Semifinals Set at 49th MGA/MetLife Boys
GLEN RIDGE, N.J. (August 17, 2017) – The semifinals are set in the 49th MGA/MetLife Boys Championship at Glen Ridge Country Club, after Luke Sample of New York City, Jud Langille of Ossining, N.Y., Jimin Jung of Briarcliff Manor, N.Y., and Garrett Kessler of North Caldwell, N.J., all won a pair of matches on Thursday.
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Sample, winner of this year’s New York State Sub-Junior Championship, cruised to a 7-and-6 win in the morning before erasing a 2-hole deficit in the afternoon to defeat Zain Jafar of Newburgh, N.Y., by a 3-and-2 margin. Two down through nine, Sample reeled off three consecutive wins to take his first lead since the second hole. A Jafar birdie squared the match through 13, but Sample once again won three-holes in a row to close out the match 3-and-2.
Langille, who claimed the Westchester Junior earlier this summer, raced out to a 3-up lead in the morning, eventually claiming a 3-and-2 victory over Peter Magliocco of Riverside, Conn. In the afternoon match, Langille edged out Max Sorger in 21 holes in a back-and-forth match, in which both players owned a 2-up advantage Langille won two of the first three holes, but Sorger found his stride in the middle of the round, winning four holes from Nos. 8-14 to take his 2-up lead. But, pars for Langille on the final two holes in regulation pushed the match to extras. After pars halved the 19th and 20th holes, Langille’s consistency paid off as another par secured the win. Sample and Langille will square off at 8:00 a.m., Friday.
Jung edged the host club’s Connor Snow of Glen Ridge, N.J., 2-and-1 in the morning and defeated New Jersey Boys champion Tyler Galantini of West Orange, 3-and-2 after lunch. Galantini led 1-up through four, but Jung claimed Nos. 6-7 to take the lead which he’d never relent.
Kessler also cruised to a convincing 7-and-6 victory in the opening round, before taking a 3-and-2 victory in the afternoon over Nathan Drogin of Essex Fells, N.J. Kessler owned a 2-up lead through four holes. Though Drogin claimed the seventh, Kessler won three of the next four holes to take control once again. Drogin won a pair on the way in, but Kessler’s par-five on No. 16 sealed the victory. Jung and Kessler will match up at 8:10 a.m., Friday.
The MGA will once again provide live hole-by-hole scoring for each match on Friday, with additional updates on its social media outlets.