Mike Stackus, from Ellicott City, and Will Halamandaris, from Annapolis, each had a defining moment in their respective bids for the Maryland State Golf Association’s Amateur Public Links championship at the University of Maryland Golf Club in College Park, August 13.
Each produced a birdie barrage in the afternoon round to shoot the two best rounds of the day and wound up in a tie at 139. Stackus had 71-68, and Halamandaris, 72-67, the 6,783-yard course played to a par of 35-36–71. In the playoff, only the 410-yard par-4 10th was needed, as Stackus stuck a 60-degree lob-wedge shot to seven feet and coaxed home the putt for a winning birdie. And his earlier defining moment played a part in that final putt, too.
“I couldn’t make a putt in the morning and missed a bunch of short ones,” the winner stated later. His problems continued in the early afternoon, as he hit into the water on No. 2 and missed another short putt a little later.
“On the 7th tee I told myself to stop playing the breaks and just hit the putts straight.” he reported. Almost instant success: Birdies at 9-10, par saves at 11-12, birdies at 13, 15,16, and 17, and, of course, the playoff hole.
That ended a string of playoff losses — most recently to Joe Scheffres in the Washington Metropolitan Mid-Am in May — that stood at 1-6, and an earlier 0-3 record in Pennsylvania — for the Hobbit’s Glen GC member. His only success came in a U.S. Mid-Am qualifier, although he had been close in other events, most notably the 2015 MSGA Amateur, where he lost to Ben Warnquist in the final.
A couple of morning mistakes got the attention of Halamandaris. The Lafayette junior, 19, started on the back nine and was sailing toward a good ending, as he was 2 under par for 16 holes. However, he finished double-bogey, bogey.
“I knew I could make birdies on this course,” he declared later of his between-rounds thoughts. And he did, finishing with seven of them, five on his last (back) nine, including 16 and 18. “I hit my irons and wedges well and I finally got a couple of 20-footers [putts] to drop,” he said.
The top two players were trailed by William Kim, Hobbit’s Glen GC, 72-70–142; defending champion Billy Wingerd (he won the first one in 2003 at match play and he won last year with a record score of 130 at Clustered Spires GC in Frederick), 71-72–143; Chuanjung Chen, 71-73–144; Vance Welch, 74-70–144, and Dan Walker, 70-74–144. His 70 was the low score for the first round.
The 16th event drew a field of 58 players on a warm, sunny day, Fortunately, play had concluded when a late afternoon thunderstorm blew through that would have forced a suspension if such had been necessary.
Reported by John Stewart
