A pair of first-time entries tied for the low score with 67, and Walter Egloff, 17, defeated Chris Navarro, 16, on the second playoff hole to claim the medal in on-site qualifying for the 93rd Maryland State Amateur Championship over the East Course at Baltimore Country Club, June 5. The two had played the regulation round together in the final group of the day off the 10th tee.

It was symbolic of the day, as 38 players seeking 31 places shot 73 or better, and 29 of them were in the afternoon under ideal weather conditions — relatively calm and sunny — as opposed to the morning round which started in a drizzle and a strong wind. Both eventually blew away, but not before providing the morning wave with more difficult playing conditions than usual.

Until the leaders put up their scores, Brandon Cigna held the lead with a 68. Another first-time entrant, with the first afternoon time off No. 1, the University of Maryland GC member was followed by Ben Warnquist, Manor CC, 69, followed by five players at 70. Patrick McCormick, from Baltimore CC, was the only one of the group to play in the morning, and he rallied from 4-over after No. 7 to birdie 8-9, then shot 2-under on the back to finish even. The course was played at 6,873 yards to a par of 70. The afternoon 70’s were Chris Hickman, Pete DeTemple, Mike Blasey, and Larry Martone, at 56 the oldest qualifier.

From what appeared to be a possible playoff at 75 or 74, became 73 with a rash of late scores. At the end, there was a 9-for-3 playoff, reduced by one who failed to appear at the appointed time. Two more went out with bogeys and one picked up at the first hole, leaving 5-for-3 at the second hole. When former champions Billy Wingerd and Jeff Castle failed to convert par-saving putts, the last three, who reached the green of the 458-yard test in two, Joe Rice,IV, made birdie, and Ralph Blasey IV, and David Nocar, another former titlist, two-putted for pars.

Defending champion Denny McCarthy, from Argyle CC, took the automatic exemption and will face Nocar in the first round, June 6.

Egloff, a Landon School senior who plays from the Chevy Chase Club, shot 35-32, with “a chip-in and a couple of 20-footers,” before bogeying the uphill, par-3, 9th, his final hole. Navarro, an Archbishop Spalding High School junior from Crofton, who more the Maryland Interscholastic title in the spring, had four birdies — “had a couple of long birdie putts and a couple of short ones.”

Notes: Cigna had one bogey, three birdies for his tour. . .Warnquist, 21, a University of Maryland senior from Manor CC, started on no. 1 and had five birdies, four bogeys (three on par 3’s)for one of the more up-and-down rounds of the day…Two alternates who were on hand made the qualifier, and Brian McCormick, Columbia CC, got in with a 71, while David Feeley, Hillendale CC, missed with a 74, although he highlighted his round by holing a 185-yard second shot for an eagle-2 at the difficult uphill opening hole, played at 458 yards. . .Two rounds Friday and two more Saturday will reduce the field to two for a scheduled 36-hole final Sunday.

-Reported by John Stewart from Baltimore Country Club