Palazzolo Wins 93rd Junior; Driscoll Is Boys Champion

Vince Palazzolo of Colts Neck said he just wanted to enjoy himself in the final match of the 93rd NJSGA William Y. Dear Junior Championship on Thursday, July 24, at Suburban Golf Club in Union.

Then he went out and did exactly that as he birdied five of his first 10 holes and defeated state scholastic champion Mike Graboyes of Twin Brooks, 3 and 2.

“I was just trying to have fun. I really had a lot of confidence in my shots,” said the June graduate of Christian Brothers Academy who will attend George Washington University this fall. He was playing in the Junior for the first time. “I also hit a lot of putts. Everything was going my way out there.”

In the 44th Boys Championship, 13-year-old J.D. Driscoll of Arcola, an eighth-grader at George Washington Middle School in Ridgewood, bested Garrett Mooney, 15, of Echo Lake, 5 and 4.

JUNIOR - MATCH PLAY BRACKETS BOYS - MATCH PLAY BRACKETPHOTO GALLERY

“Match play is a lot different than stroke play. I have not done well in match play. But I felt great all week. My goal was to make all my putts inside 10 feet and I pretty much did that,” Palazzolo said.

Palazzolo turns 18 on October 10. He was runner-up in the Met Boys championship in 2011.

This summer, Palazzolo made the cut at the State Amateur and qualified but missed the cut at last week’s State Open. He will compete in the Carter Cup matches at Baltusrol next week and has been selected to play in the 18-and-under Williamson Cup at Laval sur le Lac Club in Quebec next month.

He will also play in 46th Trusted Choice Big "I" National Championship at the Pete Dye Club in Bridgeport, West Virginia, beginning August 5.

Against Graboyes, his par victory at the 12thhole gave him a 5-hole lead as he played 5-under par up to that point. He had bad tee shots on 13 and 14 and conceded both holes to his opponent. But Graboyes was never able to get any closer.

“It was a reversal for me. I had the hot start this morning. But I kind of made it easy for him. Vince played great. He’s very deserving of the victory,” Graboyes stated.

In the Boys Championship, Driscoll used two birdies and a par to grab at 3-hole lead at the turn. After losing the 10th hole with a shot out of bounds, he won with pars on the 11th, 12th and 13th holes to go five up on Mooney, who is a sophomor at Westfield High School..

“It’s a great tournament to win,” said the eighth-grader. “I stayed consistent on every shot. I hit a lot of greens and had really good speed on my putts. I made a lot of pars and that’s the key to patch play. I’m very excited about getting my name on the trophy. Corey Brigham, who fits my clubs, has his name on that trophy .”

Palazzolo defeated Kieran Purcell of Essex County, 1 up, and Graboyes ousted Erick Alonso of Darlington, 2 and 1, in the Junior semiifinals.

In the Boys’ semifinals, Driscoll beat top-seeded Jimmy Criscione of Paramus, 20 holes, while Mooney topped Bobby Wiese of Echo Lake, 5 and 3.

In the morning semifinals, Palazzolo survived despite a late rush by Kieran Purcell of Essex County, who went from 3 down to 1 down by birdieing both the par-4 15th and par-3 16th for victories. The players saved par on the par-4 17th for a halve until Palazzolo halved the 18th hole when he tapped in for par for the 1-up victory.

Palazzolo, who attended CBA in Lincroft, had only one birdie vs. Purcell.

“”I knew the golf course would be hard for the final day with pin placements and tees,” Palazzolo said after his semifinal triumph. “I didn’t have as many birdies as I wanted, and that’s not good for match play. I’ll have to change that in the afternoon.”

Graboyes, bidding to win both the state high school championship and the Junior championship in the same year, counted five birdies in his 2-and-1 triumph over Erick Alonso, who led Bergen Catholic to the scholastic Tournament of Champions title. Alonso was 12th with a 74 in the individual championship when Graboyes won the TOC with a 2-under-70 at Hopewell Valley.

He birdied the eighth, 10th, 11th and 13th holes to build a 4-up lead. But Alonso managed to win the 15thand 16th holes with pars to shave the lead to two holes. Graboyes won with a halve on the 17th hole.

“I played solid,” Graboyes said. “I had five birdies and was bogey free. Unfortunately I made the decision to continue to play aggressively and it cost me two birdies. . I should have taken my foot off the gas pedal and settled for pars.”

Wiese, a sophomore at Freehold township High School, was eighth in the Shore Conference Tournament. In beating Chris Gotterup of Rumson in the quarterfinals, he avenged a match-play defeat in last year’s Boys’ Round of 16.

Driscoll finally Criscione, one of his mentors with par save on the 20th hole, the par-4 second hole. Driscoll got to all square on the 18th hole with a par, Driscoll was 1-up after a par on the par-5 12th hole. But Criscione birided the par-4 13th hole to get back to even and took a 1-up lead with a birdie on the par-4 15th.