Ryan Snouffer's 67 Propels Him To Lead In 113th Amateur
Ryan Snouffer of Panther Valley had a game plan and he stuck to it.
“I wanted to be aggressive and conservative at the same time,” said Snouffer, 19, who parlayed a bogey-free round that included four birdies into a 70-67-137 and a one-stroke lead after the second round of the 72-hole 113th NJSGA Amateur Championship on Wednesday at the 6,546-yard Knickerbocker Country Club in Tenafly. His 67 is the low round of the event thus far.
Snouffer holds that one-shot advantage over first-round leader Trevor Randolph of Arcola (68-70-138) and a two-shot edge over his future college teammate, Lloyd Jefferson Go of Fiddler’s Elbow (71-68-139). In fourth place is defending champion Mike Stamberger of Spring Lake (72-68-140).
Jeremy Wall, 18, of Manasquan River is fifth at 73-68-141.
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Snouffer, who has won two conference championship titles at Division 2 Adelphi, will be joining Go at Seton Hall this fall.
The low 42 golfers who shot 153 or lower from Wednesday advanced to Thursday’s 36-hole final, weather permitting.
“I didn’t want to make any big mistakes,” said Snouffer, a resident of Sparta who attended Jefferson High School. “I don’t want to change anything on Thursday. I want to keep doing it the same way.”
The highlight of Snouffer’s round came when he sank a 35-foot downhill putt for birdie on the par-3 17th hole.
“I was also happy about a par on the 18th hole. I hit my drive into a tree and my next shot was from 210 yards into the wind and I got it to within 15 feet,” Snouffer said. “I’ve never played like this in a big event so it feels good.”
Randolph, 41 a resident of Franklin Lakes who won the 2013 NJSGA Mid-Amateur Championship, carded four birdies and three bogeys for his 70.
“This entire tournament, I have not made a birdie on a par five and I usually tear up par fives,” Randolph said. “I didn’t get a whole lot out of this round. I had no less than seven putts that stopped on the lips of holes.”
Go, who won the Philippines Amateur in January, just completed his freshman year at Seton Hall and was named Big East Freshman of the Year. He had five birdies against two bogeys on Wednesday.
“I hit it really good today. If you birdie the par fives, you will play well here. I’ve done that for two days. I started playing when I was six years old. I was so small, I couldn’t hit it as well the other kids, so I improved my short game. Now, I can reach the holes.”
Stamberger filled his card with an eagle, six birdies, five bogeys and six pars.
He began his round on the back nine with an eagle, but bogeyed the final four holes on that side He righted himself with four birdies and no bogeys on the front nine for a 31 that led to his 68.
“There’s no pulling back. You’ve got to go for it. You can be aggressive out here,” said Stamberger, 42, who has also won an NJSGA Mid-Amateur, a Met Amateur title and has two NYC Amateur wins.
“The green complexes here are spectacular. The course is demanding. You’ve got to hit it out here,” said the Brielle resident.
Thomas La Morte of White Beeches recorded his first hole-in-one on the par-3, 191-yard sixth hole. La Morte, the runner-up in the New Jersey scholastic Tournament of Champions and Group 3 champion for Demarest High School, won the NJSGA Boys championship in 2011. He will attend Campbell College (N.C.) in the fall.
