Pastore Defeats Dever for Second Met Junior Title
ROSLYN HARBOR, N.Y. (July 17, 2009) –Winning his second Met Junior Championship in four years, David Pastore of Greenwich, Conn., defeated Pierce Dever of Avalon, N.J., 5 & 3, at Engineers Country Club in Roslyn Harbor, N.Y., to capture the 92nd Met Junior Championship sponsored by MetLife. MGA Executive Committee member Doug Vergith (photo, far right) of St. George’s Golf & Country Club, along with Matt Curtin (photo, far left) of MetLife, presented Pastore with the Mandeville Trophy, the prize for the oldest junior championship in the nation.
Unlike his morning semifinal match, in which Pastore had to rally from a deficit to defeat Peter Ballo, Pastore never trailed in the final to Dever, as he held a 2-up advantage for most of the afternoon and then turned his game into high gear to finish off the match on the 15th hole.
When Pastore last won the Met Junior, in 2006 at the Apawamis Club in Rye, N.Y., he set the record for becoming the youngest champion in the history of the event, at 14 years, 6 months. Now 17, Pastore is a rising senior at Greenwich High School and has experience playing against a number of the competitors in this year’s field, as well as handling the Met Junior’s demanding schedule of six matches in three days. Pastore becomes the first player since Martin Catalioto (1998, 2000) to win a second career Met Junior.
“I was reading the Met Junior press book and only a handful of people have won this event twice” Pastore said. “It’s pretty awesome to add my name to this exclusive list. To this day, my victory in 2006 was my biggest win, and this is just as sweet to do it again.”
The final match was played under sunny, humid conditions, and saw Pastore break open the match by winning the fourth and fifth holes to go 2 up. Pastore continued his steady play and remained 2 up through the 12th hole. It was at that point that he put on the afterburners and won the 13th, 14th and 15th holes to seal the victory.
A few mis-hits on approach shots hurt Dever as the pair played their final holes of the match. Meanwhile, Pastore was hitting solid drives and approach shots that either found the green or the fringe, putting himself in position to two-putt his way to his second victory.
