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HAMBURG, N.Y. – The upcoming 35th annual New York State Men’s Mid-Amateur Championship at Wanakah Country Club will challenge the best male amateurs, ages 25 and up, from around the state throughout 54 holes of stroke play over three days from September 28 – 30, 2018.

Related: Pairings / Scoring / Photo Galleries / Past Results

The championship, conducted by the New York State Golf Association, begins on Friday with 18 holes of stroke play and the 129-player field will be divided into morning and afternoon waves, with a cut applied to the low 60 players and ties. Saturday, the field will play a second set of 18 holes to decide who survives another cut – set at low 30 players and ties. On Championship Sunday, the remaining competitors will play a final 18 holes to decide the next state Mid-Amateur champion. If a tie exists after 54 holes, a sudden-death playoff will determine the winner.

Championship Quick Facts

Par & Yardage:

IN: 3,309 yards / OUT: 3,493 yards

TOTAL: 6,802 yards, Par 36-36-72 (73.8/135) 

Live Scoring: The NYSGA will have all groups do hole-by-hole mobile scoring throughout all three championship rounds. 

Last Year’s Champion

Patrick Keegan of Locust Hill Country Club, won by 6 strokes after carding a second-round 66 to match the championship’s low single-round record, and eventually captured his first New York State title at Yahnundasis Golf Club.

Format: 54 holes of stroke play, played over three days of competition. There is a cut after 18 holes to the low 60 and ties, and again after 36 holes to the low 30 and ties. 

Eligibility: Entries are open to male amateur golfers, ages 25 and older, who are either (1) residents of New York State or (2) members of an NYSGA Member Club, and have an active Handicap Index of 9.4 or lower.   

Schedule of Events

Thursday, September 27 - Registration and Practice Rounds

8:30am - 4:00pm // Player registration
9:00am - 4:00pm // Player practice rounds

Friday, September 28 - Round 1 

8:00am - 9:30am // Round 1 (morning wave) from tees #1 and #10
11:00am - 3:00pm // Complimentary lunch for contestants
12:15pm - 1:45pm // Round 1 (afternoon wave) from tees #1 and #10

Saturday, September 29 - Round 2

8:00am - 11:30am // Round 2 from tee #1
11:30am - 4:30pm // Complimentary lunch for contestants

Sunday, September 30 - Rounds 3 

8:00am - 9:40am // Round 3 from tee #1
11:30am - 3:00pm // Complimentary lunch for contestants 

The Field

Past NYS Men’s Mid-Am Champions

Patrick Keegan, 34,of Locust Hill Country Club, fired a record-tying 66 in the second round and went under par again in the final to win the 2017 championship by six strokes at 6-under 207 (72-66-69).

Jim Scorse, 53, is a two-time winner of the championship and five-time state titleholder. His most recent Mid-Am victory came in 2016 at Stafford Country Club. Scorse won his first Mid-Am title at Onondaga Golf and Country Club in 2013. He captured his lone Men’s Am title in 2005 at Brookwoods Country Club (when the format still involved match play). He also won consecutive Men’s Four-Ball titles in 2011 and 2012 at Ravenwood Golf Club. This summer, he qualified for the U.S. Mid-Amateur and 2019 U.S. Four-Ball this summer. 

Luke Hobika, 50, of Cavalry Club, is a two-time NYS Men’s Mid-Amateur champion, having won the championships seventeen years apart, first in 1998 at Yahnundasis Golf Club at age 30 and again in 2015 at Wolferts Roost Country Club.

Jamie Miller, 33, of Wanakah Country Club, landed the 2014 NYS Men’s Mid-Amateur title at Teugega Country Club by two strokes. In 2015, he paired up with Billy Hanes to win the NYS Men’s Amateur Four-Ball at Leatherstocking Golf Club. This year, he competed at the 2018 U.S. Four-Ball in Jupiter Hills, won the C.B. MacDonald Annual Invitational at National Golf Links, and qualified for the 2018 U.S. Mid-Am (his second consecutive) at Charlotte Country Club.   

Tim Spitz, 42,of Monroe Golf Club, won in 2012 at Midvale Country Club. He came close again in 2015, finishing as runner-up. He finished fourth in the 2016 NYS Men’s Amateur at Mohawk Golf Club, and was the first-round leader at the 2017 Mid-Am. In 2009, at only his second USGA event, Spitz advanced to the US Mid-Am final match against four-time winner Nathan Smith.

Jimmy Welch, 51, of Old Kinderhook Golf Club, captured the title in a four-way playoff in 2011 at Dutchess Golf & Country Club. Due to inclement weather over the weekend, the second round was cancelled, making the tournament 36-holes. 

Ken Riter, 55,a NYSGA eClub member out of Western NY, claimed the title in 2009 at Glens Falls Country Club. 

Matt Clarke, 57, of Cazenovia Country Club, won the 2005 championship at the Country Club of Rochester.

Other NYS Champions in the field  

Jonathan Clark, 26,of Crag Burn Golf Club, collaborated with Matt Stasiak to capture a NYS Men’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship in 2013 at Leatherstocking Golf Club with a two-round best-ball score of 128 (-16).

Adam Condello, 35, of Locust Hill Country Club, earned his first state title at last year’s NYS Men’s Amateur at Bethpage State Park’s formidable Black Course where he edged the field by one stroke and finished at 3-under 281. Condello has finished runner-up at the NYS Mid-Am in three of the last four years. This summer, he was the leader through the opening two rounds of the NYS Men’s Am at Irondequoit, but fell apart on the last day to finish in eighth. 

Doug Kleeschulte, 28,of Wiltwyck Country Club, was crowned Men’s Amateur champion in 2010 at Albany Country Club with a one stroke victory over the field. Kleeschulte, has appeared in a string of U.S. Amateurs over the years and recently competed in the 2015 U.S. Four-Ball championship. 

John Gaffney, 59, of Brookfield Country Club, won the Men’s Amateur in 1999 at Wanakah Country Club.

Billy Hanes, 32, of Crag Burn Golf Club, won the 2018 NYS Men’s Amateur Four-Ball at Leatherstocking with his younger brother David, finishing at 11-under 133 to win by two. Hanes also claimed a NYS Boys’ Sub-Junior title in 2000 at Wellsville Country Club.

Tony Hejna, 50, of Crag Burn Golf Club, won the NYS Boys’ Junior in 1982 at Clifton Springs. He’s qualified for the U.S. Mid-Amateur the last two years and linked up with Matt Clarke to advance to the 2017 U.S. Four-Ball. He was also the runner-up of the NYS Mid-Am three consecutive years in 2004, 2005, and 2006.

Bob Rosen, 57, of Country Club of Buffalo, won the 2016 Men’s Senior Four-Ball with partner Matt Clarke with a 36-hole score of 133 (-11).

Jeff Wolniewicz, 32, of Crag Burn Golf Club, took a Men’s Am title home in 2008 at Pinehaven Country Club, 5&4 over Rochester’s Tom Muto Jr. when it still included a match play bracket. He won last year’s N.Y.S. Men’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship at Leatherstocking Golf Club with his partner Jonathan Clark, and earned the same title the year prior with a different teammate, now-professional Billy Gaffney. 

Other Players to Watch

Colby Anderson, 33, of Nassau Country Club, won the Long Island Golf Association’s 2018 Amateur and Mid-Amateur. He finished 11th at the 96th NYS Men’s Am in August at Irondequoit.

Brett Cooper, 27, of Sewane Golf & Country Club, won the 2016 Richardson Memorial Invitational and was runner-up last year in his defense of the title on his home course. IN 2018, he finished top-5 at the Havemeyer Invitational, and a top-15 finish at the Stocker Cup Championship.

Kyle Downey, 29, was in last year’s final-round leader group with Keegan and (Darin) Goldstein, and eventually fell to fourth. This season, he finished as runner-up in the Rochester District Amateur at Monroe Golf Club and qualified for the 2018 U.S. Mid-Amateur, where he advanced to the match play Round of 64.

Lancelot Hope, 43, of Schenectady Muni Golf Course, won the 2018 Troy Invitational. The capital-area player lost in playoffs the two prior years and finally broke through winning by two strokes over the field. He has steadily risen among the capital area ranks over the past decade and now is regarded as one of the area’s top players.

Sean Lindstrom, 32, of Wanakah Country Club, represented the U.S. at the BMW Golf Club International in South Africa this past March and won the gross division by eight shots. 

Nicholas Morreale, 39, of Niagara Falls Country Club, recently qualified for the 2018 U.S. Mid-Amateur at Charlotte Country Club through the Country Club of Buffalo sectional qualifier. 

Michael Piccillo, 36, of Lancaster Country Club, recently qualified for the U.S. Mid-Am at Charlotte Country Club earlier this month after finishing 1-over 71. 

Wade Sarkis 56, of Canandaigua Country Club and Jim Mason, 56,of Oak Hill Country Club are the only two players in the state who competed in the New York State Men’s Amateur, the Men’s Mid-Am, and Men’s Senior in 2018.

Kevin Vandenberg, 52,of Tuscarora Golf Club, has built up a lengthy amateur golf resume over the years. At age 51, he’s yet to capture a New York State title but has won a slew of Syracuse District events over the past few years. In 2016, he won the CNY PGA’s Central New York Open and qualified for the U.S. Senior Open as well as the US Four-Ball with partner and NYSGA Executive Director Bill Moore. Prior to moving to New York, he was a resident of Michigan where he claimed a Golf Association of Michigan Championship title, a Michigan Amateur title as well as Mid-Amateur title in the early 2000’s.

Devlin Walsh, 32, finished in third at last year’s Mid-Am at Yahnundasis Golf Club. He was the runner-up to Justin Lane in this year’s Herdegen (Ulster County). 

Wanakah Country Club

Wanakah Country Club is among Western New York’s premier full-service country clubs. The club’s inspiring and scenic setting includes a pool, clay tennis courts and a spectacular Willie Watson designed golf course on the shores of Lake Erie just 15 minutes from downtown Buffalo. To learn more, visit www.wanakahcc.com.