Matt Chandler overcame a first-round 2-shot deficit with a blistering 7-under-par 64 Sunday afternoon at Ole Monterey Golf Club to run away with the 40th annual Roanoke Valley Golf Hall of Fame men’s championship.
Chandler’s 138-total in the two-round rain-shortened tournament left him 4 shots clear of runner-up Aaron Eckstein. Chris Clemens finished third at 143 while Radford University standout and former Cave Spring grad Matt Harmon took fourth at 144. Four players tied for fifth at 146, including Scott Wise, Jeff Largen, Justin Young and Alex Taylor.
Hunting Hills took the men’s team championship with a 13-shot margin over Roanoke Country Club, with Hidden Valley placing third.
In the HOF women’s championship battle, Sara Cole posted a wire-to-wire win in the 36-hole event with a 74 Sunday and 147-total, good for a 4-shot victory over 15-year-old Hidden Valley High School sophomore standout Kristin Hearp.
Cole, 61, who won the women’s Hall of Fame in 1989 and 1992, fought off a trio of youngsters including Hearp, Lord Botetourt High School’s Lyndsey Hunnell (third-152) and Blacksburg High School’s Katie Turk (fourth-155).
Led by Hearp, Roanoke Country Club won its fifth straight team championship, with Hanging Rock second and Blacksburg third.
BILL TURNER
