ELMSFORD, N.Y. (August 7, 2009) – Following a slew of close matches this morning in the Round of 16, the afternoon quarterfinals at the 107th Met Amateur at Hackensack Golf Club were filled with lopsided victories. Saturday’s semifinal matches begin at noon, with the 36-hole final on Sunday, August 9th at 7:30 a.m.

Newly minted Carter Cup champion Cameron Wilson of Shorehaven Golf Club in Norwalk, Conn., defeated Colin Dolph of Nissequogue, 6 & 5; John Ervasti of Sleepy Hollow topped Conor Casey of Basking Ridge, 5 & 4; David Weisfeld of Fenway beat Mike Ballo Jr. of Woodway, 3 & 2; and Sean Curtin of Orange County bested Chris Scialo of Spook Rock 3 & 2.

In the morning round of 16, the big story was the exit of both the stroke-play qualifying medalist, Mike Stamberger of Plainfield, and number-two-seed Eric LeFante of Royce Brook. Stamberger lost to Ervasti while Curtin beat LeFante.

 

After beating Michael Quagliano of GlenArbor in the morning, 3 & 1, Wilson was even with Dolph through seven holes until breaking the match wide open with a string of four birdies and an eagle in the next six holes.

“I sunk a couple big putts, and part of it was there are two par fives in that stretch, and I made a birdie and an eagle on those,” said Wilson after the round. “I also hit a wedge to about four feet, so it was a little bit of everything.”

Wilson will take on Sean Curtin in the semifinals. Curtin never trailed in his quarterfinal match against Chris Scialo of Spook Rock, and eagled the par-four 7th hole, holing out a 7-iron approach shot from the rough, to go 3-up. Curtin held a 4-up lead heading into the back nine, but Scialo put up one last fight when he was down four with four to go by winning the 15th hole with a birdie. He and Curtin then matched birdies on the 16th, allowing Curtin to close out the match by a 3 & 2 margin.

“He’s a good player, and anything can happen in match play,” said Curtin. “On the last hole of our match, he already made birdie and I had to make a 6-foot putt to win the match, and I was happy to do it. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

Ervasti, the oldest player to make match play at 54 years old, faced Casey in the quarters. Casey took the early lead, going 1-up through six holes. However, after squaring the match on the seventh, Ervasti won the eighth, ninth and tenth holes. Ervasti said it was on the ninth hole when he really started to gain momentum.

“I hit my approach to about four feet on the ninth hole, and after a string of birdies I was in a good position.” Ervasti continued hitting his approach shots close to the hole, and tied together two more birdies on 12 and 13. “I honestly had no idea the state of the match until he took his visor off to shake my hand,” says Ervasti.

Weisfeld, who came out on top in his morning match with a win over 2008 Met Amateur finalist Joe Saladino, faced a tough opponent in 2009 Ike champion Mike Ballo. In the Weisfeld-Ballo match, the score stood at all square through seven holes before Weisfeld was able to win the par-five eighth hole with a birdie, and then eagled 10 and birdied 11 to go 3 up. Ballo, who cruised to victory over Chris DeForest of Rondout in the morning, 6 & 5, fought back. He narrowed the margin to one-down, but Weisfeld won the 14th and 15th holes and closed out the match, 3 & 2.

Meet the Semifinalists:

Sean Curtin, Orange County: 22 year-old graduate of Iona College, where he played on the golf team. First trip to the Met Amateur semifinals.

John Ervasti, Sleepy Hollow: 54 years old, was a runner-up at the 2008 MGA Mid-Amateur at Bayonne. First trip to the Met Amateur semifinals.

David Weisfeld, Fenway: 21 years old, plays on the University of Michigan golf team. First trip to the Met Amateur semifinals.

Cameron Wilson, Shorehaven: 16 years old, attends St. Luke’s School and has committed to Stanford University for the fall of 2010. Second trip to the Met Amateur semifinals.