NJSGA Hosts Stoddard Trophy Matches At Essex County C.C.
One of the youngest 12-man teams in the history of the New Jersey State Golf Association will attempt to win its third championship in four years against golf association teams from Long Island and Westchester when the 90th Stoddard Trophy matches take place on Thursday, August 13, at the Essex County Country Club in West Orange, N.J.
Seven of the 12 players are in college. They include 2015 State Amateur and 2014 State Open Champion Max Greyserman of Crestmont (Duke), 2015 Met Amateur runner-up Ryan Snouffer of Panther Valley (Seton Hall), 2014 Carter Cup runner-up Jeremy Wall of Manasquan River (Loyola of Maryland), U.S. Amateur qualifier Kieran Purcell of Essex County (Delaware), 2014 Carter Cup champion Erick Alonzo of Darlington (St. Leo) , former schoolboy champion Luke Graboyes of Twin Brooks (Cornell) and Jeremy Nevius of Metuchen, a 2015 State Open qualifier medalist.
The collegians will join team captain Brian Komline of Black Oak, the only man to win all five NJSGA “majors,” Jay Blumenfeld of Mountain Ridge, the 2014 Senior Amateur champion, Nick Desai of Baltusrol, the 2015 Pre-Senior champion, Dan Levinson of Bayonne, twice low-amateur at the State Senior Open, and Peter Kozubal of Fox Hollow, the 2015 Public Links champion.
Last year, NJSGA (14.5 points) lost to both Long Island (24) and Westchester (15.5) at Meadowbrook in Jericho, N.Y. NJSGA leads the series with 39 victories while both LIGA and WGA have 23 victories each.
“It’s a real honor to serve as captain. We have a great group of guys and a really strong team,” Komline said. “This is one of our strongest teams ever. This year, there is not a conflict for guys like Greyserman and Purcell playing in the U.S. Amateur.
“I’m going to tell the guys what an honor it is to represent the NJSGA and what an exciting time in their lives this is,” Komline continued. “I will tell them to protect their home turf and bring back the trophy.”
In 2014, Greyserman won the State Open at Essex County.
“Essex County is a great track in fantastic shape. The back nine is very difficult. You can’t hit any wayward shots there. This will be a test of golf for everybody. A lot of guys know the course and will want to relive great moments and play great golf there,” said Komline, who has won the Boff Invitational at Essex County.
In 2013, the NJSGA defeated Westchester Golf Association, 20-1/2 to 19, to win the 88th Stoddard Trophy Matches at The Stanwich Club in Greenwich, Conn. Long Island Golf Association was third with 14-1/2 points.
The Stoddard Trophy competition is a one-day triangular match, featuring six alternate-shot matches in the morning and 12 singles matches in the afternoon. The competition began in 1922. The matches were not held from 1942 through ’45 due to World War II.
A total of 36 points were available in the afternoon singles matches, but the most one team could garner is 24 points if all 12 players swept all their matches.
On Thursday morning, players will be paired in twosomes . The NJSGA’s six twosomes will square off against twosomes from each of the WGA and LIGA. Each twosome can win a maximum of two points.
In the afternoon, all 12 individuals play against similar opponents from the WGA and LIGA with a maximum of 24 points at stake.
