Firefighter Mcsorley Looks To Defend Mid-amateur Championship

Kevin McSorley of Charleston Springs is the golfer to watch when the 29th New Jersey State Golf Association Mid-Amateur Championship returns May 1 to the nationally ranked Galloway National Golf Club’s challenging Tom Fazio course after a one-year absence.

A total of 43 golfers survived qualifying rounds April 19 at Hopewell Valley and April 24 at Royce Brook West and join 11 exempt golfers, including 2011 champion McSorley, a 40-year-old Jersey City fireman, in an 18-hole stroke-play qualifying round for 54 players on Tuesday, May 1, at Galloway National.

That round will determine the 16 players who advance to match play May 2 and 3. The Round of 16 and quarterfinals take place on Wednesday, May 2, with the semifinals and final the next day, Thursday, May 3.

Here´s a profile article on Kevin McSorley, compliments of NJ.com http://www.nj.com/golf/index.ssf/2011/06/jersey_city_firefighter_kevin_1.html

This year marks the fourth time since 2002 that the event will be staged at Galloway National. Male amateurs at least 30 years old with a USGA Handicap Index no higher than 7.0 are eligible for the Mid-Amateur.

McSorley last year won his first major event of any kind at Deal Golf and Country Club – and did so with an improbable defeat of three-time Mid-Am champion Tom Gramigna of Tavistock in the championship match, 2 and 1.

Exempt golfers include former champions McSorley, Gramigna and Allan Small of Fairmount; plus, Peter Barron of Stone Harbor, Michael Deo of Black Oak, Niall Handley of Essex Fells, Mike Hyland of Little Mill, Brian Komline of Black Oak, Anthony Scelba of High Bridge Hills, Cyrus Whitney of Hackensack and Michael Stamberger of Spring Lake, the 2011 NJSGA Player of the Year.

Galloway National continued its climb in Golfweek’s ranking of the 100 Best Modern Courses, rising this year from 27th to 24th on the list. “We’re tickled with that,” says Mike Killian, the director of golf. “There’s not a lot of room in front of that now. In my 12 years here, we’ve gone from 57 to 24.”

The Mid-Amateur competitors will face a windy course that offers length (7,111 yards from the longest tee positions), with pervasive bunkers, trees and water threatening the route to very large and severely sloping greens.

Killian’s advice to players coming to Galloway National for the first time? Hit accurate approach shots. “Like most great distance-control golf courses,” he says, “it’s imperative never to short-side yourself. I don’t care if the pin’s 40 yards farther to the right. If you hit it to the right of that flag, you’re cooked. If you hit it to the left of the flag, it’s better to have a 40-yard pitch than to have a six-foot pitch because it’s so impossible. If you short-side yourself, you just cannot possibly get up and down.

“The undulation on the greens is such that quadrant placement of the ball is imperative. I‘d rather have a 29-footer from over here than a seven-footer from over there. A lot like Hollywood, Alpine, Baltusrol, it’s much better to have a little longer putt on a little flatter part of the green.”

McSorley believes putting will go a long way to determining this year’s champion.Recalling a U.S. Amateur qualifying round at Galloway National, he points out, “The greens there are big, undulating and fast. You have to know where to put the ball on those greens. If you’re not in the right spot on the green, you’ll be really challenged just to make par. The greens are probably the toughest that we’ll face all year.

“I love the golf course. It’s a real solid golf course. It’s a test of hitting every club in your bag.”McSorley acknowledges that the Mid-Amateur was the highlight of his career. McSorley had to overcome an all-star lineup, defeating Jay Blumenfeld, Matthew Finger, Peter Barron and Gramigna on the way to the title.

The Jersey City fireman did not spend much time on the golf course early this year because he was studying for a test April 14 to qualify as a captain. After the test, he planned to practice intensely for the Mid-Am.