Blumenfeld, Vannelli , Russo Advance In U.S. Senior Amateur At Mountain Ridge

Jay Blumenfeld of Mountain Ridge and Ron Vannelli of Metuchen, both former winners of the NJSGA Tournament of Club Champions, have advanced to the match-play portion of the 2012 USGA Senior Amateur Championship at the par-71, 6,838-yard Mountain Ridge Country Club in West Caldwell.

Both players are in first-round matches this morning (Monday, Oct. 1) with Blumenfeld taking on Doug Potter of Idaho at 9:40 a.m. and Vannelli meeting James Pearson of Charlotte, N.C., at 11:32 a.m.

Joe Russo of Running Deer, a resident of Sewell, N.J., advanced to take on Stephen Fox of West Virginia at 10:36 a.m.

LIVE SCORING:http://www.usga.org/ChampEventScore.aspx?id=17179869331&year=2012&type=match1

Mondays winners advance to the second round of match play on Tuesday morning. The third round is set for Tuesday afternoon. The quarterfinals and semifinals are set for Wednesday and an 18-hole final will take place on Thursday.Tom Hyland of Little Mill failed to advance through qualifying.

FEATURE STORY ON JAY BLUMENFELD:http://www.usga.org/ChampEventArticle.aspx?id=21474850629

Jim Holtgrieve, 64, of St. Louis, Mo., was medalist at qualifying at 6-under-par 68-68-136.Holtgrieve received a special exemption to the USGA Senior Amateur as the 2013 USA Walker Cup captain. Holtgrieve, the 1981 U.S. Mid-Amateur champion, was also the Walker Cup captain in 2011. He played on three Walker Cup teams (1979, 1981, 1983) and two USA World Amateur teams (1980, 1982).

The USGA Senior Amateur Championship consists of 36 holes of stroke play with the field then reduced to the low 64 scorers for six rounds of match play. The championship is scheduled to conclude with an 18-hole final on Thursday, Oct. 4, starting at 9 a.m.

Blumenfeld . 60, qualified for match-play at 4-over-par 74-72-146. He won the NJSGA Tournament of Club Champions in 2004 and ’05. He is a two-time NJSGA Player of the year (2006 and ’09) and is the current Mountain Ridge club champion.

Vannelli, 64, shot 6-over-par 79-69-148 to advance to march play. He won the Tournament of Club Champions in 2011. He is also a Met Amateur champion (2005), Met Player of the Year (2005) and two-time Met Senior Amateur champion.

Russo qualified at 7-over-par 74-75-149.Russo, 55, this summer captured the Gloucester County Amateur Championship.