Stamberger Wins Met Amateur
He was nearly twice as old as his opponent, but thirty one year old Mike Stamberger of Plainfield CC outlasted 16-year-old Michel Quagliano, the reigning MGA Junior and Boys Champion from Knollwood CC, winning the 101st edition of the Met Amateur on the 37th hole of the final match at Somerset Hills Country Club. Stamberger, a Sales Trader at Jeffries & Co. in NYC, won with a routine par on the first extra hole, after Quagliano missed a par putt from four feet and three putted the hole.
It was a sweet victory for Stamberger who had finished the morning round two down, then got to a three up lead in the afternoon, only to see the 16 –year old Quagliano pull even at the 17th hole to force the matches to extra holes.
Quagliano had jumped to an early lead in the morning round with a birdie on the 175-yard par three second hole and another on the 343-yard fifth, to put him two up after five holes. The lead disappeared quickly after Stamberger birdied the 501-yard par 5 sixth hole and won the seventh with a par. All even after nine, the two traded birdies on the par five tenth hole and continued to play even par golf until the 15th when Quagliano sunk a birdie putt to take a one up lead. After pars on the 16th and 17th, Stamberger bogied 18 to give Quagliano a two-up lead going into the afternoon round.
In the afternoon, Stamberger continued his solid play with while Quagliano's usually solid short game began to crumble. Bogeys on the 1st, 2nd, 4th 5th and 9th holes found him two down with only nine to play. Another bogey on 10 and Stamberger now had a three up advantage and looked headed for the victory. Quagliano, however, displaying a maturity beyond his years, fought back with birdies on 13, 16 and 17 to pull the match even. Both players put their approach to within eight feet on 18 and made par to force the match to extra holes. On the first extra hole, Stamberger’s drive went into the right rough while Quagliano’s drive was dead solid perfect setting up a perfect approach which he put within ten feet. Stamberger’s approach was at least 20 feet below the hole and it looked like the 16-year-old had the victory in hand, when the putting problems that had plagued him all afternoon returned. He put his first putt by the hole and missed a short three-footer for par. Stamberger then knocked his in for par to claim his first major MGA victory.
Stamberger, a former golf professional who only regained his amateur status in 2001, said he felt the pressure was really on Quagliano so he was able to just go out and play his game. “Michael (Quagliano) was trying to become the youngest player to ever win this event and the only player to ever hold the MGA Junior, Boys and Amateur titles at the same time. That’s a lot of pressure for a kid his age. I really commend him on his composure and his ability to keep the pressure on. It really helped my game, knowing that I could never let up.”
Real time scoring was provided by Blue Golf, and was featured on the MGA's website, www.mgagolf.org. For more information on this year’s Championship contact Jeanne McCooey of the MGA at 914-347-4653.
Click Here For Match Play Tree
