ST. JAMES, N.Y. (July 17, 2012) - Sixteen of the finest teen golfers in the Met Area survived a marathon day in 90-degree heat at the 95th Met Junior Championship sponsored by MetLife at Nissequogue Golf Club in St. James, N.Y. Today saw two rounds of match play, with the starting field of 64 reduced to 32 and then to 16 as the day ended. The Round of 16 will be played in the morning on Wednesday, July 18, with the quarterfinals scheduled for the afternoon.

Highlighting those making the Round of 16 are three former MGA/Metlife Boys champions, including 2008 winner Peter Kim of Metuchen, N.J., who defeated Arjun Madgavkar of New York, N.Y., 4 and 2; 2009 champ and recent MGA/MetLife Public Links runner-up Mark Reilly of Babylon, N.Y., who defeated Travis Ricca of East Northport, N.Y., 2 and 1; and reigning Boys champion Theo Humphrey of Greenwich, Conn., who beat Thomas La Morte of Haworth, N.J., 2 and 1.

Will Bernstein of New York, N.Y., was on the winning end of the most lopsided match of the afternoon, beating Sean Ginley of Warwick, N.Y., 8 and 7. Earlier in the day in the Round of 64, James Corrigan of Irvington, N.Y., and Will Essigs of New Canaan, Conn., went 25 holes — the longest Met Junior match on record — to decide their match (won by Corrigan). Corrigan, who didn’t get much of a breather, went right back out and wasn’t able to keep his momentum, succumbing to Jerry Wall of Brielle, N.J., 7 and 6.  

Other players who advanced to the Sweet 16 include 12-year-old Solomon Thompson of Scarsdale, N.Y., Luke Edelman of Mahwah, N.J., Stephen Pastore of Greenwich, Conn., Scott Kim of River Edge, N.J., Bradley Lankler of Westfield, N.J., Gilbert Chang of Nesconset N.Y., Armando Olivieri of Greenwich, Conn., Chris Gabriele of Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., Louis Bodine of Flemington, N.J., and Sean Trainor of White Plains, N.Y.

The Met Junior Championship is celebrating its 100th year and is the oldest junior championship in the nation. Past winners include the likes of world-renowned instructor Butch Harmon (1961), PGA Tour pro Marc Turnesa (1994), and Web.com pro Andrew Svoboda (1997). The Round of 16 and quarterfinal matches will be played on Wednesday, with the semifinals and final match to be played on Thursday.