim Beans +9 79
T90. Jack Bruns +9 79
T90. Will Wears +9 79
T90. Dan Hosek +9 79
T96. Matthew Mielke +10 80
T96. Thomas Foster +10 80
T98. Brian O’Dea +11 81
T98. Robby McKetta +11 81
T100. Sam McNamara +12 82
T100. Wesley Sherrill +12 82
T100. Ethan Ducharme +12 82
T103. Charlie O’Shea +13 83
T103. Devin Cooper +13 83
T103. John McAllister +13 83
T106. William Kurtz +16 86
T106. Cornell Beans IV +16 86
T106. Jimmy Taylor +16 86
T109. Butch Mielke +17 87
T109. Ed MacMahon +17 87
T109. Matt Angelelli +17 87
112. Robert Deane +18 88
113. Jim Malone +19 89
114. Richard Sarver +21 91