Suburban Cup On October 5th Could Decide 2012 NJSGA Player Of The Year
The winner of the NJSGA Player of the Year Award likely will not be decided until Friday, October 5.
That is the date of the annual Suburban Cup, played at the Suburban Golf Club in Union. The Suburban Cup is an annual affair in which three members play with an outstanding Met Area amateur.
Jeremy Quinn of Wallkill won the event in a playoff over Mike Paduano of Colts Neck. McCormick finished fourth in the event, contested on October 5.
Two of those amateurs are expected to be Ryan McCormick of Suburban, a junior at St. John’s University and winner of the State Amateur this summer, and Brian Komline of Black Oak, winner of this year’s State Mid-Amateur and the only golfer to win all five NJSGA majors – the Amateur, Open, Public Links, Mid-Amateur and Four-Ball.
Komline won Player of the Year honors in 2008 and 2007. The Player of the Year Award recognizes the top amateur player in the state.
With standings updated through Tuesday, September 25, McCormick, 20, whose father Mark is the head professional at Suburban, is in first place with 943.75 points. Komline, at 916.25, is in second place by a scant 27.5 points.
Mike Stamberger of Spring Lake, the 2011 Player of the Year, is in third place with 717.5 points, followed by State Open champion Benjamin Smith of Little Mill with 680 points, and Niall Handley of Essex Fells with 625 points.
VIEW COMPLETE STANDINGS: http://www.njsga.org./current-standing
McCormick, who this year also won the Met Amateur and was runner-up in the Met Open picked up an additional 15 points with his T5 finish in the annual Boff Invitational on Monday, Sept. 24, at the Essex County Country Club. Komline did not participate in that event.
Komline, 38, of Bridgewater, N.J., does have a major event this weekend (Sept. 28-30) when he will play in the prestigious Crump Cup at Pine Valley. In 2011, Komline earned 50 points by reaching the semifinals of the Crump Cup. He will not participate in the Met Mid-Amateur on Oct. 2-3.
McCormick, of Middletown, N.J., was tied with three others for the runner-up spot at the Met Open.
McCormick became only the fifth player in history to win both the NJSGA and MGA Amateur championships in the same year when he added the MGA crown on August 5 at Hollywood to his NJSGA 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 also won the New York City Amateur in May.
