Aloi & Dimeglio Seize Four Ball, Edging Wilson & Quinn
By Mike Moretti
Although Anthony Aloi of Mercer Oaks was the headline player in the two-man team as the reigning NJSGA and MGA Public Links titleholder, it was his unheralded partner, Michael DiMeglio, who pulled off the shot that secured the 79th NJSGA Four-Ball Championship on August 10th at Knickerbocker Country Club in Tenafly.
DiMeglio nearly aced the 228-yard par-3 17th hole to help give the Mercer Oaks duo a 1-up lead with one hole remaining in the final match against Pat Wilson and Jeremy Quinn of Panther Valley. When the teams halved the par-5 18th hole with birdies, Aloi and DiMeglio shared a 1-up victory they will never forget.
“To be honest,” recalled DiMeglio, “I didn´t hit it that well. My back had tightened up the final nine holes, and I hit a low line drive with my No. 2 hybrid. I was rewarded for a shot that I missed, but it turned out to be an important shot that gave us a victory we battled for against a great team.” DiMeglio´s shot on seventeen missed the flag by a mere foot and ended up four feet above the hole. Aloi, meanwhile, missed the green to the downhill left side and chipped to five feet, then made the putt for par. Although DiMeglio couldn´t cash in for a birdie there, neither Wilson nor Quinn could convert pars after both found the green.
“That´s unacceptable for both of us to three-putt there after the way we played the previous two holes to get all square in the match," said Wilson, who tied for third in the NJSGA Amateur this year and was runner-up in 2010. “One of us has got to make a putt. But I give Mike credit because he nearly had a hole-in-one there. I thought we had some momentum going into the 17th."
What had just transpired on the driveable par-4 16th hole was Wilson sinking a 10-foot putt that contained a four-foot break. That birdie putt offset a similar length birdie putt that Aloi had just drained, and kept the match all even. Both Wilson and Aloi nearly drove the green on the uphill, 302-yard par-4, with Wilson hitting it but not holding it and Aloi just ten yards off the front.
Wilson and Quinn, rising juniors and teammates on the St. John´s University golf team, squared the match when Wilson lofted a 90-yard approach to within three feet of the hole on a near-impossible placement that was right behind a mound on the front of the green at the par-4, 357-yard 15th hole.
“I really expected Pat to make that putt on sixteen. I knew they were hot, but when you get to this level of play, you expect those things," said Aloi, a senior at Furman University and a former New Jersey scholastic champion who has qualified for the U.S. Amateur at Erin Hills in Wisconsin this month. “You just have to be prepared to go to 17 and do your best. Then Mike hit the shot of the afternoon and locked up par for us and put pressure on them. The reason that shot was so big was because it´s not an easy par-3 at that distance (228 yards). That´s tough yardage."
Aloi´s ball came to rest about six inches from a rail tie that bordered a cart path, but he refused a drop and chipped close to the hole at seventeen. “I´m very confident in my chipping from anywhere,” said Aloi. “There´s nothing I can´t do when it comes to chipping.”
Wilson and Quinn had a chance at the par-5, 494-yard 18th hole, especially when the powerfully-built Quinn unloaded a 320-yard drive, then hit a second shot to 25 feet from the hole. But Aloi and DiMeglio both got their approach shots on the green as well. Quinn´s try for an eagle just scooted to the left of the hole.
“I´m upset. I don´t think I played as well as I could have,” said Quinn, who transferred to St. John´s from Susquehanna University. “But I had as much fun out there as I could have. I made some big putts, some big ups and downs. We struck the ball well and got it to the greens but then you forget how undulating the greens can be.” Quinn´s biggest moment came on the par-4 fifth hole. He appeared blocked out after his drive ended under a tree on the right side of the green. But his low, scorching chip shot stopped a foot from the hole for a birdie that squared the match. Aloi had won the par-3 fourth hole as the only golfer in the foursome to card a par.
After Quinn´s birdie on the fifth, the teams played even for six consecutive holes. Then, on the par-4 12th hole, Aloi stuck a 175-yard approach to four feet and made the birdie putt. It stayed that way until Wilson got the Panther Valley duo even on fifteen.
“This was the first time Mike and I played in a tournament together,” Aloi explained. “We´ve known each other for a long time at Mercer Oaks and thought it would be a good thing to try. It was big for me to have somebody that´s always on the green so I can make a run at the hole. To win something like this with a buddy is great." DiMeglio, who recently ran out of college golf eligibility at the University of Hartford, is busy enough in the sport. All summer, he has instructed Trenton-area youth for The First Tee organization. In the afternoons, he sells golf equipment at New York Golf. He will coach freshmen golfers this year at Hartford as he finishes work for his degree. “I wish I could, but I just don´t get a chance to play enough,” DiMeglio said. “I enjoy competing. I´m a natural competitor. I´m willing to grind out that round and find a way to win, and that´s what we did today."
The quarterfinal matches were interrupted by a severe thunderstorm that suspended play, resulting in several forfeits due to the change in schedule. In the semifinals, the Mercer Oaks pair had to knock off local favorites Phil Fabrizio and Rish Patel of Knickerbocker, 2 up, in a grueling morning match that preceded the final. Wilson and Quinn held off Greg Nordtveit and Luke Previte of Neshanic Valley and St. Peter’s College by the same 2-up tally. The tight semifinal matches portended the thrilling final match that was to follow.
Next year´s 80th NJSGA Four-Ball Championship is set for Essex County Country Club in West Orange. “Already, I´m looking forward to defending our title,” said Aloi.
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