All of the groups have made the turn and some have even finished their morning 18. We have a three way tie at the top between Alex Edfort, Brian Komline and defending champ Josh Goldstein (pictured). They all shot 2-under 34's on their first nine holes. Goldstein, who is playing with Komline, caught fire with an eagle on 11th, his second hole of the day, and followed that up with two birdies on 13 and 15. Goldstein cooled off towards the end of his nine though with bogeys on the last two holes going into the turn. Komline, meanwhile, is playing steady golf with two birdies and six pars.
A field of 68 public golfers have come to Spook Rock Golf Course in Suffern, N.Y., for the 63rd MGA/MetLife Public Links Championship. Play is under way in the 36-hole event and a number of players have made the turn in red numbers. Some of the top players in the field have yet to turn. Defending champ Josh Goldstein is playing with Ike runner-up Brian Komline (pictured) and are paired together in the last group on one side. Komline, who won the NJSGA Amateur Championship earlier this season, is looking for his first MGA victory.
Players are not only battling the course today but some sticky weather. With high humidity and temperatures around 90, one non-golf related advantage will go to the players who brought a shirt to change into for their final 18 holes.
Yesterday I got my first real taste of competitive golf, playing in the MGA/MetLife Public Links Qualifierat Mohansic Golf Course in YorktownHeights. Nerves, excitement, and butterflies ran through me as I felt like I was interviewing for a job instead of playing a round of golf. Besides the obvious goal to qualify, I wanted to prove to myself, my fellow competitors, and my coworkers that I could hold my own in a competitive golf setting.
The last “serious” stroke play event I played in was when I was around 13 at the local nine-hole course, where I came away the winner, but where the One-Ball Rule and Doubt as to Procedure were not in anyone’s vocabulary.
As a 2008 P.J. Boatwright intern, I worked on the other side of MGA tournaments setting up courses and giving rulings. Being on the other side of the ball was intimidating. After warming up on the range, I arrived at the first tee with my caddie. A deep breath and a swing later I had missed the fairway left, but I was relieved I didn’t whiff. Salvaging a bogey, I was just glad that the first hole was over. The next six holes were a struggle as I only made one par but I started hitting my stride after parring the eighth and ninth holes. At this point, my caddie and good friend Jason stepped in and made sure that I was loose and not worrying about numbers. His tactic worked as I started hitting fairways and greens, including a near hole-out for eagle on the 15th that came to rest a foot from the hole.
After a 43 on the front nine, my game came together on the back nine as I came in with a 37 and finished with an 80 on the day. It wasn’t good enough to qualify but respectable enough to get the thumbs-up from friends and coworkers, even those who lost the office pool by picking the “over.”
