SCARBOROUGH, N.Y. (August 23,
2011) – With a stacked field full
of talent, the first round of the 96th Met Open
Championship sponsored by MetLife is in the
books at Sleepy Hollow Country Club. Forty-
year-old professional David
Schuster of Haverstraw shot an
opening-round, four-under-par 66 to lead the
field of 144 in the Met Area’s premier
event for professionals and amateurs, boasting
a $150,000 purse.
Schuster, who lives in New York City and
plays mostly on mini-tours, assessed his round.
“I made a couple key putts in the round
but overall just hit it solid and kept it in
play,” he said. “I’m looking
forward to my morning round tomorrow.”
As expected, there are many accomplished
players right on Schuster’s heels. This
group includes a trio of professionals who shot
three-under-par 67’s. One of them
is Danny Balin of Burning Tree, fresh off
his appearance in the PGA Championship at
Atlanta Athletic Club, who was one of only four
morning starters to finish their rounds under
par. Balin, 29, lost in a playoff to Bob
Rittberger (who is battling an injured hand and
struggled to an 81 today) in this championship
last year at Bethpage Black. Over the last two
years Balin has gained valuable experience
playing in two consecutive PGA Championships
and contending for the PGA National Club
Professional Championship.
“I'm happy with getting off to a
good start,” said Balin. “This is
the marquee event in our area, and I've always
strived to do well in it since I've been in this
section for the last eight years. It's why we
work hard, for this event. Especially last year,
losing in a playoff, it gives me a little extra
drive to do well.”
Also at 67 after a bogey-free round is 2005
Carter Cup champion Morgan
Hoffmann of Arcola. In his first summer
of professional play, the 21-year-old Hoffmann
has primarily been playing in PGA and
Nationwide Tour events.
“I feel good. It’s great to be
back home playing in an MGA event,”
said Hoffmann, who has been logging plenty of
miles as of late, playing in the PGA
Tour’s Wyndham Championship in
Greensboro, N.C., last weekend and trying to
Monday-qualify for the Nationwide Tour event
yesterday in Knoxville, Tenn. He took an early
flight back to the Met Area this morning to
make his 1:40 p.m. tee time. “I was
driving it well and you need to do that out
here. I played here in 2006 for an AJGA event,
but haven’t seen the course
since.”
Rounding out the group at 67 is Craig
Smith, an assistant professional at Trump
National-Bedminster. Smith had the nine holes
of the championship thus far with an opening
30 on his opening nine (holes 10-18), and he
rattled off 6 birdies in 15 holes before finishing
with bogeys on his last three holes.
“The first nine holes were pretty
incredible. It’s all a blur,
honesty,” Smith laughed as he reflected
on his round. “I’ll take some
positives from the round, I haven’t been
playing my best coming into today, so it was a
lot of fun to hit some good shots. I
didn’t want to bogey my last three, but
I can’t complain.”
Another player in hot pursuit of the lead is
2008 Ike winner and 2011 New Jersey State
Open champion Kevin Foley of
Neshanic Valley, who finished at 68 and looks
to become the fifth player in history to win the
New Jersey Open and Met Open in the same
year. The last player to accomplish this was
David Glenz in 1986.
“The Met section is arguably the
strongest in the country, and when you look at
this year's field and what they've
accomplished, and I don't think many other
golf associations can compete with what we
have here,” said Foley. “I got off
to a strong start last year in this event and I'm
excited to be back. It's been a focus of mine
all year.”
Foley made the turn at three under par
and, while stumbled a bit with bogeys on the
par-three 10th and 16th holes, he hit a 162-
yard approach shot on number 18 to three feet
for a closing birdie.
Mike Gilmore of Winged Foot, the 2000 Met
Open champion, and 1997 MGA/MetLife Boys
champion Tyler Hall of Packanack,
also shot 68.
On the amateur side, leading the way with
a two-over 72 is John Ervasti of
the home club, Sleepy Hollow. Ed
Gibstein of Engineers shot a 73 along
with Mark Costanzaof Tuxedo
and Sam Bernstein of Century, the
runner-up in this year’s Met Amateur at
Piping Rock. The youngest player in the field,
14-year-old Cameron Young, who won
the Carter Cup last month and plays out of
Sleepy Hollow, shot 75.
In total, ten players shot 69 or better on
the opening day. Other notables include 2011
New York State Open champion Rob
Labritz of GlenArbor, with an even-par
70, a score shared by 2005 Met Open
champion John Stoltz of Concord
and former Met Junior champion Mike
Quagliano. Eight players are at one-over-par
71 and still very much in the hunt, including
1987 Met Open champion Jim
McGovern of White Beeches and two-
time Ike champion Mike Ballo Jr. of
Woodway.
One stroke farther back at 72 are two-time
Met Open champions Bobby
Heins of Old Oaks and Mark
Mielke of Mill River, along with 1999 Met
Open winner Mark Brownof Tam
O’Shanter.
With 72 players tightly packed at 74 or
better, moving day at the Met Open will be
quite the test as the field looks to make the
cut, which will come for the low 60 players and
ties as well as anyone within eight strokes of
the lead. The course average today was 74.8,
with 3 eagles and 287 birdies recorded.
Second-round action begins at 7:30 a.m.
on Wednesday, August 24, with live scoring
on www.mgagolf.
org and Facebook and Twitter
updates available throughout the day.
View results for MET Open
ABOUT THE MET Open
Open to:
1. Past MGA Open Champions.
2. Male PGA Members in good standing in
the
Metropolitan or New Jersey sections. (A-3
members must have their principle place of
residence in the MGA district.)
3. Male professionals, employed at a golf
facility in the MGA District, who are
enrolled in
the PGA’s GPTP.
4. Male head & assistant professionals
at
MGA Member Clubs.
5. Male professionals who are bonafide
members with full golfing privileges at MGA
Member Clubs, have a residence in the
MGA
District and a current USGA Handicap
Index of
4.0 or less at that member club.
6. Amateur members & applicants for
Amateur
re-instatement at MGA Member Clubs with
a
current USGA Handicap Index at that club
of
4.0 or less.
7. Male amateur golfers, 21 & under, in
the
immediate family of the Head Professional,
Manager, & Superintendent at MGA
Member
Clubs with a current USGA Handicap Index
of
4.0 or less.
View Complete Tournament Information