Bracket Set in 97th Long Island Amateur
Ben Pirro
HUNTINGTON, N.Y. (July 21, 2020) -- Ben Pirro of Long Island National Golf Club, Jay Sessa of the Cherry Valley Club and Patrick Healy of Huntington Country Club each shot even-par 70 at the Huntington Crescent Club on Monday to lead 12 other competitors into match play on day one of the 97th Long Island Amateur Championship Presented by Sterling National Bank.
Related: Match Play Bracket | Tuesday Photos
The day featured a nerve-racking 9-for-4 playoff for the final spots in match play between the competitors who shot 73; the playoff was run on holes 1 and 18. Max Siegfried of the Meadow Brook Club birdied the first playoff hole to get in, and five competitors parred it to move on and compete for 3 spots. Colin Dolph of Nassau Country Club also parred the second playoff hole to get in, leaving a 4-for-2 competition. Bryan Pendrick of the Mill River Club parred the 4th playoff hole to get in, and left a 3-for-1 situation.
Both Ross Lehrer of Engineers Country Club and Ryan Rittberger of Garden City Golf Club parred the 5th playoff hole to survive, and the remaining 2-for-1 situation could not be resolved due to darkness. Tuesday morning at 7:30 am, Rittberger parred the sixth playoff hole to take the final match play spot.
Match play begins Tuesday morning at 8 a.m. with the round of 16 (Prescott Butler of the Piping Rock Club, the 2019 champion, was exempt into match play and is the number one seed.), and will conclude on Wednesday afternoon with an 18 hole final match.