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COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. - Shane Dobesh (Sheridan Park GC) and Yaroslav Merkulov (Sodus Bay Heights GC) captured their first NYS Men’s Amateur Four-Ball title at Leatherstocking GC in what came down to a battle until the very end with two-time Four-Ball champions, David and Billy Hanes (Crag Burn GC).

“It was fun,” said Dobesh. “First state championship for me, so that's nice. Just happy to play some golf in some nice weather this spring too. [Yaroslav] and I played in some other four balls and finally broke through somewhere.”

Related: Final Results / Rd 1 Recap / Photos

The two teams entered Monday’s final round tied atop the leaderboard at nine-under, and would stay there despite several teams entering in and out of the mix. At one point, there were ten teams within two strokes of each other as the championship entered its home stretch. 

But it ultimately came down to the final seven holes between the Hanes brothers and Dobesh/Merkulov. All knotted up as they entered the 12th, a two-shot swing ensued, with David converting a birdie to get to ten-under and Merkulov settling for bogey to go to eight-under. Though Merkulov would get one back with a birdie on the 14th to cut the deficit to one stroke. 

On the 15th, Merkulov eagled, which was the same hole his partner eagled on Sunday, to get his team’s total to 12-under and back in first place. The Hanes brothers birdied to keep pace, as the teams entered the final three holes all square. Dobesh saved par on 16, while David bogeyed, giving Merkulov and Dobesh the solo lead with the par-3 17th and par-5 18th left to play. Each team parred the 17th, and were on the green in two on the 18th. 

Merkulov placed his eagle putt a couple feet short of the hole, and converted the championship-clinching birdie to finish at 12-under for a one-stroke victory. 

“We knew we were gonna be up against a pretty good battle today with [the Hanes brothers],” said Merkulov. “I mean, they've won this a bunch, they frickin' frack really well too. And also, just coming out here to Cooperstown is a lot of fun. My wife, her mom lives close by, so we make it a family event to come out and play in this.” 

Merkulov is back in the NYSGA winner’s circle for the first time in 17 years after making history as the only player to win both the NYS Men’s Amateur and NYS Boys’ 18U Junior Amateur in the same season; when he was 17 years old. Dobesh, on the other hand, broke through for his first state title after winning the BDGA Mid-Amateur in 2025.

SENIOR DIVISION

Wade Sarkis (Canandaigua CC) and Jim Scorse (Stafford CC) successfully defended their Men’s Senior Amateur Four-Ball title, finishing at 13-under, good for a four-stroke victory. 

The duo entered the final round with a three-stroke advantage following an opening-round 66. In a bogey-free final round, Scorse rolled in birdies on the fourth, eighth and tenth holes to get to nine-under overall as they entered the final eight holes. 

“We’re great partners,” said Sarkis. “If I'm having a bad hole, and Jim's got a 10 foot birdie putt, it’s easy to get rid of the bad hole feeling, whereas if you're playing by yourself, it kind of sticks around. So, partner golf is great. I enjoy it a lot with him.”

Sarkis contributed a red number on the 13th before converting a decisive eagle on the 15th that would provide enough cushion for the side to cruise to victory. For good measure, Scorse posted his fourth birdie of the day on the 18th, capping off his ninth NYSGA title and second consecutive Senior Four-Ball trophy alongside Sarkis. 

“At one point we were two up, and that's when we were getting into the stretch where we had some birdie holes, and we were like, all right, we got to get some birdies here,” said Scorse. “We missed a couple early ones that we probably could have got, but yeah, [Wade] made that eagle putt on 15, which put us into that nice little cushion. We only had three holes to play, and it just let us ease into the last three holes a little bit.”