MEN: Match Play Scoring | Stroke Play Results
WOMEN: Match Play Scoring | Stroke Play Results
 

 

Updated September 13, 2011: As the last Met Area player in contention in both the USGA Senior Amateur Championship in Virginia and the USGA Senior Women’s Amateur Championship in Tenneseethe, 58-year-old George Zahringer III of New York, N.Y, was eliminated in the Round of 32 by Stanford Lee of Heber Springs, Ark., 5 & 4. Zahringer, the 2008 runner-up in this championship and most decorated champion in MGA history, had the match all square through 8 holes before Lee rattled off birdies on the 9th, 10th and 11th holes to take a 3-up lead. The lead was more than Zahringer could overcome as Lee added another birdie on the par-5 13th hole before closing out the match on the 14th.

Zahringer is among other notable players who found an early exit as Vinny Giles of Richmond, Va., the 2009 winner of this event, lost on the 20th hole in the Round of 32 to Ronald Kilby of McAllen, Texas; and 2008 U.S. Senior Amateur winner Buddy Marucci, who served as the captain of the 2009 Walker Cup squad, was eliminated in the Round of 64 on the first extra hole by Richard Marlowe of Canfield, Ohio.

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Updated September 12, 2011: Met Area players competing at the USGA Senior Amateur Championship in Virginia and the USGA Senior Women’s Amateur Championship in Tennesee represented their clubs and hometowns well, as three men and three women were among the low 64 finishers in stroke play at their respective championships and advanced into match play.

For the men, the only one of the three to advance to the second round was 58-year-old George Zahringer III of New York, N.Y, who rallied from a late deficit to beat Casey Boyns of Pacific Grove, Calif., by a 2-up margin in the Round of 64. Zahringer entered match play on a high note, finishing the stroke play qualifying with a 36-hole total of one-under-par 143 (73-70) to tie for sixth place. Zahringer, a member of Deepdale Golf Club who was runner-up in this championship in 2008, faces Stanford Lee of Heber Springs, Ark., in the Round of 32, beginning at 9:59 AM on Tuesday, September 13.

Joining Zahringer in match play were 58-year-old Winged Foot member Joe Sommers of Stamford, Conn., and 55-year-old Jay Sessa of Garden City, N.Y., who plays out of Cherry Valley. Despite the accomplishment of making match play, neither player was able to advance. Sommers was on the wrong end of a 4 & 3 score against Sam Till Jr. of Fort Wayne, Indiana, while Sessa lost 1-up to Kent Frandsen of Lebanon, Ind.

In the USGA Senior Women's Amateur Championship at The Honors Course in Ooltewah, Tenn., 2009 champion Sherry Herman of Belmar, N.J. tied for 21st in stroke play but lost her first-round match in 19 holes to Susan Rheney of Greensboro, Ga. The only Met Area player still alive in the championship is Frances Gacos of Flemington, N.J., who was a 1-up winner over Claudia Pilot of Austin, Minn. Gacos takes on Lisa Schlesinger of Laytonsville, Md., in a second-round match that begins at 8:00 AM. Reigning Winged Foot women's club champion Debbie Jamgochian of Greenwich, Conn., lost to Maggie Leef of Brookfield, Wis., 4 & 2.

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ELMSFORD, N.Y. (September 7, 2011) - Starting on Saturday, September 10 and running through Thursday, September 15, the USGA Senior Amateur Championship and USGA Senior Women’s Amateur Championship offer several of the Met Area’s finest amateurs a late-season chance to test themselves against the country’s best seniors.

Leading the men’s field this year is 58-year-old George Zahringer III of New York, N.Y. Zahringer, the most decorated champion in MGA history with 11 major wins, is a ten-time MGA Player of the Year, was a member of the 2003 U.S. Walker Cup team, and won the 2002 U.S. Mid-Amateur at the Stanwich Club. A member of Deepdale Golf Club, Zahringer is exempt into the 2011 USGA Senior Amateur by virtue of his runner-up finish in the 2008 Senior Amateur, when he lost 2-up to George Marucci of Villanova, Pa.

The host site for the 2011 USGA Senior Amatuer is Kinloch Golf Club in Manakin-Sabot, Virginia, and Zahringer will be joined there by four other distinguished Met Area amateurs, all of whom made it through qualifying earlier this summer at Elmwood Country Club in White Plains, N.Y. Jay Sessa of Garden City, N.Y., Bill Henry of Cranford, N.J., Joe Sommers of Stamford, Conn., and Jim Graham of Rye, N.Y. separated themselves from a field of more than 70 leading seniors in the sectional qualifying round and have all had successful competitive seasons to boot.

Sommers, 58, was the runner-up at the 2011 Wilson Cup Invitational and the 2010 Anderson Memorial Senior Division and has 10 career Met Area victories to his credit, along with three top-10 finishes in the last four MGA Senior Amateurs. Henry, 60, tied for fifth in the 2010 MGA Senior Amateur and improved upon his performance this year, earning a tie for second place in 2011. Graham, also 60, won the 2009 Havemeyer Memorial Senior Division and more recently placed second at its 2010 installment.

Sherry Herman of Belmar, N.J. leads the charge at this year’s USGA Women’s Senior Amateur, which will be held at The Honors Course in Ooltewah, Tenn. Herman, 53, took home the 2009 Women’s Senior Amateur Championship at The Homestead’s Cascade Course in Hot Springs, Va., and that incredible run two years ago earned her an exemption to this year’s championship and makes her a marquee name to follow.

Other Met Area women in the field this week are Debbie Jamgochian of Greenwich, Conn., Denise Martorana of Sag Harbor, N.Y., Laura Algerio of White Plains, N.Y., Becky Montgelas of Darien, Conn, and Frances Gacos of Flemington, N.J.

To make it to the USGA Senior Amateur or Senior Women’s Amateur Championships, players advanced through 18-hole sectional qualifying rounds or via exemption. Both championships consist of two rounds of stroke play, to be held on Saturday, September 10 and Sunday, September 11, after which the low 64 finishers will move to match play. The championships conclude with 18-hole final matches on Thursday, September 15.

Stay tuned to mgagolf.org for continuous updates on how the Met Area players are faring at both of these prestigious national championships.

For additional coverage of the USGA Senior Amateur, click here, and for the USGA Senior Women’s Amateur, click here.