Met Area Players Fare Well in R&A Senior Amateur

ELMSFORD, N.Y. (August 4, 2019) -- A 7-under 209 total led Roger Hoit of Summit, N.J., to a tie for fourth in the 2019 R&A Senior Amateur Championship as play concluded Saturday at North Berwick in Scotland. The Met Area was well represented in the championship, with Ned Zachar (T-19) of Bedford, N.Y., Ken Bakst (T-25) of New York City, and Jay Sessa (T-25) of Garden City, N.Y., all finishing inside the top 25.

Related: Results

Hoit, who finished tied sixth in the season-opening MGA Senior Amateur at Montclair, saved his best round for last in the 54-hole championship. After opening rounds of 70-74, Hoit fired a bogey-free 7-under 65 to tie for low round of the entire week.

"I hit it really well and putted really well," Hoit told the R&A. "I love it over here. The golf is so good."

He finished just two shots out of a playoff for the title, won by Craig Davis.

Zachar recorded rounds of 73-70-71 on the par-72 layout en route to his finish. "I can't say enough about the golf course," wrote Zachar in an email update on his experience. "North Berwick is a lot of fun to play, not too long bust still plenty of golf, especially the last five holes."

For Sessa, a bogey-free 5-under 67 matched the second round's low score and helped him to his tie for 25th, as he posted scores of 73 and 75. Bakst tallied rounds of 70-71-74 to match Sessa at 1-under 215 for the championship

Jay Blumenfeld of Parsippany, N.J., was also in the field, posting rounds of 74-75 to miss the cut.