Keleher, Blumenfeld Lead After Day One of MGA Senior Amateur
35 Players Advance to Second Day of Championship in Windy Conditions
GLEN HEAD, N.Y. (May 10, 2010) – A newcomer to MGA championships and a seasoned past champion endured difficult scoring conditions and share the first-round lead at the 83rd MGA Senior Amateur Championship at North Shore Country Club. Randall Keleher, of the Griff Harris (Greenwich, Conn.) Men’s Club, fired a one-over-par 73 in the morning, which ended up being tied for the best round of the day. In the afternoon, 2007 MGA Senior Amateur champion Jay Blumenfeld of Mountain Ridge (N.J.) matched Keleher’s score, as the entire field battled blustery wind and cold atypical for May at the Long Island course.
Tuesday’s final round is shaping up to be a tense shootout on the hilly, tree-lined layout that played to 6,368 yards in the first round. A total of nine players are within four shots of the lead, including Joe Sommers of Winged Foot Golf Club, the 2008 runner-up who is one shot back after a 74, and Ron Vannelli of Metuchen Golf & Country Club, the 2008 champion, whose 75 puts him two strokes behind the leaders. Vannelli and Blumenfeld were two of eight former champions of this event who began play, six of whom made the cut.
While Blumenfeld is a well-known player in MGA championships, Keleher stated he was “a fish out of water” as the overnight leader. The 56-year-old real estate agent and father of two from Greenwich, Conn., is playing in his first MGA Senior Amateur. Both he and Blumenfeld complimented the course and stressed the significance of putting discipline, especially in the windy conditions. Keleher explained, “You had to set up on the right line and if you were able to do that, you were perfect.” Blumenfeld followed on that sentiment: “To have success on these greens, you had to remain steady over the ball and not allow the wind to affect your balance.”
The Seth Raynor and C.B. Macdonald design, characterized by firm, undulating greens, more than stood up to the test of the 183-player field. North Shore last hosted the MGA Senior Amateur in 1990, and will play to 6,416 yards during the final round. For updated scoring, including live scoring for the last six groups, visit www.mgagolf.org.
