SHELTER ISLAND HEIGHTS, N.Y. (July 23, 2026) – Palmer Vetri of New York, N.Y., won the 58th MGA/MetLife Boys’ Championship at Gardiner’s Bay Country Club, 2 up, over New Fairfield, Conn.’s Joshua Kim after mounting a comeback over the final three holes.
With the win, Vetri claims an exemption into next year’s Met Junior Championship.
“I feel good that I won but I just want to go in my car and take a nap right now,” the 15-year old Vetri jokingly said after completing 69 holes of golf in two days.
Vetri fell down by a pair of holes after Kim won on the first and third before Vetri cut the deficit win a win on the fourth. After the two tied the ensuing hole, Kim went on to win two of the following three to go 3 up.
Vetri responded with back-to–back wins on the eighth and ninth holes. From there, both players tied the next three holes and traded wins on Nos 14 and 15. At that point, Kim was 1 up before Vetri proceeded to rattle off three straight wins, which he punctuated with a lengthy putt on the 18th.
“I looked at my yardage book. It showed a little right to left at the beginning and then left to right at the end but pretty straight,” Vetri said. “It was like, 45, 50 feet. I was really nervous over that. I was just trying to lag it in there and coincidentally it went in.”
The win came after his semifinal victory, 3 and 2 over Justin Jang of Demarest, N.J. Just as he did in the afternoon, Vetri made a surge on the back nine in that round, too, winning three holes, two of which .
“My goal was just to make it past the first match so I’m just grateful to be here,” he said. “I was having a good time. I ended up hitting some good approaches and making some good putts.”
Vetri mentioned that the gratitude he had for making it to Friday would’ve left him content had Kim won, which also relieved some pressure.
“Josh played unbelievable golf,” Vetri noted. “I only had a lot of pressure on the last hole where I felt it was mine to lose but for the rest of the match, it’s like, I’ve played good golf so far. If Josh has it, he’ll win with good golf.”
It was Vetri’s first time playing at Gardiner’s Bay, which hosted for the 15th time.
