NJSGA Team Wins Stoddard Trophy Matches For 2nd Year In Row
.With Ryan McCormick of Suburban, Jimmy Dengler of Rumson, Harrison Shih of Alpine and Trevor Randolph of Arcola all sweeping their afternoon singles matches, the defending champion New Jersey State Golf Association Stoddard Trophy Team 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 NJSGA leads the overall standings with 39 victories, Westchester is second with 23 and Long Island 22.
In 2012, New Jersey won for the first time in six years, 22-21-1 /2 over Long Island with Westchester third with 10-1/2 points. The matches were conducted last October 12, due to a rainout, at Trump National in Bedminster.
Pat Wilson of Panther Valley, Mike Hyland of Little Mill and Michael DiMeglio of Mercer Oaks all added a singles victory and Cory Wilson of Panther Valley added a half-point to give New Jersey 11-1/2 afternoon points, which combined with nine points from the morning foursomes gave New jersey its total of 21-1-1/2.
VIEW FINAL SCOREBOARD VIEW PHOTO GALLERY
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Six twosomes figured in the scoring in the morning foursomes matches as the NJSGA took the lead over Westchester Golf Association and Long Island Golf
Westchester served as host this year.
“I studied the putts this morning. I tried to have some looks,” said Shih, one of three 19-year-olds on the team along with Dengler and Ryan Siegler. “At 13, I was two down in one match and all square in the other, and after that I made sure I hit all the greens to force the issue with the other guys.”
McCormick, 21, the 2012 State Amateur champion, won his individual matches, 6 and 5, and 5 and 4.
“It’s a beautiful course with fast greens. You can’t be that aggressive out here. I just went for a bunch of pars and a few birdies and that’s how you win out here.”
Randolph, 40, runner-up in the Met Amateur to Pat Wilson two weeks ago at Stanwich, said he was confident on the course.
“I’m playing really well right now. I’ve played great on this course and have a good feel for the greens. I was two or three under in the afternoon. I just went for it,” Randolph said.
After the morning matches, New Jersey totaled nine points, followed by Westchester with five and Long Island with four.
Only three players who competed for New Jersey last year, Allan Small of Fairmount, competing in his 27thStoddard matches, Benjamin Smith of Neshanic Valley and Mike Hyland of Little Mill, returned to this year’s squad.
Smith and Hyland combined for two points as a team. The teams of captain Pat Wilson and McCormick, and Jon Tingley of Stanton Ridge and Shih of Alpine also swept their respective matches for two points apiece.
DiMeglio and Ryan Siegler, both of Mercer Oaks, combined for 1—1/2 points and the squad of Cory Wilson of Panther Valley, Pat’s brother, and Dengler added a half-point.
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.
“We kept the ball in play. We let other people make mistakes,” said Tingley, 55, who this year won the Met Senior amateur and won the NJSGA Senior Open in 2011.
“Our short game was tidy. We hit the greens and kept it in front of us,” said Shih, 19, a Columbia University student who was eighth in the State Open this year. “We were 1-under-par as a team for our 13 holes.”
DiMeglio, who won the NJSGA Four-Ball championship with Anthony Aloi in 2011, and Siegler, this year’s Public Links champion, each had chip-ins to win holes.
