Major Champions top Qualifying at Met Amateur
BERNARDSVILLE, N.J. (August 1, 2024) – A trio of MGA major champions shared medalist honors on Thursday at Somerset Hills Country Club in the 122nd Met Amateur Championship, as Met Amateur winners Josh German and Jack Wall and recent Ike champion Peicheng Chen all carded 2-under 140s to lead the way.
Related: Match Play Bracket | Day 1 Photos
Defending champion German of Meadow Brook had a steady day, posting a pair of 70s and is aiming to carry momentum from his victory last year into this year.
“I’ve had this circled on the calendar ever since I won last year,” said German. “It’s just so much golf within a four-day span that it’s just staying in the present and take the bad breaks and the good breaks as they come and keep moving forward and I think I did that well today.”
German takes the No. 3 seed and will open against Donte Groppuso of Wiltwyck, who led the field in birdies on Thursday with 10.
Wall of Manasquan River began the day with a 1-over 72, but moved up in the afternoon behind a 3-under 68. The performance continues his strong play as of late, having qualified for the U.S. Amateur and finished as runner-up in the New Jersey Open.
“Really all I’m trying to do, get better day by day,” says Wall. “The last couple years have been a grind, so to see the game going in the right direction is nice, and to see some results is nice.”
Wall drew the No. 1 seed and will face Adam Friedman of Sterling Farms, who made a 40-footer for birdie to advance from a 6-for-1 playoff.
Chen of Rock Hill posted scores of 69-71 and relied upon his strategy and good putting to score well.
“The putter helped me a lot and my course management helped me a lot,” said Chen. “I put myself in good positions to approach the green and make sure I can hit the shot I wanted to have.”
Chen also enjoyed the challenges brought on by Somerset Hills’ A.W. Tillinghast layout.
“It’s mind blowing, that’s for sure,” he said. “Somerset Hills is such a great conditioned golf course, you really have to manage your shot, manage your approach, manage everything.
Chen squares off in match play against last months Met Junior champion, Jack Chung of Greenwich.
Meanwhile, 17-year-old Lucas Rizo-Patron of Pelham rounded out those with scores under-par over the 36 holes, posting a 1-under 141. Patron was happy with his mental approach for the day and his ability to eliminate big numbers.
“My decision making was really good,” Rizo-Patron said. “My mental game, and obviously I hit good shots, but I think allowing myself to make mistakes and take my medicine was really important to shoot what I did out there.”
Patron will face Tim Hegarty of Sleepy Hollow in the Round of 16.
The 16-player bracket features 10 MGA champions, four of which have won MGA major titles.
Matt Lowe of Bethpage, the 2017 Ike winner, stands as the other MGA major winner and will square off against last week’s New Jersey Open champion, Derek Gutierrez of Galloping Hill.
The host club’s very own Eric Lefante rallied in the afternoon with a 2-under 69 to advance to match play and will open against two-time Met Amateur runner-up Christian Cavaliere of Hudson National, who turned in scores of 69-73. Cavaliere now owns the longest active streak of advancing to match play in the Met Amateur, having done so three years in a row.
Final matches feature Charlie Berridge of Wykagyl facing Colin Summers of Plainfield, who also recently qualified for the U.S. Amateur, plus a face-off between recent MGA International Team teammates and past MGA Mid-Amateur winners Darin Goldstein of Deepdale and Chris DeJohn of Arcola.
Somerset Hills is hosting its third Met Amateur Championship, having done so in 1982 (George Zahringer) and 2003 (Mike Stamberger).