Virginia
How Virginia Tech game will provide insight on Clark Lea’s Vanderbilt football rebuild
In 2023, coach Clark Lea didn’t do enough to help Vanderbilt football evolve the way he intended, he said Tuesday at his media availability.
That team finished 2-10, with the two wins coming in the first two games of the season. The Commodores lost all their games against Power Five competition by double digits.
Virginia Tech, the Commodores’ opponent on Saturday, started 2-4 with losses to Rutgers, Purdue and Marshall before finishing 7-6. New Mexico State started 2-3 and finished 10-5. Among a slate of wholesale changes in the offseason, Lea brought in former Aggies head coach Jerry Kill, offensive coordinator Tim Beck and quarterback Diego Pavia.
“A team that improves through the season is a testament of a good coaching staff, and I think it was a measure of my performance as head coach,” Lea said. “I thought that last year, it wasn’t for lack of trying, I just never found the formula to get that group to go beyond the performance we delivered.”
Although improvement through the season is somewhat of a litmus test for Lea, 2024 starts with an important game right off the bat. In the Hokies on Saturday (11 a.m. CT, ESPN), Vanderbilt will be facing a bowl team from a year ago. To have any hope of getting to six wins, the Commodores will likely need to defeat Virginia Tech.
During the 2021 season, Lea’s first, the team also finished 2-10. But Lea said he felt there was hope at the end of that season, and in 2022, Vanderbilt started 3-6 before winning two games in November to get to 5-7 − albeit with a crushing loss to Tennessee at the end.
“If I were to share a disappointment that I had, outside of the pain of the results from last season, it would be that I didn’t do enough to get our program to evolve into change,” Lea said. “And it just felt like we could never get that team to the performance that we were proud of, and we suffered because of it. So I’m really interested to start the season. I certainly would love to get off to a great start, that would obviously be a lot of fun.”
Lea took over as the defensive coordinator himself after firing Nick Howell. Lea said that calling the defense himself has been one of his most fun times. With Lea focusing more on defensive duties, Kill has been designated the de facto “head coach of the offense,” with Beck calling plays there.
It will be weeks or months before we truly know how well Lea’s rebuild has worked, but as Lea knows, Saturday against the Hokies will be a big clue as to how 2024 will go.
DIEGO PAVIA How Vanderbilt football transfer Diego Pavia’s unrelenting competitiveness landed in Nashville
Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at agerson@gannett.com or on Twitter @aria_gerson.
Virginia
New Tiger Woods Golf Course Coming To Virginia Resort Community
Aerial of the Cutalong course and main clubhouse at the Tributer Resort in central Virginia. The property has plans to add a second 18-hole championship course designed by Tiger Woods.
RON BLUNT STUDIO | Tributer Resort
A new Tiger Woods-designed course is coming to the Tributer Resort in Lake Anna, Virginia, a future member offering for the growing residential component in development at the destination property that in 2021 opened one of the top new courses in the state.
The second course won’t begin construction until 2028 but the project from TGR Design is part of the ambitious expansion plans from Reef Capital Partners, the ownership group behind newer golf destinations such as Black Desert Resort (UT) and Sweetens Cove (TN) that continue to gain popularity.
Situated in central Virginia, about 55 miles north of Richmond and 85 miles southwest of Washington D.C., Tributer Resort currently has Cutalong Golf Club, an 18-hole championship layout modeled after C.B. Macdonald’s National Golf Links of America. The current course was recognized by Golf Digest in 2023 as one of the Top 5 best new private courses in the U.S. and the forthcoming TGR course will provide a second distinct championship golf experience.
The routing for the new, member-only TGR Design course at Tributer Resort in Central Virginia.
Tributer Resort
Tributer Resort is evolving into a lifestyle and residential destination under Reef Capital Partners, which acquired the property in 2018, with a year-round environment rooted in golf as well as hospitality and waterfront living near Lake Anna. When complete, the community will include more than 900 residences along with multiple dining spaces, wellness amenities, lakeside recreation, curated outdoor experiences, and trail systems.
“This new course announcement represents a major milestone in the evolution of Tributer Resort and reinforces our commitment to building a premier golf destination at Lake Anna,” said Tributer Resort General Manager Ian Sikes. “Together with our existing offerings, this addition brings a new level of excitement and distinction to the club and community.”
Tributer Resort is adding more golf-centric accommodations as part of its expansion.
Tributer Resort The residential component of the resort currently includes seven golf villas and eight cottages, all of which are member-owned but available to guests interested in stay-and-play packages at the property, in addition to estate lots with golf course views. Buildout plans call for a total of 22 golf villas (four bedrooms) and 34 cottages (two bedrooms), although guests will only have access to the Cutalong course, not the new TGR Design, which will be member-only. Golf memberships, which offer priority access to both courses, are now available. There are also social memberships reserved for residents interested in the Tributer lifestyle beyond golf.
“Our vision is to create a vibrant, enduring community where resort amenities are seamlessly integrated into everyday life,” said Reef CEO Jared Lucero. “This next phase brings together thoughtfully designed residences, elevated amenities, golf, and world-class recreation.”
The existing Cutalong Course at Tributer.
Brian Oar | Tributer While the Cutalong course is inspired by strategic principles of golf’s Golden Age architects (Donald Ross and Alister MacKenzie among them), the forthcoming TGR Design course will showcase the property’s dramatic topography and natural landscape of a property where miners in the 19th and 20th centuries once dug for copper, pyrite and traces of gold. Routed through rolling farmland, mature hardwood forests and pine groves overlooking Lake Anna, the second course will stretch to 7,310 yards from the championship tees and be defined by strategic shot values and a distinct variety of holes with expansive vistas.
“A balanced mix of uphill and downhill holes, shifting perspectives, and natural landforms will ensure no two holes feel alike, creating a course that feels organic in its movement and varied in its demands,” said TGR Design President Bryon Bell, who noted that strategy, creativity and thoughtful decision-making will define the overall experience. True to Tiger’s design principles, it will challenge elite players yet remain playable and engaging for less experienced or less skilled players.
“Lake Anna provides a remarkable setting for championship golf,” added Bell, “and we’re excited to see this design come to life in a way that fully reflects its sense of place.”
The existing Cutalong Course, recently named one of the top new private courses in Virginia, during the fall.
Brian Oar | Tributer Woods and TGR Design have an existing relationship with Reef, having designed the first of two courses at the private club community of Marcella in northern Utah. Cutalong was the first golf property acquired by Reef Capital Partners, evolving –and re-branding — as Tributer, and was the launchpad for an expanding portfolio of golf developments.
Complementing the golf courses at Tributer is an 18-hole, lighted putting course (The Shenandoah Green) that’s designed as part of a social and entertainment venue adjacent to the clubhouse that overlooks the 1st and 18th greens of the existing course. Single-night and multi-night stay-and-play packages are available at the resort, providing a member-type experience within private residences. The putting green next to the clubhouse at the Tributer Resort in Central Virginia.
RON BLUNT STUDIO | Tributer ResortGolf Residences
Virginia
Virginia House honors ABC13’s Noreen Turyn as she retires after 36 years
RICHMOND, Va. (WSET) — Our very own Noreen Turyn was honored at the Virginia Capitol as she prepares to step away from the desk after more than three decades.
The Virginia House of Delegates recognized Turyn in honor of her retirement after 36 years with ABC13. Lawmakers unanimously adopted House Resolution 2072, patroned by Del. Wendell Walker of the 52nd District, recognizing her decades of service to Central Virginia journalism.
Since joining the station in 1990, Turyn has become one of the region’s most trusted news voices, earning a regional Emmy Award and recognition for her investigative reporting.
“Noreen’s legacy in Central Virginia is the confidence that she’s inspired viewers and countless journalists tahts he has mentored along the way,” Walker said.
During the House proceedings, the vote was called and approved: “All those in favor of the motion say aye. All those in denial say naye. The motion is passed. Congrats.”
Walker said Turyn’s impact extends beyond the anchor desk through the viewers she informed and the journalists she mentored throughout her career.
Virginia
Vehicle crashes into Virginia Beach seafood restaurant
The government has a bridge to sell you.
North Carolina State Auditor Dave Boliek said the taxpayers have been paying for it since 1995 to the tune of about $61 million. To this day, construction has not begun between Aydlett and Corolla. https://www.wavy.com/news/north-carolina/61-million-spent-on-troubled-mid-currituck-bridge-project/
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