Hempstead, N.Y. - On what was undoubtedly one of the hottest days of the summer, heavy favorites Sun Ho Kim of Flushing, NY, and Mark Costanza of Upper Saddle River, NJ, the 2004 and 2003 MGA/MetLife Boys Champions, respectively, were both defeated in quarter-final play at the 2005 MGA Junior Championship, sponsored by MetLife, at Hempstead Golf & Country Club in Hempstead, NY.

After a soggy first day on Tuesday, June 19, which pushed completion of the second round to early Wednesday morning, the round of 16 resumed as players moved closer to their bid for the nation’s oldest junior title.  Both Costanza and Kim were victorious in their third round morning matches defeating Eric Cohen of Old Westbury, NY, (2 &1) and Casey Calmi of Douglaston, NY, (5&4).  Their dominance would be shattered in the quarter-final matches however, by a group of gutsy newcomers. 

Fifteen year old Gene Yang of East Brunswick, NJ, who defeated Kevin Fitzpatrick of Harrison, NY, 2 up in his morning round, would come out to beat Kim handily in the afternoon match, 5 and 3. He’ll face eighteen year old Daniel Abbondandolo of Oyster Bay, NY, in the semi-finals after Abbobdandolo defeated Jimmy DeCastro of Berkley Heights, NJ 5&3 in the morning and Robert Cronheim of Watchung, NJ 3&2 in the quarters.

James Stack Jr., of Port Jefferson, NY, who ousted Matthew Belizze of North Salem, NY, 4 and 2 in his earlier round, would go down to the final hole with Mark Constanza to defeat him 1 up.

Jeff Pike of Rye, NY, advanced with 2&1 victories over Mike Corbo of Montville, NJ, and Richard Esposito of Syosset, NY, and will face Stack in Thursday’s semi-final.

Tomorrow’s semi-final matches will begin at 8am and the 18-hole final match will be played in the afternoon. Live Scoring from TPP will be available on the MGA website – www.mgagolf.org.  A complete list of today’s results is attached.  For more information contact Jeff Carroll or Gene Westmoreland of the MGA @ (914) 347-GOLF or visit the MGA website at www.mgagolf.org.