SCARSDALE, NY (August 9, 2005) -- The 2005 Mittelmark contained an incredible amount of drama in the closing nine. After a steady morning round of 75, Brent Pittman of Montvale, NJ closed with a solid 2 under par 68 to post in the clubhouse a 143 total. This just edged out the morning leader, Steve Velardi, as he followed his morning round of 70 with an afternoon 74.
Velardi had the first tee time of the day and let the field know very early what they needed to accomplish. With nine holes remaining, Brad Tilley of Sleepy Hollow CC and The University of Virginia, started out the afternoon with a four birdies and a bogey on the front nine to take a four shot lead with nine holes to play. The back nine began a backwards slide for Tilley as he double bogeyed 10 and 11 to drop back to three over par for the tournament. Pittman finished his round almost an hour ahead of the final threesome with a birdie, par closing to post three over in the clubhouse.
Things settled down a bit until Tilley made birdie at 16 to take a one shot lead. He quickly followed that with an errant tee shot on 17 and a bogey to make things exciting. With Pittman preparing for a possible playoff, Tilley positioned himself in the middle of the fairway for an iron approach into the reachable par 5 finishing hole. His approach sailed left and out of bounds, his provisional ended up in the left fringe about 25 feet away. Tilley then proceeds to make the par saving putt and force a playoff.
Tilley scrambled for a par and Pittman just missed birdie on the first playoff hole. Tilley then pulls his tee shot out of bounds left with Pittman dead center in the fairway. This allowed Pittman to make a solid par and secure the championship.
The 1924 A.W. Tillinghast layout played at 6722 yards for the tournament and yielded an average score of 78 for both AM and PM rounds.
For complete results, click on the tournament link above (amateurgolf.com membership requested).
ABOUT THE The Mittelmark
Invitation only 36 hole event for the best
amateurs in the New York Metro area. Played on
what some term "Little Winged Foot". This 1924
Tillinghast layout isn't 6600 yards long, but it's
all you want. Small field has returned this event
to its former glory.
View Complete Tournament Information