Svoboda Wins 2018 Long Island Open
Glen Cove, N.Y. (June 7, 2018) - Andrew Svoboda of Engineers fired a 6-under 64 during the final round to win his first Long Island Open Presented by Stifel at Nassau Country Club on Thursday. His successful week included rounds of 64-71-64 to finish at 11-under par for the championship, six shots ahead of the rest of the field. Impressively, the only bogeys he made the entire week came during Wednesday’s second round.
Related: Final Results | Photos - Round 3
“I’m good friends with Sita, we play a lot of golf together, so that was a good thing to start,” Svoboda said of his low round today. “I didn’t get off to a great start, but I just played solid, and then the birdies came. I had a good mindset, I was very focused on my shots all day and didn’t really have any negative thoughts.”
That positive mindset paid off, as he had three birdies on his front nine to make the turn at 3-under. Consecutive birdies on 12 and 13 extended his lead on the back. “Fortunately, things kind of just went my way, I never really had any problems,” the champion said. “It was a smooth finish, I birdied 17, which helped, and was really close on 16. I just really hit it well the last six holes.”
Related: Final Results | Photos - Round 3
Svoboda also credited his putting throughout the week to helping him go low. “My putting was great today. My long putting, even if I had a 40 footer, I was putting it right up there and I was very confident with my putter, especially during the first and final rounds.”
Svoboda, a former St. John’s standout, first played Nassau as an amateur during the Nassau Invitational, which he won in 2003, the same year he won the Met Open as an amateur. His impressive record also includes the 2004 Met Amateur and 2007 New York State Open.
2017 champion JD Guiney of Piping Rock finished as the runner up after a 3-under 67 put him at 5-under for the week. He carded rounds of 67-71-67 this week. Michael Furci of West Sayville finished third at 4- under and was the only player to stay under par all week with rounds of 69-68-69.
Anthony Aruta of North Shore and Matt Dobyns of Fresh Meadow both finished at 3-under. Aruta recorded scores of 67-68-72 while Dobyns, the 2013 champion had rounds of 68-69-70. Matt Sita of Old Westbury, the second round co-leader, finished with a 74 after rounds of 69-66 to finish at 1-under.
Jay Card III of Gardiner’s Bay finished as the Low Amateur. He had scores of 71-69-70 and was even par for the tournament.
Svoboda, now working and teaching at Engineers Country Club in Roslyn, is a three-time winner on the web.com Tour. His plans for the rest of the 2018 season include playing the New York State Open at Bethpage, the Met Open at Wykgayl, and a few web.com Tour events with hopes of qualifying for some PGA TOUR events.
Historic Nassau Country Club, which last hosted the Long Island Open in 2009, played to a par 70 at 6,667 yards during the final round. The starting field of 144 players was cut to the low 40 and ties after the second round; 44 players at 5-over or better advanced to the final round. The 2019 Long Island Open will be played at Hemsptead Golf and Country Club.
For complete coverage of the 2018 Long Island Open, visit mgagolf.org/liga or longislandgolf.org.
Related: Final Results | Photos - Round 3