NYSGA News

7:00 p.m. - Well, the awards have been handed out and most of the players have headed home.  An amazing day by all three champions, Hall, Cocca, and Merkulov.  Check back later for a full recap of today’s play.

6:28 p.m. - Birdie on 18 for 61.  Wow.

6:22 p.m. - par on 17.  On another note, the Director of Golf, Michael Doctor, confirmed the course record of 62 by Tom Scherrer, in a recreational round.  The competitive course record from the back tees was 67, which will certainly fall here in the next few minutes.  Merkulov has 105 yards in on 18, needing a birdie for 61.

5:57 p.m. - Eagle for Merkulov on 16, puts him at 9 under.  His lead is ten over Lane.  Many of the players and their parents who have completed their rounds have headed out to see him finish in what would no doubt be the best round posted in NYSGA Junior Championship History.

5:47 p.m. - Merkulov just misses his birdie putt on 15, keeps him at 7 under.  On 16 he has 160 yards left for his second shot on the par 5.

5:31 p.m. - Merkulov saves par on the short par 4 14th after trying to drive the green and hitting it left into the trees.  Word from the pro shop is the course record is 62 by Tom Scherrer, so we will keep you posted.

5:25 p.m. - Taking over the blog from Kevin for a bit…no internet out there since I stole the wireless card.  Merkulov has birdied 11,12,13 to get it to 7 under.  Has a 6 shot lead.

4:18 p.m. - Duke University and Ohio State are present watching the lead group at the 53rd NYSGA Junior Amateur.

4:16 p.m. - Lane’s honor at the 9th tee following his birdie and Merkulov’s par at the 8th hole.

4:14 p.m. - Lane hit the bottom fringe of the green on no. 8 with his tee shot and then buried an uphill putt for birdie to bring him to 1-under for the day.

4:12 p.m. - Merkulov sunk his birdie putt on the 7th to bring him to 4-under for the day while Lane remains at even following his bogey.

3:59 p.m. - More trouble on the 7th. Kircher’s second shot from the right side of the fairway went right into the treeline. Meanwhile, Lane punched out and hit his third shot long on the green.

3:50 p.m. - First on the 7th tee, Yarik Merkulov. Right down the middle. However, Lane is in some trouble landing his drive way down the right side behind a tree and in front of the water.

3:49 p.m. - The sun has finally peaked out this afternoon to warm things up for the final wave of competitors.

3:48 p.m. - Merkulov and Kircher are able to make up and down for par.

3:40 p.m. - For the second straight day, Yarik found the right fairway bunker on the par-4 6th. Lane sits at the the edge of the left rough while Kircher hit his drive to the right side of the rough. 3:29 p.m. - Birdie. Par. Bogey. Lane and Kircher each lipped out their putts and carded par and bogey, respectively. Merkulov sunk his birdie putt from two feet. 3:26 p.m. - Merkulov nearly chipped in for eagle on the par-5 5th hole. Lane spun his approach to within four feet for a birdie putt while Kircher left himself about seven feet for par. 3:16 p.m. - Lane and Merkulov bury their 4-footers for birdie. Kircher three-putted again and posted bogey for the 4th hole. 3:09 p.m. - From the other side of the cart path, Lane sticks his approach five feet from the pin while Merkulov left himself with just a 4-footer for birdie. 3:07 p.m. - All three pull driver on the short par-4 at 331 yards from the black tees. Merkulov and Lane land left of the fairway for their approach while Kircher is right down the middle. 3:00 p.m. - The lead group in the Juniors (Yarik Merkulov, Andrew Lane, and Benton Kircher) make their way to the 4th tee. 2:04 p.m. - Two more groups to finish up until a Girls Champion can be officially crowned. 2:02 p.m. - At 14 years old, Gavin Hall became just the third individual to repeat as the Boys Champion. 1:51 p.m. - Hall signs an autograph for a fan and fellow participant from the Girls division following his birdie putt on 18. 1:50 p.m. - Gavin Hall defends his title at the Boys Championship with a 13-stroke victory. 9:41 a.m. - The lead group of (Paige Thompson +3, Rebecca Studin +5, Meghan Cahill +6) all missed the green on their opening tee-shot at the par-3 1st hole. Thompson chipped to within 2 feet to save par while Studin and Cahill each two-putted for bogey. 9:36 a.m. - Ariana Gaeta and Bailey Cocca find the green on the opening hole en route to making a par. Brooke pulled her tee-shot left over the cart path and behind a tree about 40 yards from the pin. She hit a wedge on to set up a 10 foot downhill putt for par but it ran long and she made bogey. 9:32 a.m. - Technical difficulties. The batteries on the Canon Power Shot S2 IS died for the third time in as many tournaments. No worries…we’ll be back up and running in no time. 8:59 a.m. - The lead group in the Boys Division (Gavin Hall -3, Danny Drummond +2, Hanish Nagrani +3) made their way through the first two holes. Hall’s tee shot falls short and left of the green on the opening par-3 but he manages to get up and down to make par. Drummond stuck the right side of the green on his tee shot but was about 30 feet right off the pin. He three-putted his way to bogey after lipping out a 4-footer. On the par-5 2nd hole, Hall lines his drive right down the middle. His second shot stuck the green about 6 feet short for an eagle opportunity. He missed by less than a foot right to tap in for birdie.