ROSLYN HARBOR, N.Y. (July 17, 2009) – On the final day of play at the 92nd Met Junior Championship sponsored by MetLife, the two morning semifinal matches produced plenty of drama as they came down to the wire.

The first semifinal to tee off at Engineers Country Club was 18-year-old Pierce Dever of Avalon, N.J., against 17-year-old John Torell of Bronxville, N.Y. Torell held the lead for much of the match, going 2 up after the first two holes and increased his lead to 3 up on three separate occasions. However, Dever fought back, squaring the match on the 14th hole. The two players remained all square to the par-four 18th hole, where Dever found himself in the rough short of the green. Meanwhile, Torell had hit his approach to fifteen feet

“I actually was in the same spot yesterday against Cameron Wilson,” recounts Dever. “The hole was in a similar location and I knew that if I threw the ball up to the back of the green, it would make its way back down to the hole.” Indeed, this strategy worked out as his ball settled seven feet from the hole. After Torell missed his birdie attempt, Dever made the pressure par putt to force extra holes. On the first playoff hole, Dever drained a twenty-foot birdie putt for the victory. “I just wanted to cozy it up to the hole to two feet, and I played it with six feet of break, it was awesome that it went in.” 

In the second semifinal match between Peter Ballo and 2006 Met Junior champion David Pastore, both of Greenwich, Conn., it was Ballo who had the edge through much of the round, holding 1-up and 2-up leads. Pastore showed his experience as he squared the match after the 14th, then took the lead after the 16th and was able to finish off the match on the final hole by halving it with bogeys. Pastore now advances to his second Met Junior Championship final.

   Live, hole-by-hole scoring for final match will be available at www.mgagolf.org.

Day Two Recap