Avers & Samerjan Of Neshanic Valley Win 17th Senior Four-ball At Hawk Pointe
Tom Avers and John Samerjan of Neshanic Valley combined for seven natural birdies to fire a seven-under-par 65 and win the 17thNJSGA Senior Four-Ball Championship on Wednesday, September 12, by three shots at the Hawk Pointe Golf Club in Washington.
Three groups carded four-under-par 68s including Frank Law and Mark Boyce of Hawk Pointe, Neal Schuman and Jay Green of Alpine, and defending champions Steve Mauer and Ron Vannelli of Metuchen. Mauer and Vannelli won the 2011 championship at Beacon Hill.
Boyce and Law won the net championship with a 68-5-63 on a match of cards over Gary Soldo and Leon Cohen of Forest Hill and Avers and Samarjian on the course that measured 6,500 yards.
“We came here in July for a practice round and we liked the course,” said Avers, 55, of Morris Plains, a retired risk manager who last year won the Somerset County championship. “You could see all the shots. The course wasn’t tricked up. We found the greens fast. There were some hard spots on the greens, but they were puttable.”
Samerjan was responsible for four of the seven birdies, on the par-4 sixth hole, the par-3 ninth hole, the par-5 15th and the par-4 17th. His best shot of the day was a 100-yard gap wedge shot from the right rough that ended just a foot from the pin on the 17th green.
Avers had birdies on the par-5 seventh hole, the par-4 12th and the par 3 16th. On the 16th, he lofted a 9 iron from 132 yards to seven feet and drained the putt. Ayers’s six-footer on the par-3 13th hole saved par.
“We did a good job ham-and-egging it,” said Samerjan 60, of Princeton, a public affairs consultant who won the Trenton District Senior championship in 2008. “We made a lot of good putts for birdies. These type of events are always fun. We are grateful to be here. When you play with good players like we did today (Law and Boyce), you always want to do well.”
Avers and Samerjan each carry a handicap index of 2.
Gross:
John Samerjan & Thomas Avers, Neshanic Valley – 33-32-65
Neal Schuman & Jay Green, Alpine – 35-33-68
Steve Mauer & Ron Vannelli, Metuchen – 33-35-68
Net:
Frank Law & Mark Boyce, Hawk Pointe – 63*
Leon Cohen & Gary Soldo, Forest Hill - 63
Larry Bruce & Joseph Verbaro, Madison – 64**
*-1st low net, match of cards
**-3rd low net, match of cards
