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Victor, N.Y. – The mid-July sun was out all day at Ravenwood G.C. to welcome the field of 139 participants at the 87th Men’s Amateur Championship. Not all was quiet on the set as the wind sabotaged shots throughout the day; allowing just eight players to post rounds under par at the 7,083-yard course which last hosted this event back in 2003.
The morning buzz centered around Gavin Hall, of the Country Club of Mendon, who tallied seven birdies en route to a 3-under-par 69 in the first round. However, the attention at Ravenwood quickly shifted to the story of the day which took place in the afternoon wave when Dominic Bozzelli fired a 6-under-par 66 for a 3-shot lead heading into Round 2 action on Wednesday. The NYSGA junior champion in 2007 put together a scorecard of 8 birdies, 8 pars, and 2 bogeys and failed to card 5-strokes on a single hole until the par-4 15h. Bozzelli was 3-under-par after nine holes of play and consecutive birdies on thepar-3 8th and par-5 9th. However, he wasn’t done yet with consecutive birdies.
Instead of soaking up his back-to-back birdie performance to end the front, Bozzelli spend his time waiting at the 10th tee astutely observing the leaderboard at the clubhouse to plan his approach on the back nine. “I saw 3-under was leading when I was making the turn so I knew I was in good shape,” says Bozzelli. He picked up the back nine where he left off on the front, with three straight birdies, giving him 5-in-a-row. He committed his lone bogey on the back on the 15th but quickly amended his first 5-stroke hole with a birdie on 16 to move back to 6-under for the day.
“What I did best today was hit a lot of 6-to-10 footers to keep my round going. I think I ended up with 25 putts today,” says Bozzelli. “I really wanted to get to 65 today. I missed my birdie on 17 because I never gave it enough speed, but I’m happy certainly happy with a 66.”
Meanwhile, the winner of the John Ryan, Jr. Memorial Tournament, Gavin Hall, posted the next best score of the day at 3-under-par. He traded birdies and bogeys on the front nine to card a 1-under 35. However, he kicked it up a notch on the back with four more birdies and just one mishap which came on the 15th as a double bogey. “I hit the ball pretty well, but nothing too exciting on the front. I made a 20-footer on 10 that really jump-started the back nine,” says Hall.
The high-school freshman-to-be next year finished strong with a birdie on the par-3 17th and the par-5 18th. Off the 17th tee, Hall carried the water to leave himself a 4-foot putt for birdie which he connected. Hall hit his approach shot on the 18th about 10-feet below the pin before it rolled back to the fringe on the right side. The sloping green did not faze Hall who sank his 25-foot birdie putt uphill in front of numerous cameras overlooking the 18th green to watch the local product. “I’m glad it went in because I think it was going to roll past the hole,” says Hall in review of his birdie on 18.
The 14-year-old Hall tried to play aggressive, yet error-free on the first day. “It was windy out so I knew a lot of guys were going to make bogey out there. I just wanted to hit greens and two-putt for a jump-start to my round,” says Hall. I didn’t want to shoot myself out of it in the 1st round.”
As a Binghamton University junior, Jake Katz is two-full school levels ahead of Gavin Hall, who has yet to start high-school. However, the two recorded similar rounds of golf to stand tied 3-shots back of Bozzelli for the lead in this year’s championship. Katz came out of the gate with four birdies after just seven holes of play as he made the turn at 4-under-par. “I was a little nervous making the turn at 4-under because I wanted to stay at that number for the round,” says Katz.
Katz remained consistent on the day as he threw in a birdie and two bogeys on his final nine holes to score a 3-under 69. He attacked the long course with carefully calculated precision on each shot. “I didn’t feel comfortable hitting the longer drives on the uphill par 5’s,” says Katz. “I was laying-up to rely on my short game. On the par 4’s, I was hitting punch-drivers, about 10-feet off the ground to just put it in play and stay in the fairway.”
Meanwhile, the defending NYSGA junior champion, Yaroslav Merkulov, was undaunted by the long layout at Ravenwood and played an aggressive style as he posted a 2-under-par 70 on Tuesday. “I feel really comfortable with the driver so it’s just bombs away off the tee,” says Merkulov. The 17 year-old was able to register 6 birdies – all of which coming on a not-so-good night’s sleep. Merkulov arrived back in Rochester around 3 a.m. last night following a visit to Virginia University where he is considering attending next fall. Despite the 8:42 tee time, Merkulov turned in a colorful scorecard on the front, including five birdies and a lone bogey.
Merkulov never lost focus throughout the day as he finished the back nine at 2-over-par 38. “I made the turn at 4-under and I’ve been nervous in the past but this time I was just focused on each shot,” says Merkulov.
Also in the field of 139, is six-time Men’s Amateur winner Don Allen, of the C.C. of Rochester. “I continue to be amazed that the world is filled with nice young, middle aged, and even older aged individuals who can drive the ball 300 yards,” says Allen on the field at Ravenwood. “If the golf course was 1,000 yards shorter it would have been a lot of fun for me today, but I still love coming back and competing to see some of the people.”
The second round will continue again on Wednesday at 7:30 a.m. with a cut being made at the conclusion of round two. Please visit www.nysga.org for live scoring and pairing information for Round 2. Results from Day One are attached.
Submitted by Kevin Solan
NYSGA Media Intern
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