Edler Wins 94th Met Junior at Fairmount

Charlie Edler (right) and Dylan Crowley

CHATHAM, N.J. (July 14, 2011) – Surviving six rounds of match play to win the nation’s oldest junior championship is not easy, even though Charlie Edler of Fair Haven, N.J., made it look so on the last day of competition at Fairmount Country Club. Edler never trailed in his final two matches, ending each of them on the 16th hole en route to winning the 94th Met Junior Championship sponsored by MetLife with a 3 & 2 final victory over Dylan Crowley of Glen Cove, N.Y. It is the first MGA title for Edler, 18, who will be a freshman at Dartmouth University this fall.

“Honestly, I had low expectations coming into this because I didn’t play well in the state championships,” said Edler. “I haven’t really won anything big since my sophomore year in high school, so this just builds my confidence that I can play with anyone in the Met Area.”

The key to Edler’s fine play today was consistency. His game plan was to not take unnecessary chances. “I was just hitting smart shots,” he said. “If I got in trouble, I just hit it back to the fairway and tried to play safe. A lot of times in match play, pars are good enough to win holes, and I won a lot of holes with pars today.”

In the final match against fellow 18-year-old Crowley, who will be a freshman at St. John’s University in the fall, Edler won the first hole—with a par—and was off to the races. Following a win by Crowley at the par-three fourth hole, Edler won the fifth, sixth, and eighth holes to take a commanding 3-up lead.

Crowley, a fierce competitor who made a big comeback to win his semifinal match against Anthony Alex, didn’t back down, however. He won the par-four ninth hole to close the gap to 2-up and give himself hope of a back-nine surge. He simply wasn’t able to gain much momentum against Edler.

Following wins at the par-four 10th and 12th holes, Edler stood on the 13th tee with a 4-up lead. He made shaky swings on the next two holes, however, including a drive that rolled out of bounds on the dogleg-right 14th hole, to allow Crowley to win those holes and climb back to within 2-down.

On the par-five 15th, Edler’s length off the tee proved to be the difference. He hit a 5-wood second shot to 15 yards short of the green, then pitched on to eight feet and sunk the birdie putt to go three up with three to play. Both players hit the green of the par-four 16th hole in regulation and walked away with conceded pars, and shared a sincere handshake for a match that showed off the talents of two of the better junior players in the Met Area.