Kim, Samons Lead Way At Mid-amateur Qualifier At Twin Brooks
Only two golfers played below-par golf to lead a field of 28 players who made the cut and advanced through the NJSGA Mid-Amateur qualifier on Tuesday, August 18, at Twin Brooks Country Club in Watchung.
The 32nd NJSGA Mid-Amateur Championship takes place at Arcola Country Club in Paramus, Sept. 8-10. A second Mid-Am qualifier is scheduled for Monday, August 24, at Trenton Country Club in West Trenton.
KJ Kim of Darlington, 42, led the way with a round of two-under-par 69, followed by Eric Samons of Galloping Hill at one-under 70. Brandon Davis of Bayonne was third with a 72. Tied for fourth at 73 were Jim D’Antoni of Fairmount and Greg Fedorcik of Rumson.
A field of 120 took part at historic Twin Brooks, which has undergone and extensive course renovation and restoration and played to 6,721 yards.
Kim, who made the cut at this year’s State Open, birdied four of his final six holes for his 69. Starting on No. 10, he recorded bogeys at the par-4 No. 14 and par-5 third holes, before finishing on his birdie run, starting with one on the par-3 fourth hole.
Kim, 42, who lives in Harrington Park in Bergen County, then added consecutive birdies on par-4 seventh, par-4 eighth and par3 ninth holes.
Samons began on the first tee and immediately bogeyed the par-4 hole. Two holes later, he recorded an eagle on the third hole when he chipped in from 30 yards from between the bunkers on the right of the green.
He next bogeyed the par-3 fourth hole to get back to even par. But he added birdies on the par-4 No. 10, and the par-4 No. 15. He added a bogey on the par-4 No. 17.
“I missed qualifying for the Mid-Am the past two years, but this year I had the time to have a practice round and it made a difference. I noticed the back nine is very score-able and I finished with four straight birdies last Thursday,” said Samons, 35, a native of Prestonsburg, Ky., who now lives in Bloomfield. He has worked the past nine years as a behavior specialist in the Springfield school system.
“My strategy all day was to stay between the trees and to be below to hole on the greens. I’m very straight off the tee and really solid around the greens. I’m inconsistent with my irons, but today, I hit 14 greens,” said Samons, who played college golf at Division 3 Centre College in Kentucky.
