Met Area Players Fail to Advance in U.S. Senior Amateur
UPDATED: October 2, 1 p.m. - 15-time MGA champion George Zahringer III, John Ervasti, and Jay Blumenfeld all failed to advance through the round of 32 at the USGA Senior Amateur at Mountain Ridge.
Zahringer took his match to the 18th hole but recorded a bogey to lose 1 up. Ervasti lost his match to Steve Golliher 3 and 1, while hometown favorite Blumenfeld lost 6 and 4 to Louis Lee.
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UPDATED: October 1, 4:50 p.m. - Four Met Area players remain in the USGA Senior Amateur after fantastic Round of 64 victories. George Zahringer III, Jay Blumenfeld, John Ervasti and Joe Russo all advanced to the Round of 32, which will be played on Tuesday, Oct. 2.
Round of 32 Matches:
Joe Russo v. Leif Carlson, Apple Valley, Minn. - 7:46 a.m.
George Zahringer III v. James Pearson, Charlotte, N.C. - 8:42 a.m.
Steve Golliher, Knoxville, Tenn. v. John Ervasti - 9:06 a.m.
Louis Lee, Heber Springs, Ark. v. Jay Blumenfeld - 8:02 a.m.
Click here for the full match play bracket and results
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UPDATED: October 1, 9:30 a.m. - Six Met Area players advanced through the Round of 64 play qualifying at the USGA Senior Amateur at Mountain Ridge Country Club and will play in the first round of match play today. Recent Conneticut State Senior Amateur champion David Szewczul of Farmington, Conn., finished T11 with a 36-hole score of 1-over par. Szewczul will battle it out today aginst George Zahringer III, who recorded a total score of 6-over par this weekend to make it to match play. John Ervasti and Jay Blumenfeld carded scores of 4-over par to advance to match play, along with Ron Vannelli who had a weekend score of 6-over. Rounding out the group from the Met Area is Joe Russo, who survived through an 11-man playoff for the 9 remaining spots early this morning. The match play bracket and scoring can be found on the USGA's event site.
Round of 64 Matches:
Jay Blumenfeld v. Doug Potter of Coeur D'Alene, Idaho - 9:40 a.m.
Joe Russo v. Stephen Fox of Huntington, W.Va. - 10:36 a.m.
David Szewczul v. George Zahringer – 11:24 a.m.
Ron Vannelli v. James Pearon of Charlotte, N.C. – 11:32 a.m.
John Ervasti v. David Mooty of Eden Prairie, Minn. – 12:20 p.m.
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ELMSFORD, N.Y. (Sept. 27, 2012) - How important is the USGA Senior Amateur Championship to 11-time MGA major winner George Zahringer III? So much so that he withdrew from last month's U.S. Mid-Amateur despite advancing to match play, just so he could fly to New Jersey and try to qualify for the Senior Amateur at Preakness Hills. After he punched his ticket (he shot a 72 in qualifying) to advance to the championship, which will be held at Mountain Ridge Country Club in West Caldwell, N.J., the site of his sole Met Open victory in 1985, it was all worth it.
Zahringer, who holds the record for most MGA victories (15), will try and add to his already impressive list of accomplishments when he competes at the USGA Senior Amateur, which begins with the first 18 holes of stroke play qualifying on Saturday, September 29 and will conclude on Thursday, October 4. The New York, N.Y., resident won the 2002 U.S. Mid-Amateur and was a member of the 2003 Walker Cup that lost to Great Britain and Ireland, 12.5 - 11.5.
A total of 10 Met Area players, four of whom hail from New Jersey, will be in the field this weekend when the Senior Am kicks off. Just a week after the USGA conducted the Men's State Team Championship at Galloway National Golf Club in Galloway, N.J., they'll return once again to the Garden State. It's the third time this year New Jersey has hosted a USGA championship, the other being the Women's Amateur Public Links back in June at Neshanic Valley Golf Course.
In addition to Zahringer, a trio of past MGA champions will hope to bring their A-games to Mountain Ridge, including home favorite and 2007 MGA Senior Amateur winner Jay Blumenfeld of Parsippany, N.J., who calls Mountain Ridge his home club and won this year's club championship at age 60; two-time (2012 and 2008) MGA Senior Amateur and 2005 Met Amateur champion Ron Vannelli of Edison, N.J.; and 2010 MGA Senior Open and two-time MGA Senior Amateur (2011 and 2010) Senior Amateur champion John Ervasti of Brooklyn, N.Y.
Mountain Ridge, designed by legendary architect Donald Ross, has hosted several notable MGA championships in the past, including the 1966 and 1985 Met Opens, 1991 and 1979 Met Amateurs, and most recently, the 2008 Ike championship which was won by Web.com Tour player Kevin Foley. The course will play to a par 71 (36-35) of 6,838 yards. The format for the Senior Amateur is 36-hole stroke play qualifying and then a 64-man match play tournament.
Other Met Area players that are in the field include Tom Lynett of Rye, N.Y., who was the medalist at the Preakness Hills qualifier; Jay Sessa of Garden City, N.Y., who finished 38th at the Ike Championship back in June; Tom Hyland of Marlton, N.J., who finished T30 at the Boff Invitational earlier this week; Joe Russo of Sewell, N.J.; David Szewczul of Farmington, Conn.; and Jim Bango of North Haven, Conn.
Lynett, Sessa, Blumenfeld, and Ervasti are also still officially in the field for next week's MGA Mid-Amateur at Meadow Brook, but things may get complicated for them if they reach the match play portion of the USGA Senior Amateur, which starts on Monday, October 1.
Check back with mgagolf.org for player progress throughout the USGA Senior Amateur Championship. Scoring for the event can be found here.
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