Buckley Falls in Quarterfinals at U.S. Amateur
ELMSFORD, N.Y. (August 26, 2011) - Max Buckley of Rye, N.Y. made it as far as he ever had at the 111th U.S. Amateur Championship at Erin Hills and performed well in the quarterfinals before losing a heartbreaker to the world's number-one ranked amateur, Patrick Cantlay of Los Alamitos, Calif. In facing Cantlay, Buckley held his own against one of the top amateurs in the world. Cantlay, a sophmore with the UCLA Bruins was the low amateur at the 2011 U.S. Open and T24 at the Travelers Championship on the PGA Tour.
Buckley was 2-down to Cantlay through six holes but came right back with a birdie at the par-five seventh to cut the deficit in half, and then won the ninth hole to square the match. The two young talents were nip and tuck through the 14th hole before Buckley surged ahead with wins on the 15th and 16th holes, giving himself a 2-up advantage with two holes to play. However, just as Buckley did in his first-round match, Cantlay won holes 17 and 18 to square the match and send it to extra holes. Back at the par-five opening hole, Buckley struggled to a bogey while Cantlay made par to seal his win.
To get to the quartefinals, Buckley, the 2007 Carter Cup champions, defeated reigning NCAA individual champion John Peterson of Fort Worth, Texas, in 19 holes. Buckley birdied the 563-yard, par-five first hole at Erin Hills to snag the victory.
For a full summary of all the action at the 111th U.S. Amateur Championship, click here.
ELMSFORD, N.Y. (August 25, 2011) - Max Buckley of Rye, N.Y. continued his outstanding run at the 111th U.S. Amateur Championship on Thursday, claiming a 1-up victory over Chris Williams of Moscow, Idaho in the round of 32 and earning a spot in the round of 16.
In a tightly-fought match in which neither player was able to pull away decisively, Buckley ultimately birdied the par-4 12th and held on to the lead for the rest of the round.
Now in the round of 16, Buckley joins many of the biggest names in amateur golf, including Peter Uihlein, Patrick Cantlay and Jordan Spieth. For his match, Buckley will take on John Peterson of Fort Worth, Texas.
Check the USGA website for updated match play scoring by clicking here.
ELMSFORD, N.Y. (August 25, 2011) - Two young Met Area talents advanced to match play at the 111th U.S. Amateur Championship at Erin Hills in Wisconsin, and one remains. Max Buckley of Rye, N.Y., the 2007 Carter Cup champion, was a 2-up winner over Patrick Christovich of New Orleans, La. It was looking bleak for Buckley, who was 2-down through 14 holes, but the 21-year-old won the last four holes to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Buckley advances to the Round of 32 and faces Chris Williams of Moscow, Idaho, starting at 12:50pm Eastern time on Thursday, August 25.
The 2009 Met Amateur champion, 18-year-old Cameron Wilson of Rowayton, Conn., was not as fortunate in his match. Wilson was the highest-finishing area player in stroke play, shooting even-par 72 in his first round and then catching fire and carding a 66 in round two, for a two-round total of 138 and a share of 13th position. However, he lost in first round, 3 & 2, to Kelly Kraft of Denton, Texas.
Mike Miller of Brewster, N.Y. just missed out on qualifying. After rounds of 70 and 72 he found himself in a 20-man playoff for four qualifying positions but ended missing the cut and tied in 65th position.
For full round of 64 match play scoring click here.
ELMSFORD, N.Y. (August 22, 2011) - Twelve Met Area competitors took their games and their dreams to Wisconsin for today's start of 
the 111th U.S. Amateur Championship at Erin Hills, about 45 minutes outside Milwaukee. The 312 amateurs in the starting field compete in two rounds of stroke play—one at Erin Hills and one at Blue Mound Country Club in Wauwatosa, Wis.—on Monday, August 22 and Tuesday, August 23, after which the low 64 scorers advance to match play, which begins on Wednesday, August 24. All match play rounds will take place at Erin Hills, with the 36-hole championship match televised on NBC on Sunday, August 28.
Of the 12 locals, two are winners of MGA championships this season and two others are past champions of MGA events. Leading the pack is Mike Miller (right) of Brewster, N.Y., whose victory in the 2011 Met Amateur at Piping Rock on August 7 was the second MGA title of his career (he also won the 2010 Met Junior at Ardsley Country Club). Miller, 19, advanced to match play in the 2010 U.S. Amateur at Chambers Bay. Another 2011 MGA champion, Anthony Aloi of Plainsboro, N.J., is competing in his first U.S. Amateur. Aloi, 21, won the 2011 MGA/MetLife Public Links Championship at Hominy Hill on July 6.
Two former winners of MGA events in the U.S. Amateur field are Cameron Wilson of Rowayton, Conn., and Max Buckley of Rye, N.Y. Wilson won the 2009 Met Amateur at Hackensack, as well as the 2009 Carter Cup and 2006 MGA/MetLife Boys Championship. Wilson, 18, is a rising sophomore at Stanford University and made it to the Round of 32 at the 2009 U.S. Amateur at Southern Hills in Tulsa. He was the medalist in the U.S. Amateur Sectional Qualifying Round at Tam O'Shanter on August 9. Buckley, the 2007 Carter Cup champion, was also a sectional qualifying medalist, at GlenArbor Golf Club on July 27. Buckley, 21, is a rising senior at Southern Methodist University and won the 2011 Hochster Memorial at Quaker Ridge.
Other top local names at the U.S. Amateur include 15-year-old Jim Liu of Smithtown, N.Y., who won the 2010 U.S. Junior Amateur; 2010 Met Amateur match play competitor Bernie D'Amato of Weston, Conn., and Army golf coach Alex Williams of Croton-on-Hudson, N.Y., who advanced to match play at the 2011 U.S. Public Links Championship.
Rounding out the Met Area contingent are Colin Dolph of Huntington, N.Y., Matt Dubrowski of Bergenfield, N.J., Greg Etimos of East Islip, N.Y., Andrew Graham of Lagrangeville, N.Y., and Doug Kleeschulte of Kingston, N.Y.
Updated nine-hole scoring the stroke play portion of the championship, as well as live scoring for all match play rounds, can be found on the official U.S. Amateur Championship website. Stay tuned to www.mgagolf.org throughout the week for updates and details on how the locals fare at the 111th U.S. Amateur.
