Ryan Mccormick, Off His Historic Season, Is 2012 NJSGA Player Of The Year
Ryan McCormick of Suburban enjoyed one of the most outstanding seasons of any golfer in the history of the NJSGA.
McCormick, 20, became only the fifth player in history to win the NJSGA and MGA Amateurs in the same year and the first since 1949. He also was within one stroke of winning the Met Open, but nonetheless won low amateur honors. He would have become the first golfer ever to win all three in the same summer.
The Player of the Year Award recognizes the top amateur player in the state.
“I’m very excited about winning the Player of the Year award. To me, it’s a reward for the whole season. It was a great year for myself and my family. It’s a reward for all the hard work I put into it,” said McCormick, who turns 21 on Nov. 7.
McCormick is the second youngest to win the player of the Year. Chris Nallen of Panther Valley, born in April, was also 20 when he won the first Player of the Year Award in 2002. Nallen is currently a standout player on the Web.com Tour.
McCormick, a junior at St. John’s University, finished with 958.75 points to edge two-time Player of the Year Brian Komline of Black Oak, the 2012 Mid-Amatuer winner, who totaled 916.25 points. Komline this year became the first to win all five NJSGA majors.
Mike Stamberger of Spring Lake, the 2011 Player of the Year, was third with 717.5 points, followed by State Open champion Benjamin Smith of Little Mill with 680 points, and Niall Handley of Essex Fells, the State Open runner-up and Tournament of Club Champions winner, with 675 points.
“The difference this year is my short game. I had a plan coming into this season where I really wanted it to be my year. I just wanted to keep improving as the year went on and I was able to do that for the most part," said McCormick, who also won the New York City Amateur for a second time.
McCormick was runner-up to Mike Miller of Knollwood for Met Player of the Year honors. McCormick defeated Miller in the semifinals en route to his Met Amateur championship at Hollywood.
Komline, Stamberger and Handley represented New Jersey in the USGA State Team National Championship at the Galloway National Golf Club. College players are not eligible for the event.
McCormick, of Middletown, N.J., finished in a second-place tie and won the low amateur award in the 97th Met Open at Plainfield. He was tied with three others for the runner-up spot at the Met Open, one stroke behind winner Danny Balin of Connecticut’s Burning Tree.McCormick was tied with two other New Jerseyans, Robert Gage of Forsgate and touring pro Morgan Hoffmann of Wyckoff.
McCormick added the MGA Amateur crown on August 5 at Hollywood to his NJSGA Amateur victory in June at Baltusrol. At the Met Open, McCormick was aiming to be the first golfer ever to win the Met Amateur and Open and NJSGA Amateur in the same year and he was close to becoming only the third person to win both the Met Amateur and Open in the same year.
McCormick, who is actively competing for the St. John’s golf team, wrapped up his season with 17.5 points in a tie for fourth place at the Suburban Cup at his home course on Oct. 5.
The State Amateur at Baltusrol was really his coming out party. McCormick recorded back-to-back rounds of 2-under-par 70 and 5-under-par 67 for a record 72-hole total of 12-under-par 276 to win the 111th State Amateur Championship by five strokes.
“I played the best golf of my life this week," he said after his triumph at historic Baltusrol.
He became the first to shoot below par in each round. His 276 total bettered the marks for lowest score of 281 (-3) by Paul Antonucci at Shore Oaks in 1992 and 283 (-5) by Robert Bradley at White Beeches in 1995. The State Amateur has been a stroke-play event since 1971.
A week after winning the State Amateur, McCormick had another thrill when he was inside the ropes as his father, Mark, who had qualified for the U.S. Open at San Francisco’s Olympic Club, played a practice round with Phil Mickelson.
