Ballo repeats at Met G.A.'s Ike Championship
6/29/2010 | by
see also: View results for The Ike, Hamilton Farm Golf Club - Hickory Course
Mike Ballo of Woodway fires 30 on the back nine for a comeback win
White Plains, N.Y. (June 29, 2010) – Last year, Mike
Ballo Jr. of Woodway shot an electric 30 on his back
nine at Nassau Country Club to come from behind and
win his first MGA championship. This year, Ballo was in
the driver’s seat and accomplished the feat again,
firing a back-nine 32 at Metropolis Country Club to
claim a three-stroke victory at the 55th Ike
Championship presented by Canon Business Solutions.
Ballo’s final-round 68 equaled the best round of the
two-day championship and gave him a final 54-hole
total of five-under 208.
Ballo, who came into this week with a mentality of
putting the pressure of defending the championship
out of his mind, was able to stay cool as the rest of
the field fell back from his pace. He began the final
day of play tied with three other players: 2008 MGA
Player of the Year Joe Saladino of Huntington, 25-
year-old Russell Giglio of Orange County, and Junior
College Division III national champion Chris Ferraro of
Twaalfskill. However, after 36 holes, it was 2010
NJSGA Amateur champ Brian Komline of High Bridge
Hills who had moved up into second place after a 69
and into the final pairing with Ballo.
During the final round, multiple players threatened
and came within a shot of the lead. These include
Robert Cerabone of Smithtown Landing, who at one
point was 3-under during his final round to get to 1-
under for the championship, but eventually faded off
the pace and ultimately finished t-10. Another player
who came close early on in Tuesday’s afternoon round
was 2009 MGA Player of the Year Cameron Wilson of
Shorehaven, who at one point flirted with even-par for
the championship after a birdie on eleven, but
struggled in the home stretch and finished at two-over
for the championship, and in third place.
The stage was set for Ballo and Komline, who staged
a back-nine duel, trading birdies and big putts in a
showdown as the afternoon wore on. It was MGA golf
entertainment at its finest, and Ballo recognized it.
“When I birdied 17, I thought ‘wow, I can finally
breathe,’ but Brian hit it in to make birdie and I didn’t
feel comfortable until I made that final putt on the
18th hole.”
Ballo arrived at the 18th tee holding a one-stroke
lead. After he hit his approach shot to the green from
the left rough, Ballo watched as Komline, who was also
in the left rough, attempted to hit his approach over a
large tree. His ball clipped a branch and Komline and
struggled to a double bogey. Ballo two-putted for par
and soaked in the applause of the gallery.
Ballo and Komline were both aware that their round
had turned into a back and forth match. “He [Komline]
was really playing well and we were feeding off of
eachother. We had great camaraderie going and it’s
nice to be playing in the Ike Championship and have
your playing partner cheering for you.”
Although Ballo held the lead or a share of the lead
for the majority of the final day of the championship,
things really started clicking for the 21-year-old St.
John’s University graduate on the 11th hole of the final
round. The 11th, which played as the easiest hole this
week with a scoring average of 4.88, was dominated
by Ballo Tuesday afternoon. Ballo hit a hybrid from 250
yards to two feet and made the eagle putt to move
from even par to two under for a share of the lead,
and followed that up with a birdie on twelve. Ballo
added two more birdies on 16 and 17 and all he
needed was a two-putt on 18 for the victory.
Komline, who was on the doorstep for his second
victory of the season played seventeen solid holes
before the wheels fell off on the final hole. Reflecting
on the scenario he was faced with entering the final
hole, Komline said: “I’m one down with one to go and
I hit a real nice drive on 18, and it rolled through the
fairway and caught a bad lie and that’s the end of the
story. I had 170 yards in and I had to try and make
the shot because I knew I had to make birdie to send
it to extra holes.”
Ballo wasn’t the only victor at Metropolis, as brothers
Stephen and Chris Scialo of Dellwood took home the
Ike Team Championship, becoming the third pair of
brothers to win the team division of the MGA’s
amateur stroke play event. Ballo becomes the first
player to successfully defend his championship since
Ken Macdonald, who accomplished the feat in 1999
and 200o at Hollywood and Nassau.
The 56th installment of the championship will be
played at Somerset Hills Country Club in Bernardsville,
N.J.
55th Ike Championship
presented by Canon Business Solutions
Metropolis CC, White Plains, N.Y.
Par: 35-36 = 71
Yardage: 3,297-3,487 = 6,784
To view results, click on the link below
About the The Ike
The Ike tournament was founded in 1953 by Daily News sportswriter Dana Mozley and nurtured through the years by Mozley and former MGA President George Sands. Although always immensely popular, the event suffered during the late 1970s and early ‘80s a...
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