Quarters underway at Met Am
FAIRFIELD, Conn. (August 5, 2016) - The Quarterfinal round of the 114th Met Amateur Championship is now underway at Country Club of Fairfield, following Friday morning's play in the Round of 16.
Related: Scoring
Though stroke-play medalist Stewart Hagestad of Deepdale faced a deficit during the middle of his match against John Felitto of Echo Lake, wins on Nos. 12, 13 and 17 flipped the match into a 2&1 victory for the California native. Hagestad took the early lead with a par-four on the second. Felitto responded with a birdie-three on the third, then claimed the next with a par-four to take a 1-up lead. The two exchanged holes on Nos. 7 and 8, with Felitto then holding the 1-up advantage until Hagestad claimed Nos. 12 and 13.
Max Greyserman of Crestmont, who finished second in on-site qualifying, also registered a 2&1 victory, defeating Joey Martinez of Maidstone. Greyserman birdied the opening hole with a four, while two more birdies earned him a three-hole advantage through the seventh. Martinez came back with wins on Nos. 8 and 10, but pars for Greyserman on Nos. 12 and 14 returned the rising Duke senior's lead to three holes. Martinez won the par-4 16th with par, but a halve on the par-3 17th closed out the match in favor of Greyserman.
The match between 2003 Met Am champion Mike Stamberger of Manasquan River and Brian Komline of Black Oak was highlighted by each competitor owning a stretch of three-straight wins. Komline registered a pair of birdies to help him win Nos. 6-8, while Stamberger came back with a birdie on the par-3 11th to cut the deficit to one, and then wrapped up his 2&1 victory behind wins on Nos. 15-17.
This week's Carter Cup winner Ethan Ng of Fiddler's Elbow also tallied a come-from-behind victory, as he trailed Connor Daly of Siwanoy by two through five holes. He began the comeback with a birdie-three on the seventh and squared the match with a par-three on No. 11. Pars on Nos. 13-14 were good enough to claim both holes, while three halves led to the 2&1 win for Ng.
Kieran Purcell of Essex County, who finished tied for fourth in June's Ike Championship, took a 2-hole lead through three. Though his opponent Josh Goldenberg of Fenway cut it back to one by winning the fifth, Purcell claimed the following two holes to push the advantage to three. Goldenberg won one more hole, but another win from Purcell on the par-3 17th ended the match 3&1.
Thomas LaMorte of Haworth took a 3&2 win over Kyle Brey of Bethpage, never trailing in the match. Wins on Nos. 3 and 4 earned LaMorte an early two-hole lead. While Brey was able to cut the lead back to one on two occasions, LaMorte always had an answer. Wins on Nos. 12 and 14 boosted his lead back to three, while halves on 15 and 16 earned him the 3&2 victory.
Dawson Jones of Jumping Brook and MGA e-Club - New Jersey member Ryan Siegler both closed out their matches on the 15th, winning 5&3 and 4&3 to eliminate William Rand of East Hampton and Bobby Diforio Jr., of Westchester Hills, respectively.
Quarterfinal matches are already on the course. Continue to follow mgagolf.org, which features live scoring, and the MGA's social media outlets for the most up-to-date information.