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Monroe Invitational: Sim Wins Another Major Title
18 Jun 2005
see also: The Monroe Invitational, Monroe Golf Club

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2005 Monroe Invitational Champ
2005 Monroe Invitational Champ

PITTSFORD, N.Y. (June 18, 2005) -- Perth, Australia native and No. 5 ranked US Amateur Michael Sim played steady golf in the final round of the 65th Annual Monroe Invitational Championship (par-70 6,787-yard Monroe Golf Club)
posting an even-par 70 to claim the tournament title at 6-under-par 274. Sim became the first player in the history to win the Sunnehanna Amateur and MIC in back-to-back weeks.

"I just hit a lot of greens today and tried to get the birdies where I could and just seemed to do that quite well," Sim commenting on his play in the final round. "You are always going to make maybe a couple of bogeys and which I did, but you just have to accept that - it's part of playing golf."

Sim recorded one birdie on the opening nine at the 432-yard par-4 5th and parred the rest of the holes to make the turn at 1-under-par 34. He ran into the bogeys he thought he would early on the back nine bogeying the 433-yard par-4 10th and 192-yard par-3 13th, sandwiched by a birdie at the 492-yard par-5 12th. However, he didn't let the mistakes disrupt his strong play all week and parred out to finish 1-over-par on the back and finished with the even-par 70.

"I wasn't really that agressive, but I played well pretty much all day," Sim said. "I seemed to play well pretty much all week, hit the ball quite well and holed a few putts."

While Sim was playing steady golf, third-round co-leader Mark Leon of Penn State struggled throughout his round. Leon opened the front nine with a 3-over-par 38 and bogeyed four of the first five holes on the back nine to take him out of contention for the title early. He finished with an 8-over-par 78 to end the tournament at 2-over-par 282 after entering the day at 6-under-par.

"It looked like a lot of guys were going backwards, so I just sort of kept playing par golf," Sim said. "If I got a birdie, great, but I just kept making pars and still had to hit fairways and greens keeping it pretty steady."

J.J. Killeen who entered the day within three strokes of Sim and Leon, closed the gap to two strokes moving to 4-under-par after a birdie on the 194-yard par-3 16th. However, Sim didn't falter and Killeen couldn't go further in the red in the final two holes. Killeen, a third-team GCAA/Ping All-American, finished second at 4-under-par after his 69 today. First-round leader Jeff Overton of Indiana, a second-team All-American and member of the victorius 2005 Palmer Cup team, also posted a 69 today to finish at 3-under-par and share third with Dayton Rose of Oklahoma State.

"I was very pleased with today's round and happy with the finish." Sim added. "It's great to have two victories in a row."

The next stop for Sim is next week June 23-26 at the Northeast Amateur at Wannamoisett Country Club in Rumford, RI outside of Providence looking to pull off the triple.

Sim on his chances of recording a third-straight victory, "We've got the Northeast Amateur next week and it would be nice to win that as well, but we will just see how it goes."

Rochester native Chris Agostinelli (Niagara) recorded the highest finish of a local player in the past four years sharing 18th-place at 4-over-par 284, Mid-Am John Kircher has the previous top local finish at 32nd in the 2004 MIC. Rochester's Andrew DiBitetto (Charlotte) shared 44th at 13-over-par 293, Honeoye's Scott Harris (MCC) placed 53rd at 16-over-par, Fairport's Adam Condello (Old Dominion) finished 19-over-par for a share of 56th, Brighton's Blake Gianniny (Hofstra) tied for 62nd at 25-over, Waterloo's Michael Stackus (St. John Fisher) shared 66th shares 64th at 24-over and Rochester's Tony DiBitetto (UNC-Wilmington) was 69th at 50-over-par.

-- STORY COURTESY MONROE COUNTRY CLUB --

* * * * * *

Final results from the Monroe Invitational, played at the 6787-yard, par 70 Monroe Country Club:

Pos Player School Rd1 Rd2 Rd3 Rd4 Tot +/-
1 Michael Sim Australia 68 70 66 70 274 -6
2 J.J. Killeen TCU 72 64 71 69 276 -4
3 Dayton Rose Oklahoma State 69 70 69 69 277 -3
3 Jeff Overton Indiana 64 74 70 69 277 -3
5 Andrew Dodt Australia 66 70 73 70 279 -1
5 Matt Harmon Michigan State 71 73 66 69 279 -1
7 Colt Knost SMU 69 76 67 68 280 E
7 Scott Anderson Ohio State 68 72 69 71 280 E
7 Kyle Reifers Wake Forest 70 69 69 72 280 E
10 John Holmes Kentucky 71 74 64 72 281 1
10 Matt Thomas Miami (Ohio) 68 69 71 73 281 1
12 Jason Day Australia 71 75 69 67 282 2
12 Roy Moon UCLA 71 72 70 69 282 2
12 Will Claxton Auburn 66 76 70 70 282 2
12 Emmett Turner Augusta State 69 69 71 73 282 2
12 Mark Leon Penn State 66 69 69 78 282 2
17 Ted Smith North Carolina 71 70 70 72 283 3
18 Michael Quagliano Duke 73 73 69 69 284 4
18 Stuart Moore Auburn 70 74 71 69 284 4
18 Scott Brown USC-Aiken 69 75 68 72 284 4
18 Chris Agostinelli Niagara 70 73 68 73 284 4
18 Ryan Blaum Duke 72 69 70 73 284 4
23 Mike Barbosa Georgia Tech 73 72 69 71 285 5
23 Patton Kizzire Auburn 69 68 74 74 285 5
23 Jason Kokrak Xavier 71 72 74 68 285 5
26 Nathan Smith Mid-Am (Clarion) 72 71 72 71 286 6
26 Alex Hamilton South Carolina 69 75 71 71 286 6
26 Jon Curran Vanderbilt (Fall '05) 71 72 70 73 286 6
26 Kevin Kisner Georgia 71 70 72 73 286 6
30 Tyler Leon Oklahoma State 71 73 71 72 287 7
30 Josh Esler Arizona 72 69 72 74 287 7
30 Ryan Posey Oklahoma State 75 73 70 69 287 7
30 Joe Lanza St. Mary's 71 72 74 70 287 7
34 Brendon Todd Georgia 71 68 75 74 288 8
34 Brian Duncan Clemson 70 73 70 75 288 8
34 Jack Ferguson Clemson 66 72 79 71 288 8
34 Dane Burkhart USC-Aiken 72 71 74 71 288 8
38 Matt Bortis Arkansas 67 78 72 72 289 9
38 Justin Maker Australia 73 73 71 72 289 9
40 Jeff Hood California 73 77 68 73 291 11
41 Thomas Hagler Alabama 75 74 74 69 292 12
41 Andrew Ruthkoski Michigan State 71 77 74 70 292 12
41 Billy Hurley Navy 69 80 68 75 292 12
44 Andrew DiBitetto Charlotte 70 75 76 72 293 13
44 Jon McLean TCU (Fall '05) 71 75 72 75 293 13
44 Matt Rosenfeld Texas 73 76 69 75 293 13
47 Matthew Crenshaw North Carolina 73 74 74 73 294 14
47 Scott Carlyle California 74 74 73 73 294 14
47 Tom Davis Australia 72 73 74 75 294 14
50 Michael Schachner Duke 74 73 69 79 295 15
50 Andrew Lanahan LSU 74 75 74 72 295 15
50 David Lutterus Australia 68 76 76 75 295 15
53 Scott Harris Barton 72 78 71 75 296 16
54 Will Dodson SMU 74 80 73 70 297 17
54 David May Clemson (Fall '05) 75 75 73 74 297 17
56 Trent Leon OK State (Fall '05) 77 75 72 75 299 19
56 Adam Condello Old Dominion 77 74 74 74 299 19
58 Dan Gabel Virginia 82 71 75 72 300 20
59 Lorenzo Scotto Italy 74 78 75 74 301 21
59 Phillip Mollica Clemson (Fall '05) 78 77 71 75 301 21
61 Daniel McCarthy Le Moyne 74 79 76 73 302 22
62 Blake Gianniny Hofstra 73 77 78 77 305 25
63 Jeff Wolniewicz Binghamton 71 83 76 76 306 26
64 Dawie Van der Walt Lamar 73 83 77 74 307 27
64 Michael Stackus St. John Fisher 77 80 72 78 307 27
66 Mark Anderson South Carolina 73 76 86 73 308 28
67 Nathan J. Smith Duke 72 76 76 86 310 30
68 Tony DiBitetto UNC-Wilmington 79 83 83 85 330 50
69 Martin Ureta North Carolina 74 74 71 WD WD WD


ABOUT THE The Monroe Invitational

The Monroe Invitational is held at Monroe Golf Club in Pittsford, NY, and is one of the oldest amateur tournaments in the United States, dating back to its first playing in 1937. The course is a Donald Ross design that is a Golfweek Top 100 Classic Course. The tournament is a 72 hole stroke play event with a 54 hole cut. Invitations are sent out to exempt players in early February, but the Tournament Committee would encourage any interested players to apply for a non-exempt invitation through the tournament website.

Website: www.monroeinvitational.com
Instagram: monroeinvitational
Twitter: TheMonroeInvite

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