NYSGA Accepts 400+ Entries for 96th NYS Men's Amateur Championship

June 21, 2018

JAMESVILLE, N.Y. – The New York State Golf Association (NYSGA) has accepted a total of 430 entries for the 96th New York State Men’s Amateur Championship at Irondequoit Country Club in Pittsford, N.Y. The NYS Men’s Amateur will be held in Rochester for the 14th time on August 7-9.

Related: Qualifying Info / Qualifier Pairings

To be eligible, a player must have a Handicap Index not exceeding 7.4, and must be a member of the NYSGA, defined as either (1) belonging to an NYSGA member club or (2) joining the NYSGA as a 2018 NYSGA eClub Member. 

Among this year’s total are 32 players, including 5 past champions, and 9 other New York State titleholders, who are fully exempt into the championship.

Sectional qualifying, played over 18 holes, will be conducted at 11 sites around New York from Tuesday, June 26 to Thursday, July 12 at the following venues:

June 26 – Malone GC (N. Country) – 9/2

June 27 – Seven Oaks GC (Syracuse) – 28/6

June 27 – Ives Hill CC (Watertown) – 14/3

June 29 – Yahnundasis GC (Utica) – 18/4

June 30 – Wayne Hills CC (Finger Lakes) – 22/5

July 1 – Links at Hiawatha (Binghamton) – 24/5

July 2 – Ravenwood GC (Rochester) – 69/15

July 2 – Colonie G&CC (Albany) – 59/12

July 2 – Lancaster CC (Buffalo) – 79/17

July 10 – Mill Pond GC (Long Island) – 34/7

July 12 – The Powelton Club (Mid-Hudson) – 52/11

No playoffs will be conducted during sectional qualifying. All players tied for the final allocated spot at a given qualifier, will advance into the championship.

There will also be a Sunday qualifier conducted on August 5th at a Rochester-area club (to be decided). The Sunday qualifier will open to players who have not already attempted to qualify at a previous site. A limited number of spots will be allocated to this qualifier and will be announced later.

This will be the first time the championship will be conducted at Irondequoit Country Club. The club has hosted one other NYSGA championship, when it held the NYS Girls’ Junior, won by Cathy Morse, in 1972.

The last time the NYS Men’s Amateur was held in Rochester was in 2011 when it was conducted on Oak Hill Country Club’s West Course, and won by two-time champion and now PGA Tour player Dominic Bozzelli.

The list of 32 golfers who are fully exempt into the 2018 NYS Men’s Amateur (as of June 21):

Alec Bard, Gray Barnes, Chris Blyth, Jay Card, Christian Cavaliere, Christian Chapman, Adam Condello, Connor Daly, Nick Dilio, Luke Feehan, Evan Gaesser, Danny Gianniny, Darin Goldstein, Daniel Griffiths, Billy Hanes, David Hanes, Luke Hobika, Lancelot Hope, Patrick Keegan, Doug Kleeschulte, Justin Lane, David May, Mike Mento, Jamie Miller, Ethan Ng, Ben Reichert, Wade Sarkis, Jim Scorse, William Thomson, Devlin Walsh, Jeff Wolniewicz and Adam Xiao.

The number of exempt players into the championship could increase based on the performance of amateurs in other regional championships and tournaments around New York State (see below).

Exemption categories for the championship are as follows:

E1. Winners of the NYS Men's Amateur Championship from the last 10 years.

E2. From the 2017 NYS Men's Amateur Championship, the 20 lowest scorers and anyone tied for 20th place.

E3. Winners of the NYS Men's Mid-Amateur Championship from the last 5 years.

E4. From the 2017 NYS Men's Mid-Men's Amateur Championship, the 5 lowest scorers and anyone tied for 5th place.

E5. Winners of the 2018 NYS Men's Amateur Four-Ball Championships.

E6. Winner and runner-up of the 2018 NYS Boys' Junior Amateur Championship

E7. Winner and runner-up of the 2018 NYSPHSAA Boys' Golf Championship.

E8. Winner of the 2017 NYS Men's Senior Amateur Championship.

E9. Most recent (as of August 7, 2018) winner or low amateur (*professional events) of the following regional championships:

E10. From the 2018 Monroe Invitational, the 20 lowest scorers and anyone tied for 20th place.

E11. From the 2018 Porter Cup, the 20 lowest scorers and anyone tied for 20th place.

E12. Players ranked in the top-1500 of the World Amateur Golf Rankings (WAGR).

E13. Host club exemptions

E14. Special exemptions as selected by the NYSGA. Must have filed an entry by June 19, 2018. The submission of request along with playing resume must be received by Andrew Hickey (andrew@nysga.org) by June 1, 2018.  Players must select a qualifying site at the time of entry.

For more information, please visit the championship page on Golf Genius.