Fitzgerald Goes Low at Plandome Met Open Qualifier
PLANDOME, N.Y. (July 21, 2015) – A total of 13 players qualified at Plandome Country Club for the 100th Met Open Championship from a starting field of 124.
Related: Full Results | Road to Winged Foot
Leading the field and finishing one stroke shy of the course record was Garden City GC Assistant Professional Jesse Fitzgerald. After recording a 1-over 37 on the front nine, Fitzgerald scorched the back, shooting a 7-under 28 to end his round with a 65. For Fitzgerald, it's nice to join the Met Open conversation alongside Garden City Head Professional and 2010 Met Open Champion Bob Rittberger.
“Wanted to get in this one so bad,” Fitzgerald chuckled. “You know, I’ve learned a lot from Bob, he’s been huge for me, and so it’ll be nice to join him.”
Peter Kampmann, an assistant pro at Manhattan Woods, came in with a 3-under 68. Propelled by a long putt for eagle on 17, the key to Kampmann’s success was putting.
“It was just one of those days where the putts dropped,” noted Kampmann. “Speed was good on the greens, and I got a few breaks here and there. That was the difference.”
Sharing medalist honors with Kampmann was Bill Van Orman of Meadow Brook and David Prowler (a) of Bethpage. Van Orman and Prowler played consistent,mistake-free golf, both settling for bogey only once over 18 holes.
Brian Flanagan (a) of Rye, Jeffrey Michael Schaller of Twaalfskill, Kirk Satterfield of Purchase, David Prowler (a) of Bethpage, Matthew Sita of Old Westbury, and Brian Bartow of Sunningdale carded 2-under 69s to punch their tickets to Winged Foot. The theme of Flanagan’s round wasbouncing-back; three of the veteran’s bogeys were followed by consecutive birdies.
Kirk Oguri of The Greens at Half Hollow notched a 1-under 70 to advance to the Met Open Championship. After double bogeying 16, Oguri quickly rebounded, making birdie on 17 and 18 to sneak into the Open.
Tied with Oguri at 70 and rounding out the qualifiers were Jordan Kaplan (a) of Pine Hollow and Jamie Kilmer of Wheatley Hills.
Underhigh humidity, Plandome played to a par of 71 at 6,610 yards.
The MGA will conduct two more qualifiers for the Met Open Championship tomorrow at Port Jefferson Golf Club, and Thursday, July 23, at Hackensack Golf Club.
For complete Met Open coverage, please visit www.mgagolf.org.
