Greyserman Leads College Continent Into 95th State Open
By Rebecca Gaona, P.J. Boatwright Intern
New Jersey has some of the most competitive collegiate players; they take their competitive nature into the classroom as well. These players are among the best amateurs in the field for the 95th NJSGA Open Championship, including the defending champion, Max Greyserman (Short Hills), who attends Duke University. It will be no surprise if any of these skillful players win the 2015 NJSGA Open Championship.
The Open Championship will be played at Rockaway River Country Club in Denville, beginning Tuesday, July 14 through July 16. Some amateurs have yet to experience the tradition of the Open Championship and some are familiar with competing at this high level. This event yearly gathers the best amateurs and professionals across the state to vie for the top spot
Max Greyserman just completed his second year at Duke, having a successful year but even more successful start to his summer season. Kicking off the summer with a closing round of 64 to take the crown at the 2015 Amateur Championship, Greyserman will look to repeat his win and continue his hot streak at the 95th Open Championship. He is only the second player to win the Open and Amateur championships within one year since Billy Ziobro did it in 1970!
While everyone is competing for themselves, the Open Championship does have a few pair of teammates participating. Campbell University’s Thomas La Morte (Demarest) and Jeremy Nevius (Metuchen) are both very experienced in NJSGA tournament play. At the 2015 Amateur Championship, both La Morte and Nevius competed, although only La Morte continued play after the cut, where he rallied for a tie for seventh-place finish.
Jordan Lerner (Princeton) and Luke Graboyes (Watchung), junior teammates at Cornell University, qualified for the Open Championship at the same host club, Galloping Hill. Graboyes has had much experience in a lot of NJSGA tournaments throughout his career and has won the New Jersey High School Tournament of Champions.
Brothers Ethan and Jeremy Wall (Brielle) are also teammates at Loyola University-Maryland, where they make a standing impact on the team, which made it to NCAA Regionals this past spring. The two brothers are big players in the Metropolitan area as well as all through the country. Their youngest brother, Jack, 14, is taking the same path. A third Loyola standout is Jimmy Dengler of Rumson, runner-up in the 2013 State Amateur and sixth this past June.
Along with the Cornell, Loyola, and Campbell players, Iona College has a share of players inside the ropes. Rising Iona freshman Paolo Matti (Union) even has the chance to join in on his teammates, Stefan Cygan (Middlesex) and Brian Fitzpatrick (Middlesex) in their success.
Blaine Lafferty (Marlton) is one of the University of Delaware’s most impactful players. Lafferty earned a special honor at the University of Delaware for his hard work and persistence, and appeared in all but one event for the Blue Hens this spring.
Lone Hartford Hawk Daniel O’Rourke (Milford) has nine rounds over three tournaments, where his low was 72. O’Rourke will be competing in another Open Championship, where last year’s performance was impressive as a recent high school graduate.
Ryan Snouffer (Sparta), a big contender in previous NJSGA major tournaments is a transfer from Adelphi University to the Big East School Seton Hall University. Snouffer has made an impact on the Big East circuit and has come close to becoming an NJSGA Amateur and Open Champion in past years.
2013 Pub-Links Champion Ryan Siegler (West Windsor) has had an NJSGA championship under his belt already. The rising Towson University senior will be looking for a strong outing at the first two days of the Open Championship. He has competed in many of the Tigers tournaments throughout his career thus far, making him one of the more experienced collegiate golfers in the field.
On a competitive squad like Vanderbilt, the rising senior John Voetsch (New Vernon) makes the most of his opportunities on the collegiate level, although his debut at the 2015 NJSGA State Amateur was impressive as the runner-up to Max Greyserman by one shot. A strong showing at the Open Championship will solidify his high status in amateur golf.
Five rising freshmen committed to play golf on the collegiate level consist of John Felitto, Nicholas Rencis, Kellen Jordan, Sean Farren and Paolo Matti along with a bunch of other New Jersey golfers. Felitto (Mountainside), the Notre Dame-bound freshman was one of the highest-ranked junior golfers in the country and made a statement at the Amateur Championship this past June.
Rencis (Long Valley) has committed to Old Dominion University after a stellar junior career through the State of New Jersey. The Fairfield-bound Jordan (Spring Lake) will join Alex Ferrante in the upcoming Fall. Farren (Brielle), a graduate of Christian Brothers Academy, is heading to the University of South Carolina. Paolo Matti will also be joining Open Championship contenders, Stefan Cygan and Brian Fitzpatrick, at Iona College this upcoming fall. Matti has played in many junior tournaments including the Junior Boys’ Championship, and has contended.
Among other MAAC schools like Iona College and Fairfield University, St. Peter’s University has a good share of MAAC championship rings on their fingers. The Jersey City school has two MAAC championships with the help of New Jersey players Dominic Diaz (Bridgewater) and Brandon Molson (Westfield). Diaz has been competing in a variety of NJSGA championships and has been successful in his career. Both Molson and Diaz had an impact on the St. Peter’s team that has been so successful the past two years.
Siena’s Mike Shine (River Vale) has qualified for the State Open with an impressive outing at Pine Barrens with an even 72 as co-medalist.
Henry Wesson (Saddle River) and Vincent Palazzolo (Colts Neck), two solid college athletes at Colgate and George Washington, respectively, have had great years on the college circuit. Wesson had a lot of experience through his two years at Colgate, even making it to the Patriot League Championship.
Palazzolo has been competing in NJSGA and being a top contender for years, winning the 93rd Junior Championship last year. Throughout his first year at George Washington, Palazzolo made big steps toward a progressive year although eventually missing the Atlantic 10 Championship. So far this summer, Palazzolo has easily qualified for the Open Championship and will look for a better pace after his missed cut at the 114th Amateur Championship.
Following a freshman season at St. Leo in Florida, Erick Alonso (Haworth) has been a contender in several NJSGA tournaments. Alonso has not yet competed in an Open Championship although experienced in the Amateur Championship. He helped lead Bergen Catholic to the scholastic Tournament of Champions title.
Most recently, Open and Amateur Champion Max Greyserman caddied for Zach Stark (Livingston) at the Open qualifier where Stark was runner-up at Galloping Hill G.C. Stark has competed in many of Stetson University tournaments, coming into their lineup very easily for the fall part of their season.
Fifth-place finisher at the 114th Amateur Championship, Jared Mactas (Woodcliff Lake) has seen the number one spot for Lafayette multiple times throughout his two years with the Leopards. His history through New Jersey and Metropolitan golf has been stellar throughout the past few years.
Among the Northeast schools, Fordham and Albright College, are two New Jersey players James Mongey (Morristown) and Sam Ignatuk. Fordham’s Mongey played in three tournaments during his freshman career. Ignatuk had two top fives and three top tens in 10 rounds played during the 2014 school year. As for 2015, he had 13 rounds and an average of 77.3, five strokes better than the year before. Through those 13 rounds, Ignatuk placed 2nd out of a field of 97 with an impressive low 71 for his career.
The brother of Pat Wilson, Cory Wilson (Newton) was named Freshman Male Athlete of the Year in 2012-2013 at Seton Hall University. With his senior season coming up, Wilson has competed in many of the Pirates tournaments throughout his past three years. Although having a successful brother, Pat, who has played in the 2015 U.S Open, Cory Wilson is also reaching for big things.
New Jersey collegiate players competing in 95th State Open:
Alonso, Erick- Saint Leo
Cygan, Stefan- Iona
Dengler, Jimmy – Loyola (Md.)
Diaz, Dominic- St. Peter’s
Farren, Sean – South Carolina
Felitto, John- Notre Dame
Ferrante, Alex- Fairfield
Fitzpatrick, Brian- Iona
Graboyes, Luke- Cornell
Greyserman, Max- Duke
Ignatuk, Sam- Albright College
Jordan, Kellen- Fairfield
La Morte, Thomas- Campbell
Lafferty, Blaine- University of Delaware
Lerner, Jordan- Cornell
Mactas, Jared- Lafayette
Matti, Paolo- Iona
Mongey, James- Fordham
Nevius, Jeremy- Campbell
O’Rourke, Dan- Hartford University
Palazzolo, Vincent- George Washington University
Rencis, Nicholas- Old Dominion
Shine, Mike- Siena
Siegler, Ryan- Towson
Snouffer, Ryan- Seton Hall
Stark, Zach- Stetson University
Voetsch, John- Vanderbilt
Wall, Ethan- Loyola (Md.)
Wall, Jeremy- Loyola (Md.)
Wesson, Henry- Colgate
Wilson, Cory- Seton Hall
