BRIELLE – The 122n.d New Jersey Amateur Golf Championship will be remembered as “The Battle of the Jacks.”
Jack Wall, a rising senior at Texas Tech, vs. Jack Simon, recent graduate of St. John’s.
In a three-hole aggregate playoff, Wall dominated and captured the New Jersey State Golf Association title on Wednesday evening in front of a supportive home-course crowd at steamy Manasquan River Golf Club.
“This is just so special to me,” said Wall, 22, a two-time runner-up who lives in Brielle, “and I’ve been looking forward to this for a year.”
On a trio of par-4s, the 16thth17th and 18th holes, Wall went par, par, birdie for an aggregate 11. Simon, this year’s Big East Conference titlist, hit three errant drives, his first two into terrible lies, and went double-bogey, triple-bogey, bogey for an aggregate 18 .
“It was a fun tournament,” said Simon, a Sparta resident representing Rockaway River, “but I lost some steam at the end.”
Wall and Simon headed to the playoff after playing four rounds at 3-under 285. Wall made a 3-footer for birdie on the 18th to finish his afternoon round with 2-under 70, after carding 72 during Wednesday morning’s third round. Simon, whose caddy was his father, Marc, had Wednesday rounds of 71 and 74.
Wall’s older brother, Jeremy, finished third after closing with three consecutive 71s for 1-under 287. Mac Bredahl of Fairmount and Chris DeJohn of Arcola tied for fourth at 1-over 289. Bredahl had a pair of 73s, while DeJohn had a 73 and 75. DeJohn had double-bogeys on the 16thth and 18th holes, with birdies on the 15th and 17th.
“Quite frankly, just a lot of frustration,” DeJohn, 36, said after finishing in the top 10 for the fourth consecutive year. “I’ve been in contention to win all four of these years, and coming out with a [tie for fourth] is not ideal.”
Collegian Will Celiberti of Arcola, who won last year’s title in a three-hole aggregate playoff, slipped into a tie for 12th after closing with 78 for 10-over 298. Two-time champion Mike Stamberger of Manasquan River dropped into a tie for 22n.d after carding 81 for a 16-over 304.
Simon lamented his putting in this 72-hole tournament. During the fourth round, though, he made a 10-foot birdie on the 17th. On the 18ththhe just missed a 15-footer for birdie that would have won it.
“I gave the tournament away with my putting, all day,” said Simon, 24. “I couldn’t really make a putt. I had a couple of three-putts the final round, missed a few 5- and 6-footers.”
Wall was stellar in the playoff, except for slicing his drive on the 16thth to the right. His drive on the 17thth was in the middle of the fairway, and he drove the green on the 18thth to set up his birdie. He finished regulation two groups before Simon and spent the time practicing putting.
“After regulation, I went to the putting green, hit some putts and focused on what could be coming up, and then the playoff I was ready to go when I got to the tee,” said Wall, a graduate of Christian Brothers Academy. “I didn’t hit a good first tee shot, but I got a good lie and went from there.”
122nd New Jersey Amateur Golf Championship
at Manasquan River GC, Brielle
Couple: 72; Yardage: 6,900
Final
Jack Wall, Manasquan River* 72-71-72-70-285
Jack Simon, Rockaway River 69-71-71-74-285
Jeremy Wall, Manasquan River 74-71-71-71-287
Chris DeJohn, Arcola 68-73-73-75-289
Mac Bredahl, Fairmount 72-71-73-73-289
Troy Vannucci, Little Mill 73-72-71-71-291
Rhett Sellers, Fiddler’s Elbow 68-73-76-74-291
William O’Neill, Spring Brook 74-74-73-72-293
Johnny Bush, Plainfield 73-74-71-75-293
Edmund Broderick, Fiddler’s Elbow 74-76-73-71-294
Adrian Jordan, Cobblestone 72-74-74-76-296
Dean Greyserman, Hamilton Farm 76-76-73-73-298
Will Celiberti, Arcola 73-71-76-78-298
Elliot Parker, Suburban 70-71-81-76-298
Brendan Hansen, Spring Lake 76-69-74-80-299
Corey Brigham, NJSGA E-Club 77-71-76-77-301
Pat Wilson, Hamilton Farm 74-75-75-77-301
Garrett Kessler, Mountain Ridge 75-74-76-77-302
Jack Irons, Little Mill 76-75-74-78-303
Reed Greyserman, Hamilton Farm 73-74-75-81-303
Austin Devereux, Manasquan River 75-75-77-76-303
Richard Fitzsimmons, Manasquan River 75-77-74-78-304
Thomas Guy, Eligo 71-77-79-77-304
Michael Stamberger, Manasquan River 69-74-80-81-304
Liam Pasternak, Essex Fells 76-76-75-77-304
Al Tenembaum, Rockland 75-75-79-75-304
Kieran Purcell, Essex County 80-72-71-83-306
Brian Whitman, Knickerbocker 80-69-79-78-306
John Browndorf, Deal 81-69-80-77-307
Dylan Gallagher, Rockland 74-77-82-74-307
Tyler Lee, Ridgewood 75-71-79-83-308
Erik Stevens, Hamilton Farm 70-79-79-80-308
Stephen Walsh, Baltusrol 76-73-79-80-308
Blake Barnes, Baltusrol 81-70-80-78-309
Travis Dix, Eagle Oaks 76-76-79-80-311
John Havay, High Bridge Hills 76-76-80-79-311
Brandon Roche, Little Mill 74-76-81-80-311
John Meyers, Basking Ridge 77-74-81-80-312
Kevin Silvestri, NJSGA E-Club 79-70-84-81-314
Chris Lawler, Riverton 74-78-79-84-315
Brian Hart, Deal 71-77-77-WD-WD
Michael Brown, Rock Spring 69-73-WD-WD-WD
*-Wall won the title in a 3-hole aggregate playoff
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: New Jersey Amateur Golf Championship decided in a three-hole playoff