Mactas Shares Lead; N.J. Golfers Vie For Ike Crown In Final Round
Jared Mactas of Woodcliff Lake is tied for the lead at 3-under-par 70-69-139 heading into this afternoon’s final round of the 54-hole MGA 60th Ike Championship at Friar’s Head in Riverhead, N.Y.
Mactas, who was T-4 at the recent NJSGA Amateur while playing out of Edgewood, and is a rising njunior at Lafayette College shares the lead with Stewart Hagestad of Golf and Body NYC.
A number of New Jersey players are in the thick of the action: Erick Alonso of White Beeches is T3 at 71-69-140; Conor Casey of Somerset Hills is T8 at 72-71-143 along with NJSGA Mid-Amateur Champion Trevor Randolph of Arcola (74-69-143).
Ryan Snouffer of Panther Valley, who shared the first-round lead, is next at 68-76-144.
Kieran Purcell of Essex County is T13 at 74-71-145 and Steve Zychowski of Mendham is T15 at 70-75-145.
Snouffer, a member of the Seton Hall University golf team, and James McHugh of Rye GC stood atop a stellar leaderboard with 3-under 68s after the opening round.
Following a first-round cut, 44 competitors who shot 75 or better advanced to Tuesday’s final 36 holes of stroke play.
Snouffer and McHugh each credited their putting as the key to Monday’s success, as they were able to navigate Friar’s Head’s large, challenging greens.
“I putted really well,” said Snouffer, who carded a field-best seven birdies on the day. “I made a lot of good putts—a couple long ones which really helped me out.” Snouffer posted four bogeys in his afternoon round, but was able to overcome the miscues. “I had a couple of bad mistakes but I think the biggest thing was I was able to recover from them and that really helped me.”
