Nick Desai Wins NJSGA 57th Pre-senior Championship
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An off-season workout program has paid massive dividends for Nick Desai of Baltusrol.
“This year, I made it a point to get a victory. Usually, I take off the four winter months into February, but this year I joined the Baltusrol Performance Club to get into better shape overall and for golf. I have a lot more stamina out there now. I also work on some refresher course and on my short game,” said Desai, 47.
On Thursday, May 7, all of that extra effort result in Desai’s first championship of note. He fired a two-under par 70, combined with his first day of even-par 72, for a 142 that was good for first place by two strokes over first-day leader Morten Gotterup (66-78-144) in the NJSGA 57th Pre-Senior Championship at Hawk Pointe Golf Club in Washington.
Tied for third were defending champion Tom Fallon of Colts Neck (69-76-145) and Johan Van Schwalkwyk of Mercer Oaks (72-73-145).
Last week, Desai, who won his third Baltsurol club championship in 2014, represented the NJSGA in its Compher Cup match vs. GAP (Philadelphia) and came through with a victory. He also combined with Ryan Chin of Arcola on a four-ball victory to help NJSGA tie GAP, 9-9, at Bayonne.
Desai was 10th in the State Amateur last year.
“It seems I’m always in the top five, top 10, in a lot of events. I’m a points gatherer. From a ball-striking perspective, I hit the ball a lot better Wednesday. Today, I didn’t drive it that well. I had to scramble a lot,” said Desai, a native of Zambia who earned an undergraduate degree from Rutgers and a masters from Seton Hall and is an investor in hotel business.
Desai had a card full of ups and downs on Thursday, recording eight birdies against six bogeys. His drive on the 17th hole was so far right, it landed a bunker for the adjoining hole. He was happy to “save” a bogey there.
When he birdied the final hole with an 8-footer, he had an inkling he might be in good shape on the scoreboard. A A 35-foot putt to save par on the par-4 14th hole also helped.
“To shoot 70, you have to dodge a few bullets,” said Desai, who lost in a playoff for the championship of the Baltusrol Invitational in 2013. “At one time today, I was disappointed because I had so many bogeys. It’s a great feeling to finally win one.”
