FARMINGDALE – It wasn’t the wind. It wasn’t the adrenaline. It wasn’t the swing.
Dylan Newman was in a three-way tie atop the leaderboard at the New York State Open when he overshot the iconic 17th green at Bethpage State Park’s famed Black Course and wound up knee deep in trouble.
The regret was instant.
“Bad call,” said the 32-year-old New Rochelle native. “Yeah, that was just a terrible, terrible club selection. I would do anything to have that back right now. You have to cover the front edge, and I was afraid of coming up short.”
The wind-blown 4-iron handed into the fescue, led to a triple bogey and left Newman tied for third.
Peicheng Chen shrugged of consecutive bogeys and rolled in an uphill birdie putt from the front edge of the 18th green a short time later to win by a stroke. The rising junior at St. John’s shot a final-round 71 Thursday and finished the championship with a 6-under total of 207. Fellow amateur Matt Lowe had a chance to force a playoff but failed to get up and down for par from a greenside bunker on the 18th.
Newman came into the final round with a two-stroke edge.
“Honestly, today was a tough day for me, I was just trying to make pars,” said the Meadow Brook Club assistant who closed with a 77. “The rest of the week I played well. I’ve been hitting it great. The course today was a little longer and I just struggled on the greens a little bit more.”
Only three players bettered par in the final round.
James Nicholas, a 26-year-old mini-tour player from Scarsdale, climbed the leaderboard with a final-round 71 and joined John Clare and Newman in third place at 2-under.
They left with a winner’s share of the purse as Chen and Lowe are both amateurs.
Nicholas made a coaching change in the spring and has enjoyed a productive summer with wins at the Long Island and Westchester Opens. He’s now working with Jim and Jon McLean in Miami.
“You get chills every time you win because professional golf is tough,” the former Ivy League player of the year said. “It’s not like hockey where you win 85 games a year and it’s a good season. In golf, you win once or twice and it’s a good season. These events weren’t initially on my schedule. I was going to focus on Monday qualifiers, but I added them to try and build confidence. When you’re coming down the stretch competing for a win, it’s a different feeling than being out there hoping to qualify on Monday.”
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There will be several Monday qualifiers in the weeks ahead. He’s also got a Korn Ferry Tour sponsor’s exemption for the Magnit Championship at Metedeconk National Golf Club in New Jersey in August and plans to play in the Met Open ahead of Q school.
Brewster resident Mike Miller was also in the hunt, but had an off day with the driver and carded a 76. The defending champion wound up tied for sixth with Alex Beach and Kyle Brey at even par.
“You can’t play around here from the rough and I know that, so it was kind of a defensive day,” Miller said. “I was trying my best to hang in there. I know what it takes to win around here. I didn’t have the game today.”
Next up for Miller are the Colorado Open and Texas Open. The 31-year-old has moved back home and is again logging practice hours at Knollwood Country Club. The goal is to get back on the Korn Ferry Tour so Q school will be a focus after the Met Open next month.
“I’m busy, playing a lot more golf this summer, but I’ve got time in between to get myself ready,” he said. “I’m a member now at Knollwood, which is very cool. I’m happy and excited about that. I just need to play well now for more than two days.”
2023 Lenox Advisors/NFP New York State Open
At Bethpage State Park – Black Course
Couple 71
1. Peicheng Chen (a), Rock Hill Golf & CC 67-69-71
2. Matt Lowe (a), Bethpage State Park 69-67-208
3. John Clare, The Pompey Club 73-70-68-211
3. James Nicholas, Westchester CC 69-72-70-211
3. Dylan Newman, Meadow Brook 66-68-77-211
6. Alex Beach, Westchester CC 67-73-73-213
6. Mike Miller, Knollwood CC 66-71-76-213
6. Kyle Brey, Bethpage State Park 69-70-74-213
Full leaderboard: 2023 New York State Open at Bethpage Black
9. Mark Anguiano, Golf V2 69-73-72-214
10. Matt Dobyns, Meadow Brook 71-70-74-215
10. Brent Ito, Links at Union Vale 68-71-76-215
Mike Dougherty covers golf for The Journal News and lohud.com. Follow along on Twitter @lohudgolf.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Dylan Newman, James Nicholas tie for third at New York State Open