Bracket Set in 117th Met Amateur
CROTON-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. (August 1, 2019) -- A scorching 6-under 64 in the afternoon propelled Christian Cavaliere of Mahopac to medalist honors in the 117th Met Amateur Championship, Thursday at Hudson National, as he compiled a 4-under 136 total to best the field by three shots. Chris Gotterup of Rumson and Adam Xiao of Old Westbury were the only other two players to finish under-par, both posting 1-under 139s. No playoff was needed in determining the bracket, as the low 16 scorers over 36 holes shot 7-over 147 or better to advance.
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While Cavaliere's day got off to a rough start with a triple-bogey seven on the opening hole, he quickly became dialed in on the goal at hand.
"I think it helped to just kind of make me focus a little more," said Cavaliere of his start, which results from hitting his opening shot out of bounds. "I just grinded it out, knowing I had to come back from that a little bit."
Cavaliere grinded to a 2-over 72 to begin the 36-hole day, setting him just three shots off of Gotterup's 1-under 69 in the morning round. "In the afternoon I just wanted to go out there and see what I could do," said Cavaliere, who birdied three of his first five holes, starting on No. 10 after lunch. "I knew even-par would probably get me in, but I made two birdies early and kind of just kept it rolling."
After turning in 3-under 31 and then carding bogey on the first, Cavaliere birdied five of his next six holes to shoot up the leaderboard. Now, looking forward to match play, Cavaliere is certainly in a comfortable spot. Last year's runner-up recently won his third-straight Westchester Amateur title and is looking to go with the same game plan this week. "Just play my game, be super steady, hit a lot of greens, hopefully wear the other guys down and just be consistent," he said.
The bracket is packed with highly accomplished players, setting up for an exciting Friday that includes two rounds of match play.
The Champs Are Here
Of the 16 qualifiers, 7 are winners of an MGA individual title:
| Christian Cavaliere | Mahopac | '16 Met Junior |
| Ryan Davis | New Jersey National | '18 Met Amateur |
| Nathan Han | MGA eClub - Hudson Valley | '15-'16 Boys |
| Darin Goldstein | Deepdale | '17 Mid-Amateur |
| Dawson Jones | Eagle Oaks | '19 Ike |
| Trevor Randolph | Arcola | '15-'16 Mid-Am |
| Brad Tilley | Sleepy Hollow | '03 Ike |
Open to All Ages
The 16 players advancing include a range of ages, from 16-year-old Dean Greyserman of Crestmont to 46-year-old Randolph. Five players--Adam Xiao of Old Westbury, Han, Jack Wall of Manasquan River, Greyserman, and Jimin Jung of Trump National - Westchester--have yet to attend college, while reigning MGA Player of the Year Goldstein, Tilley and Randolph represent the mid-ams.
All-Amateur Battle
All four regional amateur champions have advanced to match play: Cavaliere (Westchester), Prescott Butler of Meadow Brook (Long Island), Jones (New Jersey), and Golf Performance Center's Rick Dowling (Connecticut).
Seeking to Repeat
Davis is aiming to become the first Met Amateur to repeat since Johnson Wagner did so in 2001-02. Cameron Wilson is the last competitor to advance to the championship match in successive years, winning in 2009 and falling to Evan Beirne in the 2010 final.
On a Roll
Since winning the Ike in June, Jones has been on a roll, claiming medalist honors in a U.S. Amateur qualifier and winning the New Jersey State Amateur. This is Jones' fourth straight year advancing to match play, having won at least one match in each of the previous three years.