2009 Middle Atlantic Amateur champion
BEALLSVILLE, MD (October 4, 2009)--Michael Muehr, from Trump National DC Golf Club, backed by a three-stroke lead, shot a closing round of par 71 to complete a wire-to-wire victory in the 103rd Middle Atlantic Amateur championship at sunny but wind-blown Four Streams in Beallsville, Md. He finished at 1-under-par 283, chased all the way by defending champion Chris Baloga, who finished with 72 for 287.
Baloga, 26, from Baltimore, never worse than second for the four-day event, made one run at the leader during the front nine, as two birdies (including on the ninth hole) and a bogey got him to the turn 1 under, while Muehr’s 1-over 37 cut the margin between them to one.
Muehr, 37, From Potomac Falls, Va., took care of that item early on the back nine. He birdied the 10th from 25 feet and Baloga bogeyed 11 then hit it two and a half feet at 12. However, Muehr never gave him a chance to enjoy that brief highlight, rolling in a 20-footer for birdie ahead of him. The challenger then sealed his own fate with a pair of three-putt greens at 13 and 14 and any possible excitement over a close finish was gone.
“His putt on 12 really took the wind out of my sails,” Baloga said. "I felt like both of us played well, and I got a couple of lucky breaks, “ said Muehr, the 2007 champion at Congressional, who works for Merrill Lynch. “We played together the last three rounds and it was fun to go head-to-head with Chris, a great player.” With work and family responsibilities, this was only Muehr’s second tournament of the season. He was medalist in the recent Crump Cup, which he won in 2008, at Pine Vallley, and went on to lose in the semi-finals.
A share of the day’s low round, a 69, vaulted Patrick Kenney from Acworth, Ga. (291) and Brent Martin from La Plata (293) into third and fourth, respectively, followed by Gary Carpenter from Crofton, third when the day started, who slipped back with a 78-295.
Notes: Tony Russo of McLean, Va., eagled the 418-yard par-4 13th hole, hitting a 144-yard 8-iron second into the hole . . . . Denny McCarthy, of Burtonsville, Md., finished with 76-297 to become the Low Junior for a second straight year as well as tied for sixth overall (with Dustin Groves of Keswick, Va.) . . . The well-conditioned layout of 7,049 yards played to a par of 71 . . . The second-round cut was at 157 and 62 players qualified for the full 72-hole event.
The l04th Middle Atlantic Amateur will be conducted at Columbia Country Club September 30 - October 3, while the 105th edition will be contested at Woodmont Country Club September 22 - 25. The 2013 Amateur will be played at Kinloch Golf Club October 3 - 6. The 2012 site will be announced shortly.
- Reported by John Stewart from Four Streams
Final results of the Middle Atlantic Amateur Championship, played October 1-4, 2009 at Four Streams Golf Club:
1 | Michael Muehr | Potomac Falls, VA | 67 | 72 | 73 | 71 | 283 |
2 | Chris Baloga | Baltimore, MD | 70 | 71 | 74 | 72 | 287 |
3 | Patrick Kenney | Acworth, GA | 74 | 73 | 75 | 69 | 291 |
4 | Brent Martin | La Plata, MD | 73 | 76 | 75 | 69 | 293 |
5 | Gary Carpenter, Jr. | Crofton, MD | 72 | 73 | 72 | 78 | 295 |
6 | Dustin Groves | Keswick, VA | 78 | 76 | 73 | 70 | 297 |
| Denny McCarthy | Burtonsville, MD | 76 | 72 | 73 | 76 | 297 |
8 | Keith Snyder | Bear, DE | 75 | 72 | 72 | 79 | 298 |
9 | Scott Shingler | Haymarket, VA | 75 | 74 | 76 | 74 | 299 |
| Michael Mulieri | Silver Spring, MD | 74 | 73 | 79 | 73 | 299 |
| Jordan Steinfelder | Baltimore, MD | 71 | 73 | 82 | 73 | 299 |
| John Howson | Sparks, MD | 74 | 74 | 73 | 78 | 299 |
13 | Ned Muskie | Chevy Chase, MD | 77 | 77 | 72 | 74 | 300 |
14 | Mike Watson | Frederick, MD | 78 | 73 | 76 | 74 | 301 |
| Steven Delmar, Jr. | Gaithersburg, MD | 79 | 71 | 77 | 74 | 301 |
| Jimmy Delp | Arlington, VA | 78 | 72 | 73 | 78 | 301 |
17 | Michael Murray | White Lakes, MI | 72 | 73 | 79 | 78 | 302 |
18 | Dan Hosek | Alexandria, VA | 74 | 76 | 78 | 75 | 303 |
| Russell Pies | Bethesda, MD | 76 | 70 | 80 | 77 | 303 |
| Bart Mease | Gaithersburg, MD | 71 | 79 | 78 | 75 | 303 |
| Ray Sheedy | Mount Airy, MD | 75 | 79 | 70 | 79 | 303 |
| Tripp McAllister | Lake City, SC | 76 | 76 | 74 | 77 | 303 |
23 | Sean Bosdosh | Clarksburg, MD | 77 | 73 | 74 | 80 | 304 |
| Peter Wilson | Locust Valley, NY | 81 | 73 | 74 | 76 | 304 |
25 | Brian Fairbank | McLean, VA | 78 | 71 | 79 | 77 | 305 |
| John White | Charlotte, NC | 75 | 77 | 75 | 78 | 305 |
27 | Robert Menefee | Alexandria, VA | 76 | 80 | 84 | 77 | 307 |
| Ken Lampard | Hagerstown, MD | 78 | 78 | 75 | 76 | 307 |
29 | Ben Warnquist | Rockville, MD | 76 | 79 | 75 | 78 | 308 |
| Vance Welch | Cross Creek, MD | 77 | 74 | 76 | 81 | 308 |
31 | Stevenson Clarke | West Palm Beach, FL | 77 | 75 | 77 | 81 | 310 |
| Alex Church | Timonium, MD | 73 | 75 | 80 | 82 | 310 |
| Marc Cohen | Bethesda, MD | 72 | 77 | 80 | 81 | 310 |
| Pete DeTemple | Callaway, MD | 79 | 77 | 78 | 76 | 310 |
| Dan Falls | Gaithersburg, MD | 77 | 78 | 78 | 77 | 310 |
| Rand Mendez | Wilmington, DE | 78 | 72 | 82 | 78 | 310 |
| Matt Busa | Washington, DC | 78 | 76 | 77 | 79 | 310 |
38 | Steve Ligi | Jefferson, MD | 78 | 74 | 83 | 76 | 311 |
| Eduardo Gerlein | Bethesda, MD | 76 | 76 | 83 | 76 | 311 |
| Keegan Boone | Bethesda, MD | 73 | 78 | 79 | 81 | 311 |
41 | Will Coleman | Kensington, MD | 80 | 77 | 79 | 76 | 312 |
| Scott Marino | Fairfax, VA | 76 | 77 | 81 | 78 | 312 |
| Forrest Shuford IV | Williamsburg, VA | 78 | 79 | 76 | 79 | 312 |
44 | Adam Argenbright | Hunt Valley, MD | 77 | 79 | 79 | 78 | 313 |
| Jay Dove | La Plata, MD | 77 | 79 | 80 | 77 | 313 |
46 | Tony Russo | McLean, VA | 77 | 79 | 80 | 78 | 314 |
| Steven Pierce | Bristow, VA | 78 | 77 | 79 | 80 | 314 |
48 | Terry Reilly | Lovettsville, VA | 79 | 75 | 81 | 80 | 315 |
| Jeff Graf | Silver Spring, MD | 78 | 79 | 77 | 81 | 315 |
50 | Richard Thoms | Dickerson, MD | 74 | 78 | 74 | 81 | 317 |
| Tim Krouse | Dunn Loring, VA | 79 | 78 | 75 | 85 | 317 |
52 | Michael Koreski | Parkersburg, WV | 77 | 78 | 81 | 83 | 319 |
| Tom Offutt | Arlington, VA | 80 | 74 | 76 | 89 | 319 |
54 | Tom Adrounie | Fairfax Station, VA | 80 | 76 | 82 | 82 | 320 |
| Travis Benson | Herndon, VA | 77 | 78 | 83 | 82 | 320 |
56 | Wes Strang | Bethesda, MD | 75 | 76 | 84 | 86 | 321 |
57 | Lance Rice | Purcellville, VA | 75 | 77 | 86 | 84 | 322 |
| David Johnson | Springfield, VA | 78 | 79 | 85 | 80 | 322 |
59 | Timothy Connor | Takoma Park, MD | 76 | 77 | 81 | 89 | 323 |
60 | Ben Brundred III | Potomac, MD | 77 | 77 | 78 | wd | |
61 | Mychael Cohn | Washington, DC | 80 | 77 | 85 | wd | |
62 | John Ohly | Rockville, MD | 80 | 77 | wd | | |
ABOUT THE Middle Atlantic Amateur
54-hole stroke play championship. The field is cut to
the low 60 scores and ties after round two. Open to
members of member clubs of the Middle Atlantic
Golf
Association, and by invitation.
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