ELMSFORD, N.Y. (July 25, 2014) - Historic Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, N.J., will play host to the 12th Carter Cup on Wednesday, July 30, when the top Met Area juniors, age 18 and under, will play for the trophy. Some of the best local young talent will take on the Upper and Lower courses at Baltusrol in the MGA’s 36-hole stroke play competition.

The Carter Cup is played in memory of Michael P. Carter, an accomplished junior golfer who passed away in a car accident in 2002 when he was just 20 years old. Michael was a junior club champion at both Baltusrol and Winged Foot Golf Club and he played for the Delbarton School golf team in Morristown, N.J., before joining the men’s team at Penn State University.

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Leading this year’s field is Dawson Jones of Howell, N.J., coming off his first MGA victory in the Met Junior Championship at Rockaway River. The 16-year-old just made it into the match play portion of the Junior, but that didn’t stop him from going on a tear in his four matches en route to the win. Jones beat some of the best young names in the Met Area, including a few that will challenge him again at Baltusrol. One of those players is Will Bernstein of New York, N.Y., who took Jones to the 17^th hole in their quarterfinal match at the Met Junior. Bernstein is in search of his first MGA victory and this event could be his chance. He has a strong record in the Carter Cup, finishing in the top ten in each of the last two years.

Also in the field is Matt Lowe of Farmingdale, N.Y., a semifinalist in this year’s Met Junior. Lowe, the 2010 MGA/MetLife Boys Champion,  hopes to top his best finish, which came in 2010 when he tied for 6^th. Lowe is having one of his best summers to date, with four top ten finishes, including a tie for third finish at the Ike.

Brielle, N.J.’s Jeremy Wall tied for fourth at last year’s Carter Cup. An opening round 70 put him in prime position for his first MGA victory and gave him the first round lead, but his second round 77 wasn’t enough to finish it off. Wall, who finished tied for 9^th at the NJSGA Open and tied for 7^th at the NJSGA Amateur, will look to put two great rounds together at Baltusrol this year and earn a long-awaited win.

The number one ranked player on the International Junior Golf Tour’s Boys (age 15-19) circuit is James Nicholas of Scarsdale, N.Y., who will be making another Carter Cup appearance.  Nicholas has been named to the MGA’s team for the 2014 Williamson Cup, a junior international team competition played annually amongst ten Northeast Golf Associations. His three Williamson Cup teammates will be competing at Baltusrol as well, including Jones, 2013 MGA/MetLife Boys champion Ryan Rodriguez of Highland Mills, N.Y., and newly crowned NJSGA Junior Amateur Vincent Palazzolo of Colts Neck, N.J.

Other notables include Thomas LaMorte of Haworth, N.J., a quarterfinalist at the Met Junior, and Bear Carlson of Katonah, N.Y., the 2013 Boys runner-up.  Two players will look to join their older brothers as Carter Cup Champions, Paul Pastore of Greenwich, Conn. (David Pastore won in 2010) and Ethan DeForest of Cottekill, N.Y. (Chris DeForest won in 2006).

Baltusrol has three juniors representing the host club – A.D. Bunn and Thomas Urciuoli, both of Short Hills, N.J., and Matt Gentile of Chatham, N.J., the reigning junior club champion.

Entry into the MGA’s premier junior stroke play championship is by invitation based on criteria set by the MGA Foundation Board of Directors, MGA Executive Committee and Baltusrol Golf Club. The competition is open to male amateur golfers not yet 19 years of age and who have not started college by August 1, 2014. This year’s championship, like the 11 before it, is filled with young players looking to cement their name in the MGA record books and join a list of outstanding champions before them. Past champions Morgan Hoffmann and Chris DeForest have already made their way onto the PGA TOUR, and no one would be surprised if this year’s champion did the same.

 

The MGA will be providing live scoring throughout the event, including hole-by-hole scoring in the final round, which can be found on www.mgagolf.org or on our mobile app, My MGA.

 

*Please note: Players who are otherwise eligible for the Carter Cup may earn an invitation if they qualify for the Met Open at one of the qualifiers on Monday, July 28 or Tuesday, July 29.