Rockville, Md. – The 103rd playing of the Maryland Amateur took place over the weekend at Manor Country Club, and it was Austin Barbin of Chesapeake Bay GC who came out on top over Jake Roth of Lakewood Country Club 7&6 in the final match and etched his name into the Maryland Amateur history books.
Stroke Play Qualifier
On Thursday, the field of 138 players looked to grab one of the 31 spots available in the match play bracket. Kevin Grady (Rolling Road GC), the defending Amateur champion, elected to take his guaranteed spot in match play as the top seed. As the morning wave made their way around the golf course, Connor McGarrity (Kenwood G&CC) claimed the top spot on the leaderboard. He shot matching 33’s on the front and back sides to shoot an impressive 4-under-par round of 66. Grant Lester (Argyle CC) matched McGarrity’s 66 in the afternoon, but he did it in bogey-free fashion. The two earned co-medalist honors and the second and third seeds. Austin Barbin finished just one shot behind McGarrity and Lester by firing a 3-under-par round of 67. Manor’s own and two-time Amateur champion, Ben Warnquist, made match play with a round of 70 (E). The cut this year was at 72 (+2).
Rounds of 32 & 16
The first couple of rounds of match play saw some competitive matches that came down to the wire, and some even required extra holes.
Grady opened his match play run with a 4&3 win over Jason Park (Cattail Creek CC). Grady grabbed the lead on No. 1, and he never gave it up. There were five other past champions that made match play, and some of them squared off against one another. David Nocar (Chartwell G&CC), 2002 champion, and Brad Whitaker (Columbia CC), 2021 champion, battled it out Friday morning. In the early stages, Whitaker was 4-up on Nocar through No. 6, but Nocar came roaring back and was only one down after No. 13. Whitaker held on, however, and won the match 2&1. The other match of past champions was between Ben Warnquist, 2015 and 2017 champion, and Jake Griffin (Argyle CC), 2022 champion. Warnquist took the lead on No. 1 with a par, but Griffin carded birdies on Nos. 2, 4, and 5 to take the lead. After that, Griffin never looked back and won the match 4&2.
Five morning matches went to extra holes. Samuel Spikell (Columbia CC) and Craig Tronti (GlenRiddle GC) went to 19 holes where Spikell won on No.1 with a par. Benjamin Siriboury (Argyle CC) and Brad Riley (Norbeck CC) went to 21 holes and had Siriboury the victor with a bogey on No. 3. Connor McGarrity, one of the stroke play co-medalists, and Chris Baloga (Hillendale CC) went to 19 holes where McGarrity beat his college coach with a birdie on Hole 19. Jack Hartman (Chevy Chase Club) and Ben Shields (Hunt Valley CC) went to 19 holes where Hartman won with a par on Hole 19. Michael Mulieri (Baltimore CC), the 2008 champion, and Charlie Bundy (Bretton Woods Recreation Center) went to 19 holes where Mulieri won with a bogey.
Austin Barbin dominated in his first round of match play as he beat Travis Russell (TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm) 6&4. Barbin took the lead on No.1, and by the time he made his way around to No. 9, he was already 4-up. With birdies on Nos. 11 and 13, he closed out the match in commanding fashion. Barbin’s dominance continued into the round of 16 where he defeated Ryan McCarthy (Argyle CC) 7&5. Once again, Barbin came out of the gate with a controlling lead and was 6-up at the turn due to his steady play that included a bunch of pars and a couple of birdies. Just like his first match, Barbin finished this one off with a birdie on No. 13.
The Round of 16 also saw another match of past champions. This one was between Grady and Brad Whitaker. Grady grabbed the lead on No. 3 with a par, and increased his lead to 2-up on No. 8 with a par. The two players traded blows on No. 10 and No. 11, but Grady eventually closed out the match 3&2.
The rest of the afternoon matches concluded with Dugan McCabe (Bethesda CC) beating Samuel Spikell 3&2, Benton Weinberg (TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm) beating Michael Crowley (Hayfields CC) 4&2, Jake Roth beating Grant Lester (4&3), Jake Griffin beating Benjamin Siriboury 3&1, Connor McGarrity beating Jack Hartman 4&3, and Mike O’Neil (Baltimore CC) beating Michael Mulieri 3&2.
Quarterfinals and Semifinals
Saturday morning saw four unique matches. Kevin Grady set the tone in the first match to go out as he won 7&5 over Dugan McCabe. After winning No. 1 with a birdie, Grady went on to win Nos. 4, 5, and 7 to secure a 4-up lead after the front nine. He swiftly finished off McCabe on the back nine as he won Nos. 11, 12, and 13 with pars.
Austin Barbin had a highly anticipated quarterfinal match against Benton Weinberg that did not disappoint. After tying the first three holes, the two traded blows with Barbin winning No. 4 with a birdie and Weinberg winning No. 5 with a par. They did the same thing on Nos. 7 and 8 with Weinberg taking a 1-up lead with a birdie on No. 7 and Barbin squaring the match with a birdie of his own on No. 8. With the match tied after nine holes, Weinberg started the back nine off with a bang as he holed out from 66 yards on No. 10 for eagle. On No.11, Weinberg threw another dart as he put it to eight feet off the tee. Barbin followed that up by putting his tee shot to twelve feet. Barbin then made his birdie putt, and Weinberg missed his. With the match squared heading into No. 12, both players made birdies after nearly driving the green. On No. 14, Barbin stuffed his approach shot to one foot to put himself 1-up in the match. He later went 2-up on No. 16 with a birdie, but after making double bogey on No. 17, he only had a 1-up lead heading into the final hole. Weinberg eventually got up and down for par on No. 18, and Barbin had to two-putt from 30 feet to win. He left his first putt about a foot short in the heart of the cup, and he tapped in for the win.
The third quarterfinal match was a battle of Jake’s. Jake Roth took the lead early on over Jake Griffin, and Roth never surrendered it. While Griffin won a couple of holes early in the back nine, Roth held on by winning No. 15 and matching Griffin’s scores on Nos. 16 and 17 to win 2&1. Connor McGarrity won his match over Mike O’Neil in a similar way by taking the lead early and never letting it go. McGarrity went on to win 3&1.
Saturday afternoon started with Kevin Grady facing off against Austin Barbin. The front nine saw a little more back and forth action between the players, but Barbin emerged with a 2-up lead heading into No. 10. Grady would eventually win that hole with a par, but as they got around to No. 12, Barbin picked up the dominant performance he had on Friday. Barbin won Nos. 12 through 15 to win the match 5&3 and secure his place in the championship match. The second semifinal match was between Jake Roth and Connor McGarrity. This match had more smiles than the average one, as Roth and McGarrity are close friends, but that did not stop them from trying to win. Much like Grady and Barbin, Roth and McGarrity both won multiple holes on the front nine. Roth came out with a 1-up advantage at the turn, but McGarrity evened things up on No. 10 with a par. Roth took exception to this and went on to win three out of the next four holes to go 3-up. He closed out the match on No. 16 to secure his spot in the championship match.
Championship Match
Sunday morning saw neither Austin Barbin nor Jake Roth wanting to maintain the lead. On No.1, Roth struggled to get out of the greenside bunker, and Barbin two-putted for par to go 1-up. On No. 2, Roth threw his approach shot in close to five feet and made birdie to square the match. On No. 3, Barbin got up and down from the short right side of the green while Roth three-putted from 40 feet. On No. 4, Roth hit a massive flop shot over a greenside bunker to 20 feet and Barbin hit a bump and run from the short-right side of the green to 15 feet. Roth sunk the birdie putt, but Barbin missed his. With the match squared after the first five holes, Barbin took advantage of a bomb of a tee shot on No. 6 by putting his approach shot close. Roth had a lengthy birdie putt that he ended up three-putting to give Barbin a 1-up lead. The players matched scores on No. 7, but No. 8 was the first sign of drama. With the pin tucked all the way in the back-left corner of the green, Barbin hit his tee shot in the middle of the green, but Roth missed his tee shot in the right rough. Tasked with a tough lie on a downhill slope, Roth landed his chip shot short, and the ball took a bad bounce away from the hole but onto the green just inside Barbin’s mark. Barbin missed his 25-foot birdie putt a couple feet low, but Roth got the perfect read as he stepped up and drained the 20-footer to remain 1-down.
After making the turn in the morning round, Barbin won No. 10 by making a downhill, left-to-right sliding, 15-foot putt. On No. 13, Barbin hit a wayward tee shot in the heather down the right side of the dogleg-left par 4. After hitting an escape shot into the first cut of rough on the right side, Barbin stuck a wedge in close to a tucked pin and made the putt for par. Roth made bogey from the middle of the fairway, and this put Barbin 3-up. He held onto this lead through No.18 heading into the lunch break.
When play resumed for the afternoon round, Roth had his sights set on trying to claw his way back into contention. He won the 19th Hole by making par, but Barbin’s dominance came into effect after that. He went on to win four out of the next five holes to be 6-up through the 24th Hole. Roth made a small dent in Barbin’s lead on the 26th Hole by two-putting for par while Barbin three-putted for bogey. Barbin immediately fixed that blemish by winning the 27th Hole with a par. Barbin nearly drove the green and just narrowly missed his 20-foot birdie putt on the 28th hole, but Roth made bogey and gave Barbin a 7-up lead. After their tee shots on Manor’s No. 11, only a couple of feet separated the two as they were around 30 feet away from the hole. Barbin putted first, and he left it eight feet short. Roth’s putt got closer to the hole and was only four feet away. Barbin missed his par putt, and Roth made his par putt to cut Barbin’s lead to 6-up. On No. 30, Roth laid back in the fairway with his driving iron, but Barbin ripped his driver to get close to the green. Roth then hit an errant approach shot short of the green, and Barbin hit a pitch shot to 15 feet. Roth’s chip ended up around 10 feet from the hole, but Barbin closed out the match by sinking his 15-foot, left-to-right breaking birdie putt to win 7&6.
The 103rd Maryland Amateur was also a USGA Exemption Event. With his win, Austin Barbin will represent Maryland at the 124th U.S. Amateur Championship to be held August 12-18 at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minn.
The MSGA would like to thank Manor Country Club membership and staff for being such gracious hosts for the 103rd Maryland Amateur.
