GREENWICH, Conn. (July 8, 2024) – The opening day of the 105th Westchester Amateur Championship at Tamarack Country Club provided plenty of excitement, with Chris Calabro of Knollwood perhaps picking up the win of the day as he eliminated two-time defending champion Ryan Coughlin of Westchester in the afternoon’s Round of 16.
Both the Championship division and Senior divisions played two rounds of matches, Monday, while the Super Senior division played one.
Calabro faced a two-hole deficit with four holes to play, but picked up wins on Nos. 15 and 17 to tie the match heading to the last. As with his other two wins, par worked for him again on 18 to earn the 1-up victory.
“I was in Sicily for two weeks, so I hadn’t touched a club,” said Calabro when asked about the state of his game entering the championship. “I didn’t expect much. I just thought that I’ve been playing a lot all year and I’ve been playing well, so if I could just try to continue that and that would be a good day.”
Calabro also went all the way to 18 in his morning round, defeating Chris Walsh of Mahopac, 2-up.
“I just didn’t let the bad things get to me,” said the 31-year-old Calabro. “I just kept rolling and I think that was a big factor in just being able to hold on.”
Calabro said his putting and iron game were keys to picking up the two victories. He’s looking forward to continuing play on Tuesday, but is first going to savor Monday’s two wins.
“I need to relax and enjoy this win and let this soak in a little bit,” said Calabro. “Ryan and Chris are both amazing players, so to get by was so unexpected.”
Calabro will face Connor Belcastro of Sleepy Hollow in Tuesday morning’s lead match. Belcastro defeated past Carter Cup champion Cameron Besaw of GlenArbor, 2-up, in the morning before ousting Al Tenembaum of Manhattan Woods by a 4-and-3 margin.
Tommy Mangan of Apawamis and Tyler Vitolo of Golf Performance Center held strong with their No. 4 and 5 seeds, respectively, and square off in the quarterfinals.
Adam Friedman of Sterling Farms and Jackson Fretty of Greenwich both had impressive wins on the day, with Friedman taking a 7-and-6 morning victory and Fretty a 4-and-3 win in the afternoon to advance to meet one another.
MGA eClub Hudson Valley member Aidan McDermott had a pair of strong performances, picking up wins by 5-and-4 and 3-and-2 margins to earn his spot in the quarterfinals. He’ll face Eric Terminello of Knollwood, who earned a 19-hole victory in the morning over Andrew Flynn of Powelton and edged out Marc Delzio of Mahopac, 1-up, in the afternoon. Delzio also had extra holes in the morning, defeating Michael Karger of Century in 22 holes.
In the Senior divison, Chris Strnad of host Tamarack will meet up with Edward McCann of Wykagyl. McCann needed 22 holes to defeat Bart Weissman of Sterling Farms in the morning, but moved on behind a 1-up victory in the afternoon against MGA eClub Hudson Valley member James Kienz .
Meanwhile, Herrol Pryce of Baychester ousted last year’s runner-up Patrick Pierson of Hollow Brook, before securing his quarterfinal slot with a 5-and-3 win over Andre Bolukbas of Spook Rock. He’ll face Scott Matthews of Hudson Hills on Tuesday, who earned wins over past champion Ken Cohen of Villa Roma, 4-and-3, and Andrew Kaskel of Quaker Ridge, 3-and-2.
Mark Vassalotti of Sterling Farms kept his repeat hopes alive in the Super Senior divison, defeating last year’s MGA Senior Masters Tournament winner Steve Gersh of Rolling Hills by a 2-and-1 margin. He’ll square off against past Senior division champion Jim Romaniello of Shorehaven on Tuesday, after Romaniello earned a 3-and-2 win over Steven Hastings of Powelton.
Tamarack’s Yale Stogel used his local knowledge en route to a 6-and-4 win over John Paul Newport of Spook Rock and will meet Tom Fox of Apawamis in Tuesday’s semifinals. Fox edged Scott Ireland of Silver Lake in 21 holes.
Tamarack is hosting the Westchester Amateur Championship for the fourth time, previously doing so in 2000, 1984, and 1971.
Play continues on Tuesday, with the the first match going off at 7:30 a.m. The Super Senior and Senior divisions will lead the way, with the first Championship division match teeing off at 8:50 a.m. Super Senior and Senior divisions only have one round of matches, while the Championship division will contest its semifinal matches in the afternoon and all three divisions will be set to crown their respective champions on Wednesday.
