Cavaliere, German to Square off for Met Amateur Title
RIVERHEAD, N.Y. (August 5, 2023) – Sunday’s 36-hole final in the 121st Met Amateur Championship at Friar’s Head will feature Christian Cavaliere of Hudson National and Josh German of The Seawane Club.
Related: Match Play Bracket | Semifinal Photos
Cavaliere, the 2016 Met Junior champion, defeated William O’Neill of Spring Brook by a 4-and-3 margin, while German earned a 5-and-4 victory over William Knauth of Inwood.
Cavaliere, 25, didn’t drop a hole the entire day, continuing his steady play.
“It was more of the same from this week, just being patient knowing I’m playing really well and trying to let things happen naturally, not forcing anything,” said Cavaliere, who competed in the U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club in June.
Cavaliere took a 1-up lead with birdie on the par-5 second.
“I feel like sometimes I’ll take the first few holes too lightly in match play, but you really have to come out of the gate firing,” said Cavaliere. “It’s always better to have an early lead to try to set the momentum, so I’ve really tried to focus on that this week.”
O’Neill conceded an eagle on the par-5 seventh after struggling on the green to place Cavaliere 2-up. The par-4 ninth was tied with birdies, while Cavaliere made a long birdie putt on the par-3 10th to stretch his lead to three.
“My putting has definitely come around this week,” said Cavaliere, who is returning to the final of the Met Amateur after dropping a 2-and-1 match to Ryan Davis at Arcola in 2018. “I worked on a couple things to be more feel-based and less technical, so it’s really nice to see that come to fruition.”
Cavaliere received a conceded birdie on the par-4 13th after knocking his approach to six feel and O’Neill failed to get up and down from the greenside bunker. After ties with birdie fours on No. 14 and par fours on No. 15, Cavaliere locked in his spot in the final, which he is returning to for the first time since 2018, when he dropped a 2-and-1 match to Ryan Davis at Arcola.
While that memory may be in mind for Cavaliere, he’s also thinking back to June’s Ike, where he came up short in a playoff to Melan Dhaubhadel.
“I kind of have a chip on my shoulder from that playoff loss,” said Cavaliere. “So, I’ll keep that fire going and just try to grind it out tomorrow and stay focused.”
Meanwhile, German also used a win on the par-5 second to take an early lead. While Knauth won the par-3 fourth, German won Nos. 5-8 to to take a commanding 4-up lead.
“I got off to a solid start,” said German, a Texas native who’s a PGM Program intern at The Seawane Club. “I made some smart decisions and really took advantage of some opportunities on five through nine and kind of took what he gave me and kind of ran with it. I’m really proud of the situational golf I played today and put myself in the right spots to give myself the best chance to win holes.
While Knauth won the par-5 11th with birdie, German won both Nos. 12-13 with pars to move to 5-up. Pars on the 14th led German to the victory.
German, like the entire field, has enjoyed his time at Friar’s Head this week and is looking forward to Sunday’s opportunity.
“This is a great match play course,” said German. “There’s so much you can do out here and there’s so many shots you can hit and so many different things you can try. I’m really excited to play 36 tomorrow and see what happens.”
The morning 18 between Cavaliere and German will begin at 7:30 a.m., Sunday.