News

WILLIAMSVILLE, N.Y. - Christian Chapman remained in firm control of the 42nd New York State Mid-Amateur Championship Tuesday and will take a six-stroke lead into Wednesday’s final round.

Related: Results / Photos / Tee Times / Round 1 Recap / Championship Central

Chapman, a 27-year-old Victor resident and a former St. Bonaventure University standout, fired an under-control, 2-over 72 score in the second round of the 25-and-over event at the Country Club of Buffalo.

 Along with a 66 on Monday, Chapman, stands 2-under 138. He’s the only player under par on the prestigious Donald Ross-designed layout in Williamsville.

Jake Katz, a 37-year-old from Williamsville who played collegiately at Binghamton University, stood alone in second at 4-over 144 after an even-par 70 on Tuesday.

The sunny, calm conditions Tuesday were welcomed by the players, who endured brutal winds on the first round.

“It was ridiculous yesterday,” Katz said of the wind. “Today was really nice. I looked midway through and saw there were not many good scores. I stopped looking because I saw I was in second place and didn’t want to get in my own way.”

“I thought in a way that it was harder today because of the pins,” Chapman said. “Yesterday I think they knew the weather was going to be tough so they couldn’t use some of those pins. I did a really good job for the most part playing away from them. But it was challenging. Obviously, I played really well yesterday, and trying to follow up a round like that is very difficult. So I was pretty proud of the way I hung in there.” 

Chapman lives in the Rochester suburb of Victor and plays out of Cobblestone Creek Country Club. He was the NYSGA Boys 18U champion in 2016. He placed third at the NYS Men’s Amateur championship in Glens Falls in July and was third at last year’s NYS Mid-Amateur. He also won the Rochester District Mid-Amateur in August.

Katz is in Binghamton’s Athletics Hall of Fame. He was runner-up at the NYS Men’s Amateur in 2010 and 2011. He played professionally for 2 1-2 years after college. Katz was fourth at the NYS Mid-Amateur in 2022. He knows the CCB course well.

“I did not hit a single driver today,” said Katz, who plays out of Brookfield Country Club in Clarence. “Just a bunch of 3 woods and 3 irons, knowing that my long iron game is pretty good.”

Katz hits his 3-wood about 290 yards. He was one of only five players Tuesday who birdied the famed, par-3 sixth, aka the Pulpit hole. He hit a pitching wedge from 160 yards to 12 feet and sank the putt.

“I think I have an advantage in that I’ve played here a lot and I know how to keep the ball in front of me,” he said. “I knew people were going to make mistakes. There’s some birdie holes out there for sure, but you just cannot be aggressive. You’ll shoot yourself in the foot. If I could just par the place to death, that’s kind of been my goal.”

Third at 6-over 146 was John Duthie, who shot 2-under 68, the only sub-par round of the day. Duthie, 37, won the 2007 NYS Amateur, and in 2024 placed fourth at both the NYS Amateur and the NYS Mid-Amateur. He plays out of Cornell’s Robert Trent Jones Golf Course. Duthie regained his amateur status in 2024 after a 10-year pro career that included time on the Canadian Tour.

Fourth at 7-over 147 was 26-year-old Jack Maguire of Westchester County’s Whippoorwill Club. He played collegiately at Colgate and regained his amateur status in June after a couple years on the pro circuits. 

A four-way tie for fifth place included one senior golfer, 58-year-old Tony Hejna. He carded 75-74 over two rounds. Hejna is competing against a bunch of players 20 years his junior.

“I’m giving up a lot of distance,” said Hejna, who hits is driver 260 or 270 yards. “But I love to come out and compete. It’s hard. Yesterday the wind was unbelievable. You had to hit it solid. I’m playing because it’s here and it’s a great venue. It’s good to still be playing at this level at my age.”

Hejna won the NYSGA Boys 14U title in 1982 and played Division I hockey for Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He’s a seven-time club champion at Crag Burn Golf Club, and he has competed in 11 USGA Championships, including the U.S. Senior Amateur and the U.S. Mid-Amateur last year. Hejna was runner-up at the NYS Mid-Amateur three straight years (2005 to 2007).

Also tied for fifth were two other Crag Burn golfers -- 40-year-old Billy Hanes and 26-year-old Michael Donner – along with 33-year-old Andrew Edbauer, a City of Buffalo firefighter who plays out of Cloverbank CC. Hanes is one of three men who have won back-to-back NYS Mid-Amateur titles (2022, 2023) and has won eight Crag Burn club titles. Donner, who played collegiately at Canisius, just played in the U.S. Mid-Amateur in Wisconsin. Edbauer was a collegiate swimmer at Canisius.

Donner was one of eight players in the field who made eagle on the 504-yard seventh. He hit a 5-iron from 214 to six feet and made the putt.

Two-time defending champion Kyle Downey of Oak Hill CC is ninth at 10-over.