For the third time in as many holes, Jimmie Massie stood over a birdie putt with a throng of spectators surrounding the green Sunday. The anticipation for Massie to strike the ball with his putter was palpable.
The third time proved to be the charm for Massie. He was relaxed and confident as he stood above his shot. The University of Virginia freshman calmly measured the putt, knowing anything close to the hole would wrap up his first Fox Puss Invitational title. So he settled for a two-putt and the coveted crown at his home course of Boonsboro Country Club.
Massie, the former E.C. Glass High School standout, rallied from a five-stroke deficit to second-round leader Justin Young by firing a 5-under par 66 to force a playoff, and he then defeated Young on the second extra hole.
“Pretty special. I guess it still hasn’t quite sunk in yet,” Massie said of winning the Fox Puss. “ … To win in a playoff is pretty cool.”
Massie’s tee shot from the second playoff hole at No. 9 landed in the center of the fairway and about 85 yards to the green as an afternoon rain saturated the Boonsboro tract.
Young, last year’s Fox Puss runner-up, watched his tee shot go wide left and into the woods between the ninth fairway and the eighth green. After a lengthy search, the Roanoke native needed two swings to get the ball back into the fairway, and his fourth shot skidded by the hole to open the door for Massie to finish the tournament with a two-putt.
“It was just a bad swing. I got stuck and tried to save it by flipping through it, and it was just a bad swing,” Young said of the tee shot on the second playoff hole. “What can you do?”
Massie’s birdie putt went by the hole by two feet, and he calmly sank the 15th par putt of his round to secure the second Fox Puss title won by a Lynchburg native in the past three years.
Connor Burgess, Massie’s teammate at E.C. Glass and a freshman at Virginia Tech, won the rain-shortened Fox Puss in 2016.
“There’s three invitationals you want to win [in Virginia], and this is one of them,” Young said.
Young took a one-stroke lead after making a birdie at the par-5 16th, but his 4-foot right-to-left par attempt on the 17th missed the hole and brought Massie back into a tie.
Massie’s birdie attempt at No. 18 burned the edge of the hole, and he was forced to watch Young have to make par on the 18th to force a playoff.
“I missed a lot of really good birdie opportunities, actually, especially on the back nine,” Massie said.
Those missed opportunities highlighted both of the top finishers’ rounds.
Despite playing a bogey-free round, Massie could not convert on a birdie attempt at No. 12, and he had another birdie try at No. 14 that just missed the hole.
Young three-putted at No. 13 for bogey and missed an opportunity for eagle on 16 that could have extended his lead to two strokes.
"I just didn’t have my best. It was pretty much a struggle all day, so to keep it where I was, was good,” Young said. “Three putt on 13 and then I missed a short right-to-left one on 17, shouldn’t even have been in the playoff. It’s on me. He earned it, but I lost it, too.”
Massie celebrated his Fox Puss title by driving back to Charlottesville for an exam this morning. His week gets busier with the U.S. Open local qualifier being held at Farmington Country Club in Charlottesville on Thursday, and Massie will join his UVa teammates in the NCAA regional held at Jimmie Austin OU Golf Club in Norman, Oklahoma. The Cavaliers are the No. 8 seed in the region.
“I guess it just gives me the confidence to know that I can go out there and win,” Massie said. “It helps me and the team.”
DIVOTS: Jimmy Delp shot 5 under on the back nine and finished tied with defending champion Sam O’Dell for third at 1 under. … Burgess opened his final round by going eagle, birdie, birdie, and matched Massie’s 66 for the best round of the tournament. Burgess finished in a tie for ninth with Keith Decker, who highlighted the final round with an eagle on the par-4 11th. … Peter DeTemple shot 69 for the second straight round to win his first senior division title by one stroke over David Jordan. … Bill Nunnenkamp led wire-to-wire to win the super senior division by three strokes over Van McCarter. It is Nunnenkamp’s first super senior title.