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Semis Set At Plainfield

EDISON, N.J. (July 30, 2021) -- Garett Engel of Old Westbury, Johnny Bush of Plainfield, Ethan Ng of Knickerbocker and Trevor Randolph of Arcola all advanced to the semifinals of the 119th Met Amateur Championship at Plainfield Country Club. After stroke-play qualifying concluded early Friday morning, the Round of 16 and quarterfinals highlighted a busy day at the Met Am. Ng and Randolph have both advanced to the final of the Met Amateur before, while this is the furthest Engel and Bush have advanced in the tournament.

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Engel used a three-hole stretch on the back nine to grab the momentum in his match against Prescott Butler of Piping Rock. Engel won Nos. 10, 11 and 12 en route to his second 5-and-4 victory of the day.

“On the front it was taking a lot of birdies to win holes,” said Engel. “I had to be ready early in the match and it was nice to get a little room to breathe on the back nine.”

Bush had a bit slower of a start, though he still found himself 1-up after the first nine holes against Brendan Hansen of Metedeconk. On the back, he won three straight holes much like Engel did to take control of the match. Wins on Nos.  12, 13 and 14 helped Bush cruise to the semifinals at his home club.

“It was tight on the front, and we were both just grinding to make pars,” said Bush. “I hit a few nice approach shots on 12 and 13 and his putts just missed on those holes. It was a nice tight swing pretty quickly and then was just able to close things out after that.”

After a strong 6-and-5 win in the morning, Ng squared off against 2020 Ike champion Mark Costanza, who edged Ng for that title with a chip-in eagle on the 54th hole, and got the better of him, winning the match 3-and-2. Ng was 3-up after five holes and never relinquished the lead to Costanza.

“That was a great start for me,” said Ng. “I know how good of a player Mark is so it was nice to get out to that quick lead. I thought I hit the ball pretty well all day and I was able to make enough putts.”

The final match of the quarterfinals was also the final match finished. Randolph closed things out on the 14th hole, winning 5-and-3 over Andre Chi of Deepdale. Randolph, who made the Met Amateur final his first time playing in the event  in 2013 said he plans to be aggressive on Saturday.

“Look, I’m playing with house money right now,” said Randolph. “It’s been a while since I’ve made it this far in the event, so I plan to be aggressive like I was today and just go after pins.”

Tomorrow’s semifinal matches will begin at 12:00 pm. The Met Amateur will then conclude on Sunday with the 36-hole final.

Round of 16 Recap:
The Round of 16 in the 119th Met Amateur Championship at Plainfield Country Club began shortly after stroke play qualifying concluded Friday morning. A 5-for-2 playoff was needed to determine the final spots in the match play bracket. Mark Costanza of Hamilton Farm, who was the final player through via the playoff, took full advantage of his opportunity by taking down top seed Chris Gotterup by a 3& 2 margin. Costanza was lights out, recording eight birdies and no bogeys during the 16 holes of play.

There was a mixture of close matches and decisive victories in the Round of 16. Johnny Bush of Plainfield closed out his match 7&6, while Ethan Ng of Knickerbocker won 6 and 5. Garett Engel of Old Westbury took care of his match 5&4, and Brendan Hansen of Metedeconk birdied the 15th hole to win his Round of 16 matchup 4&3.

Andre Chi of Deepdale advanced over the fourth-seeded Matt Goldman of Old Wesbury, 2&1. Prescott Butler of Piping Rock needed a birdie on the last hole to win his match 1-up over Brad Tilley of Sleepy Hollow. Only one match needed extra holes as Trevor Randolph of Arcola closed things out over Max Buckley of Westchester Country Club in 20 holes.

Additional Coverage
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