The 93rd Amateur Championship of the Maryland State Golf Association worked its way through two rounds over the East Course at Baltimore Country Club, June 6, and the first thing to notice was the emergence of new faces for the June 7th quarterfinals.
Aside from defender Denny McCarthy and Chris Baloga, none of the others have been this far in the venerable event. Lined up for the morning matches are McCarthy vs. Mike Blasey; Brandon Cigna vs. Ben Warnquist; Ralph Blasey, IV, vs. Matt Bassler, and Joe Rice vs. Baloga, who reached the quarters in 2008 before losing to eventual finalist Steve Delmar.
Bassler, 28, had the toughest route, as he went 19 holes to subdue Chris Hickman in the morning, then birdied the 18th to get past tenacious Pete DeTemple, 1 up, in the afternoon. Hickman had overcomer a deficit with two winning holes in the middle of the back nine to force overtime, while DeTemple holed an unlikely birdie at the 17th to get even with Bassler. His ball was 18 feet above and to the side of the cup with about 15 feet of break. He was all set to tap in for a par-4 at the last when his opponent dropped the hammer on him from 12 feet.
“It was an up-and-down day,” said Bassler, a former Maryland Open titlist from Rolling Road GC. “My ball-striking and putting were shaky, but I hit a lot of greens and made the shots I needed.”
Cigna, 28, a University of Maryland GC member who works for Merrill Lynch and is making his first appearance in this event, sealed a morning 2-up win over Travis Gahman with a win at the 18th after the latter had won 17. In the afternoon, the former Michigan State player birdied 6-7-8 — the last when he drove the green of the 303-yard set-up and two-putted — and won 9 to turn 4 up en route to a 4-and-3 decision over Colin St. Maxens.
Warnquist, 21, a University of Maryland senior from Manor CC, held off Delmar in the morning, going 1 up at 15 and halving the final three holes. In the second round, he won four of the last five holes on the front and three of the first five on the back to dispatch Chris Demetrakis, 6 and 4, while the Blasey cousins, Ralph IV, and Mike, both won. Ralph used three back-nine birds to oust medalist Walter Egloff, 5 and 4, then knocked off fellow Columbia CC member Brian McCormick, 5 and 3, dipping 3 under par for the necessary 15 holes. Mike beat Peter Knade, 20 holes, with a final par, then toppled lone Senior qualifier Larry Martone, turning 3 up, then winning 13 and halving 14-15. In a battle of Old South CC clubmates, Joe Rice defeated Tyler Herriott in the afternoon, 7 and 5, after getting by Chris Navarro, 3 and 2, in the morning. Against Herriott, he was 3 up at the turn and birdied 11 and 13.
Baloga, from Hillendale CC, defeated Patrick McCormick, Baltimore CC, in the morning, 6 and 5, then thwarted Alex Hoffman, Beaver Creek CC, 3 and 2, winning three holes midway of the back nine.
McCarthy wasted little time and energy, whipping 2002 champ David Nocar, 7 and 5, and Nick Sorkin, 3 and 2. The latter marked the first time the University of Virginia senior from Argyle CC, had gone past the 15th green in seven successive matches dating back to his title run last year. He had four birdies against Nocar, then rallied from 1-down after nine holes (he shot par-matching 35 to Sorkin’s 34) to birdie 10 and ring up six straight pars.
During the morning round, four of the 16 matches went extra holes and four others ended 1 up, in one of the most competitive efforts in recent years. It reinforced the strength of the on-site qualifying cutoff of 73 as it is believed to be the lowest in tournament history. The last two Baltimore CC cutoffs were 75 and 74 and there was one at 74 at Bethesda CC some years ago. Two rounds June 7 will produce two players for a scheduled 36-hole final, June 8.
-Reported by John Stewart from Baltimore CC