Harrison Shih leads mid-way through the first round at the 99th Met Open
BEDMINSTER, N.J. (August 19, 2014) - The first round is underway at the 99th Met Open Championship at Trump National Golf Club – Bedminster and the difficult Old Course is providing quite the test for some of the best players in the Met Area. After six pros came in from the morning wave at 1-under, it was amateur Harrison Shih of Alpine firing a 3-under 69 that got everyone talking. The soon-to-be junior at Columbia University felt he got off to a sluggish start, but after that he settled in nicely.
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“I made a sloppy bogey on 11 (started on the 10th),” Shih said. “I three-putted from the fringe for a bogey, but other than that I got the most out of my round.” After the bogey on 11 he made two straight birdies on 14 and 15 and then added three more birdies and one bogey on his back nine. “I drove it better today and I putted a little bit better than I have this summer, and that made the difference in the score” the 20-year-old said.
While Shih hasn’t recorded any MGA victories yet in his young career, that hasn’t stopped him from recording some great finishes in numerous events. He tied for 2nd in the Carter Cup in 2012 and followed that up at the 2012 Met Amateur with an appearance in the semifinals. He also tied for 7th in the 2013 Ike Championship and was named to the All-Ivy League First Team in his 2013-2014 season at Columbia. Shih is confident heading into round two tomorrow and is hoping to keep the solid play going. “I got to just stick to my gameplan,” he said. ‘The mentality doesn’t really change after a good solid first score today.”
Right behind Shih are six pros at 1-under 71, including 2006 Met Open Champion John Guyton of Wheatley Hills. The other players at 1-under are Brian Gaffney of Quaker Ridge, Mike Ballo Jr. of Woodway, P.J. Cowan of Eishenhower Park, Brian Lamberti of Richter Park, and Anthony Aruta of Staten Island Golf Practice Center, whose round featured a hole-in-one on the par 3 16th hole.
“I had 181 yards, I flushed a 6-iron right in the hole,” Aruta said. “Everyone went crazy and that kind of got my round going.”
Shih’s 3-under 69 will be tough to beat for round one, but there are plenty of outstanding players to watch out for in the afternoon. Follow all the live scoring from the first round of the 99th Met Open by clicking here.
