Menante's title defense at Northeast Amateur off to strong start

June 22, 2022 | by Jim Young of AmateurGolf.com

Dylan Menante (Pepperdine photo)

The former Pepperdine Wave turned North Carolina Tar Heel shows no signs of relinquishing his title anytime soon

It doesn't seem to make much of a difference the Wannamoisett Country Club in Rumford, RI is some 3,000 miles from Dylan Menante's hometown of Carlsbad, Calif.

The former Pepperdine golfer who recently transferred to North Carolina, feels right at home at this Donald Ross classic, as he posted a 7-under 62 in the first round of the Northeast Amateur on Wednesday. With his strong start to his title defense, Menante enjoys a three shot lead over NCAA individual champion Gordon Sargent of Vanderbilt and Georgia Tech's Connor Howe, who both shot 4-under 65s.

Menante, who won this tournament last year with a 9-under score 267, showed no signs he was ready to relinquish his title anytime soon, as he made five birdies over the opening nine holes to go out in 29. With the crowd on a "59 Watch," Menante shot 33 on the back to complete a 7-under round of 62 on the par-69 layout.

Steadily rising, and lurking around the top-10 in all major amateur golf rankings, Menante narrowly missed an opportunity to play in the U.S. Open, posting a 36-hole total that placed him out of a playoff by a single shot at San Francisco's Olympic Club in final qualifying.

Kelly Chinn, who is coming off a second-place finish at the Sunnehanna Amateur last week, sits in fourth place after the Duke golfer carded a 3-under round of 66. Nine golfers are at 2-under.

The Northeast Amateur is the second of seven events comprising the Elite Amateur Series, which began last week with the Sunnehanna Amateur in Johnstown, Pa.

Results: Northeast Amateur

Place	Player	Location	Pts	Scores
1	Dylan Menante	Carlsbad, CA	1200	62-64-64-67=257
2	Karl Vilips	, Australia	900	71-66-66-63=266
3	Caleb Surratt	Indian Trail, NC	700	68-65-68-67=268
T4	Bryce Lewis	Hendersonville, TN	700	67-70-67-66=270
T4	Gordon Sargent	Mountain Brook, AL	700	65-71-65-69=270

View full results for Northeast Amateur

About the Northeast Amateur

Menante's title defense at Northeast Amateur off to strong start

The Northeast Amateur has a historic list of winners, including Ben Crenshaw, Dustin Johnson, Collin Morikawa, Luke Donald, Scott Hoch, John Cook, Hal Sutton, and David Duval. It has been annually held at the Donald Ross-designed Wannamoisett Country...