Like father, like son: Lawrence Jr. savors VSGA championship

(AP) — Mark Lawrence Jr. hadn't been born yet when his father and namesake won the 1980 Virginia State Golf Association men's amateur championship.

[...] that victory, the trophy in the family's Richmond-area home and Mark Lawrence Sr.'s other golf accomplishments always served as motivation for his son.

When Mark Lawrence Jr., a rising junior at Virginia Tech, beat out fellow Richmonder Jordan Utley on Saturday at the Club at Creighton Farms in Aldie, he joined his father as a state amateur champion.

According to the VSGA, the Lawrences are the first father-son duo to claim state amateur titles in the event's 104-year history.

[...] this time around, Lawrence Jr. rolled in a 25-birdie putt in a playoff with five other golfers on qualifying day, then kept rolling all the way through match play to the title.

Lawrence Jr., who won three consecutive junior state match play championships, spent his freshman year at Auburn University and while he liked his coaches and teammates on the golf team, he said the school wasn't the right institution for him.