Defending Champ Frank Esposito Leads State Open By 1 Stroke
Defending champion Frank Esposito of Brooklake birdiied three of his final seven holes for an even-par 71, and combined with his opening-round 67 gave him a one-shot lead heading into Thursday's final round of the 94th New Jersey State Golf Association Open Championship at the 6,865-yard Essex County Country Club in West Orange.
Esposito, who carded three bogeys on his front nine - the difficult back nine at Essex County - held a one-shot advantage over first-round leader Brett Jones of Mountain Ridge (66-73-139), State Amateur champion Mike Stamberger of Spring Lake (70-69-139) and 19-year-old Max Greyserman of Crestmont.
On Wednesday, play was finally suspended at 8:57 p.m. with all but two golfers - Tyler Brewington of Hominy Hill and Brad Olsen of Rumson - completing two rounds. The field of 135 will be cut to the low 50 scorers plus ties at the cutline of 148 after the completion of two rounds, which will take place early Thursday.
Esposito uncharacteristically started slowly with bogeys on the par-3 No. 11, the par-4 No. 12, and the par-4 No. 16.
"It was a disappointing start. The waiting around may have been a part of it," said Esposito, 51, who finally teed off in the second round at 4:20 p.m. "I mishit a ball at 11, hit a bad drive on 12 and missed the green on 16.
"I've been blessed with some flexibility which allows me to move the ball out there at my age and I'm rolling the ball well with my short putter," siad Esposito, who won this championship in 1999 and 2013 among his 15 major titles.
"Tomorrow I want to minimize the damage and get on a streak and go. I really played well on my back nine, the front nine, so it definitely gives you confidence," he added.
Just one year ago, Greyserman distinguished himself by winning the NJSGA Junior championship.
On Wednesday, Greyserman took it a step further with a 3-under-par 68, that combined with his even-par 71 in the first round for a 139, put him squarely in contention
Tuesday’s rain prompted much shuffling in an attempt to complete two rounds by Thursday, which will serve as championship day.
Greyserman was in heady company on top of the leaderboard. First-round leader Jones dropped four strokes on his front nine, the difficut back nine, on Wednesday to go to one-under par, but rallied with birdies on the par-5 seventh and eight holes to finsih at 66-73-139.
Veteran David Quinn of The Links Golf Club in Marlton, who spent 10 years on the mini-tour circuit, was just one shot behind Greyserman after 36 holes at 70-70-140.
Greyserman, a rising sophomore at Duke University where he is a member of the golf team, had a brilliant front nine in the second round, recording five birdies, including the final four holes on that side. He gave back two shots with a pair of bogeys on both par-3s on that side, the 11th and 15th holes.
“I was feeling pretty good when I made all those birdies, but then I got a little nervous,” he said. “I didn’t hit many bad shots on the back nine. I just didn’t make any putts.
“On the back, the wind started picking up. I wanted to close things out a little better, but a 68 is a 68,” Greyserman said.
Greyserman graduated Peddie in 2013 where he was a second team Rolex Junior All-American. Last summer, he played in the British Boys Championship at Royal Liverpool Golf Club and Wallasey Golf Club for the second straight year. He was ranked No. 18 in the nation by juniorgolfscoreboard.com.
Quinn, who has played in eight National Club Pro championships, said the key to his success was playing even par on the back nine on both days.
“I’m friendly with Kevin Syring (o Alpine) and he told me this is one of the best back nines anywhere, and he was right. This is an awesome golf course. I need to learn the greens better.”
Greg Farrow of Deer Run (76-71-147), the 2003 Open champion, aced the par-3, 202-yard 11th hole.
