Dustin Groves’ dramatic win in last Sunday’s Cannon Cup may have been one of a kind in Central Virginia golf.

Burton’s putt slipped just past the hole, ending the match and giving him a second straight runner-up trophy in the second annual Cannon Cup tournament.

How cool is it that two former Monticello High School golfers are competing in the NCAA Division I golf tournaments this week?

The Old Trail ‘A’ team took the team title, beating second-place Glenmore by 33 shots behind Little’s 16-under and Jeff Toms’ 1-under performance.

Little is making the most of the opportunity to play so close to home, shooting a 5-under 66 in the second round of the Old Trail Invitational.

Could this be the year that another Central Virginia golfer breaks through? Possibly, as a strong contingent of local players have qualified and will compete in this week’s State Am at Kingsmill’s spectacular River Course in Williamsburg. The course has hosted the LPGA Tour’s Michelob Open the past six years and previously was a regular PGA Tour stop.

Nick Little’s five-under 66, which bettered the efforts of Glenmore’s duo of Dustin Groves and David Passerell by two strokes, also helped Old Trail’s ‘A’ team take an early seven-stroke lead, 429 to 436, over Glenmore in the team standings. Birdwood (468), The First Tee of Charlottesville (482) and Old Trail’s ‘B’ team (483) rounded out the first-day results.

Central Virginia has become a golfing mecca for amateurs over the past few years, boasting more tournaments each season.

In Gordonsville, fresh off a strong performance for Wake Forest in the NCAA championships, Dustin Groves had a strong first day at the Cannon Cup for a share of the lead.

While it was good to see the progress made this season by coach Bowen Sargent’s Virginia men’s golf team, it was perhaps even more satisfying in local golf circles to observe the rise of two homegrown kids that competed with their teams along with UVa in the NCAA Championships this past week at Purdue.