Schimenti wins New York State Mid-Amateur playoff
Courtesy of the New York State Golf Association
The 37th New York State Men’s Mid-Amateur came to a two-hole playoff from which Carl Schimenti of Cornell University Golf Course emerged victorious and took home his first state title at Shaker Ridge Country Club. Schimenti maintained the three-stroke lead he had built up over 15 holes on Sunday after the second round on Saturday. On the hard home stretch, he bogeyed 15 and 16, and double bogeyed 17 to fall into the final hole on a threesome.
“Putting three from 25 feet right off the green was pretty tough,” said Schimenti. “Another three-putt from the edge on the 16th. Then my only bad swing on the second nine was the tee-off on the 17th. We lost a real one and were trying to be aggressive about hitting the driver and sometimes that happens when you swing it is hard.”
That gave Chris Blyth of the Locust Hill Country Club the chance to rise again. After a birdie on hole 14, he parried the rest of the way to stick with the three and awaited his fate when Schimenti tee off on his 54th hole of the championship.
“My playing partners and I checked the leaderboard for the entire second nine,” said Blyth. “I kind of knew where I was, I went down 17 and 18.”
Schimenti hit the upper level of the green on the 18th hole with par 4 in two strokes and prepared a difficult downhill putt. He sent it past the hole nearly 20 feet.
“I didn’t feel that good and the putt was long enough that it wasn’t a short tester,” said Schimenti. “I could give him a full throttle. These greens are really subtle and sometimes you try to read a break where there aren’t any. “
Looking at an uphill putt, Schimenti hit him directly and sank to send the championship into a playoff.
“I was looking for a break with this putt, I didn’t see any, so basically I just played straight and hit it hard enough,” said Schimenti. “That was a good read on my part. That gave me a lot more confidence to go into the playoffs. “
When teeing off the first hole, Schimenti and Blyth each put two putti for par. On the second hole, Blyth’s approach shot landed about 40 feet above the hole. Schimenti placed his approach on the edge in front of the green about 3 meters in front of the flag.
Blyth put in three putti while Schimenti prepared for a tap-in par to win the championship.
“I think I was just very smart to leave it on the edge just before the hole,” said Schimenti. “It feels good. It really is probably my biggest win ever … I felt like I played really well this week and deserved to be at the top, at least in the competition.”
Blyth added, “My playing partners had the exact same putt this morning so I knew it was fast and that if I hit a bad putt it would run away from me, so I knew I had to play it down there. I just got it wrong and read it wrong and it just went away, so it was kind of unfortunate. “
Schimenti, who also won the Tompkins County Amateur this summer, has competed in three other NYS men’s mid-amateur championships. His highest result was fifth place in 2018.
“It’s nice to end it. The NYSGA events are the big events on my calendar, so that means a lot, ”said Schimenti. “On the track I hit some bad short-game strokes and somehow blew (the lead) away, but overall the five-over on a day like today was still not a bad result.”
Blyth’s second place came in his first mid-amateur appearance. In 2018 and 2019 he finished second in the NYS Men’s Amateur.
“I was pretty happy that I made it to this point without even playing this week, so I was really proud of myself for fighting and getting into the playoffs,” said Blyth. “It’s good to be second the first time … hopefully one day I’ll break through and take the win.”
With two under 69 in the last lap, Darin Goldstein from Deepdale Golf Club finished third and shot four over 217 for the weekend.
Billy Hanes of Crag Burn Golf Club and first-round co-leader Jimmy Pizmutelli shared fourth place in the six to round out the top five.
Timothy Coykendall from Brook Lea Country Club (+9), Michael Auerbach from Bellport Golf Club (+9), Daniel Gabel from Mahopac Golf and Beach Club (+10), Bill Moore from Bellevue Country Club (+10), Joe Quijano from Country Club of Troy (+10) and Bobby McCartney from the RDGA eClub (+10) landed in the top ten, which earned them an exception for the 2022 NYS Men’s Amateur at Onondaga Country Club.
Showing results for New York State Mid-Amateur
ABOUT THE New York State Mid-Amateur
Entry is restricted to male amateur golfers who enjoy membership privileges in clubs of the New York State Golf Association or are associate members of the NYSGA. Participants must have reached the age of 25 by the date of regional qualification.
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