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Match Play Set at 100th Met Junior

Jackson Fretty will take the No. 1 seed in to match play at the 100th Met Junior Championship.


EDISON, N.J. (July 19, 2017) – The bracket is set for match play at the 100th Met Junior Championship Sponsored by MetLife, following 36 holes of stroke play qualifying on Wednesday at Plainfield Country Club where Jackson Fretty of Cos Cob, Conn., and Johnny Bush of Cranford, N.J., shared medalist honors with 1-under 143 totals.

Related: Stroke Play Results | Match Play Bracket

Both Fretty and Bush carded 73s in the morning followed by 2-under 70s in the afternoon—the low score for the day—but Fretty, a soon-to-be junior at Greenwich High School, will take the top seed based on time of finish.

Fretty played steadily all day long, registering just three bogeys and a double-bogey to six birdies—four of which came in his afternoon round.

Meanwhile, Bush had a mixed morning round with an eagle and three birdies along with  two bogeys and a pair of double-bogeys. However, the 16-year old steadied his game in the afternoon, registering four birdies to just two bogeys.

Photos: Stroke Play Qualifying | Tuesday's Celebratory Dinner

“I’m excited to keep it going the rest of the week, especially here at Plainfield,” said Bush, enthusiastic to have advanced to match play while competing at his home club. “It’s going to be fun. I’m really looking forward to it.

“I putted great,” Bush continued. “I didn’t miss a lot of putts inside of ten feet. If I left myself four or five feet for par, I made almost all of those all day. I hit a lot of good wedges tight to the hole and drove it pretty well.”

Also posting sub-par rounds in the afternoon were Jack Maguire (70) of Ridgefield, Conn., and Jack Wall (71) of Brielle, N.J. The pair posted matching totals of 1-over 145, and Maguire will take the third seed.

Matt Minerva, Jr., of Elmsford, N.Y., recorded rounds of 72-74 to finish solo fifth at 2-over 146. Minerva, this year’s Westchester Junior champion, rolled in seven birdies on the day, which tested the juniors’ mental and physical stamina with temperatures surpassing 90-degrees.

Two-time MGA/MetLife Boys champion Nathan Han of Somers, N.Y., and Justin Lane of Woodstock, N.Y., finished tied for sixth with 3-over totals, while Tyler Wilson of Andover, N.J., William Rand of New York City, and Shane DeVincenzo of Port Jefferson, N.Y., tied eighth at 4-over 148.

Dean Cerimido of Glen Ridge, N.J., locked in the No. 11 position at 5-over 149. William Parker of Locus Valley, N.Y., Justin Susarchick of Summit, N.J., William O’Neill of Morristown, N.J., and another competitor out of Plainfield Jake Mayer of Scotch Plains, N.J., all tied for 12th with 36-hole totals of 6-over 150. Mayer is looking to add another junior title to his resume, having won New Jersey’s championship in 2015.

A five-for-one playoff was needed to decide the final qualifying position for match play, but Andrew Purse of Greenwich, Conn., closed it out quickly by carding a birdie-three on the first hole by draining a six-foot putt.

Plainfield—whose nines are flipped for the championship from their traditional routing—played to just over 6,600 yards in each round of stroke play qualifying.

Two rounds of match play will take place Thursday beginning at 7:30 a.m., while the semifinal matches and championship match are slated for Friday.

More Information: Met Junior Press Book

This week’s 100th Met Junior marks a celebratory occasion, as the MGA becomes the lone golf association with its Open, Amateur and Junior championships having reached the century mark. The Met Junior was established in 1912 behind the efforts of Plainfield’s very own Leighton Caulkins, who welcomed the championship to Plainfield each of its first three years. A celebratory dinner was held at Plainfield on Tuesday night, as past champions and this year’s field joined together to honor the event’s rich history.

Live hole-by-hole scoring will be available for matches throughout the remainder of the championship. For recaps, photos, interviews and more, continue to visit mgagolf.org and follow the MGA’s social media outlets including Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, for additional content throughout the championship.