Mid-Day Recap at the 68th Public Links
EAST MEADOW, N.Y. (July 9, 2015) – Four competitors, including defending champion Xander McDonald-Smith of Marine Park, opened the 68th MGA Public Links Championship with scores of 3-under 68 and now prepare for the final 18 holes this afternoon on Eisenhower Park’s Red Course.
Alongside McDonald-Smith, Kyle Brey of Bethpage, Richard Feldman of Centennial, and Jonathan Jeter of Nassau Players also recorded morning rounds of 68 to tie for the lead halfway through the championship. Dennis Lynch, a two-time MGA Mid-Amateur Champion also of Nassau Players, added the final under-par score from the first round of play, carding a 1-under 70.
“I played solid,” remarked the 2014 MGA Public Links champion. “I putted decent—definitely left a few shots out there though,” McDonald-Smith continued, referencing playing the par-5s without a birdie.
The recent Penn State graduate also recognized the added attention as the defending champion, but is simply focusing on the round at hand. “There’s some pressure,” he admitted, “but you just have to go out and hit one shot at a time. You go out and play your best round, and what happens happens.”
Meanwhile, the other three leaders attributed the holing of lengthy putts for their first round success.
“It was just a nice steady round out there today,” remarked Jeter. “The greens are rolling great. I just kind of kept it in play, and made a couple of bombs for birdie putts.”
“I made a couple of 15-20 footers,” said Feldman who made five birdies on his inward nine after beginning his round on the 10th.
“My putting was on fire today. That’s what got me going,” Brey also commented. Brey birdied three of his first six holes for a quick start. He added two more birdies the rest of the way to offset a pair of bogies on his card.
Jonathan Emerson, an MGA eClub – Long Island member, Nick Dilio of Casperkill, and David Cha of MGA eClub – New York City, aren’t far off the pace, after even-par rounds of 71.
The MGA Public Links Championship is contested over 36 holes and is open to male amateur golfers who reside in the MGA territory and do not have playing privileges at a course at which the general public is excluded. Competitors must have a Handicap Index of 8.0 or below. Five sectional qualifying rounds were held throughout the Met Area to determine the final field.
The historic Red Course at Eisenhower Park is playing at 6,871 yards and a par of 71 for field of 64 competitors.
