By HUNTER O. LYLE
OLEAN, NY – Returning to the finals after a year hiatus, Corey Haas solidified his name among the elite as he hoisted the Southwestern New York-Northwestern Pennsylvania Men’s Amateur championship trophy for the second time in three years, beating Scott Brady, 3-and-2.
The matchup between Haas and Brady was not an unfamiliar one. As two local golfers, with the Bartlett Country Club standing as both their home courses, the pair have seen their respective skills on a regular basis throughout the years.
“I’d say, having the monkey off my back by winning the first one made me a lot more relaxed, on top of playing with Scott who I play with once a week at least,” said Haas. “We usually go out here on Thursdays and play 18 so he’s not an unfamiliar fellow and a lot of times it’s obviously good camaraderie. I think it was a little easier in that sense. No nerves, just playing.”
Both competing in the SNY-NPMA for the past decade, the road to the finals was a narrow one. Haas earned the edge in Wednesday’s medal round, finishing the 18-hole day with a 71 and the tenth seed while Brady ended one stroke behind at 72, claiming the 14th spot in the Championship flights. Haas would cruise through the bracket in comparison, never letting the competition get closer than a 3-and-2 margin of victory, while Brady, who had only ever made it to the semifinals before, battled for his spot in the title match.
Nevertheless, once Sunday’s 36-hole head-to-head match began, both were at the peak of the games. Opening the day’s play at 9 a.m. with the initial 18, Haas would ultimately come out ahead, creating a three-stroke advantage before the mid-day break.
“Really, I just wanted to focus on keeping the course in front of me. Really just hitting it down the freeway, hitting it on the green, giving myself a bunch of birdie putts. If I make 18 pars and he’s beating me with birdies then good for him,” said Haas. “I started off this morning and had a bad double bogey on the second hole and then played pretty clean coming into that first 18. That was really the plan, just make a bunch of pars, throw some birdies in and just try not to take any penalty shots.”
However, upon the 1 p.m. restart and second round of 18, Brady would keep in stride as he continued to play within reach of the lead through the next 10 holes. A missed short put on hole No. 13 from Haas would narrow the deficit to just two strokes, but the former champion was quick to rebuild a lead with a perfectly placed shot onto the green one hole later.
“The thing that makes it tough is that you have to play 36 holes against him, because during the second 18, I was one under par but the first 18 I struggled a little bit. So I played him even in the second 18. I battled back pretty well. I made some good putts on 12 and 13, thought I made one on 14 so I was two-down. I don’t want to say I played as well as I could, but I played tough,” said Brady. “He doesn’t mess up. Corey doesn’t mess up. He could hit in the trees, but it’s still par. Or he could hit one over the green, but he hits good recovery shots.”
Despite having some opportunities to cut into the lead caused by a few ill-hit Haas drives on the final few holes, Brady couldn’t find the much-needed clutch shots to bring the match back to even. Going into the do-or-die 16th, Brady’s second stroke rushed off the green and into the rough and while he was able to end with par, Haas had sealed the win at 3-and-2, earning his second championship.
“I couldn’t ask for a better week, weather-wise. It was unfortunate last year with the rain storms that came in and shook the whole tournament up, so I was glad the weather wasn’t going to have any influence on that,” said Haas. “I got to enjoy a few days away from work and stay put and focus on the golf. It was nice to be able to do that.”
Men’s Amateur Sunday Final Match Results
Championship Flight—36 Hole Final
9:00 Brady, S. vs. Haas, C.
Match Standing after 18 holes: Haas 3up
(Play will resume for the second 18 holes at approximately
1:00pm)
Winner: Haas, Corey 3&2
Championship Flight Consolation
9:10 Logue, Kal vs. Peterson
Winner: Peterson 2up
1st Flight
9:20 Swanson, N. vs. Liguori
Winner: Liguori 3&1
2nd Flight
9:30 Fitzpatrick vs. Frank
Winner: Fitzpatrick 1up
Senior Flight
9:40 Brady, M. vs. Reiley, D.
Winner: Brady, M. 6&5
Starter Time 9:50
3rd Flight
10:00 Worth vs. Malik
Winner: Malik 6&5
4th Flight
10:10 Barner vs. Morton
Winner: Barner 6&4
5th Flight
10:20 Withers vs. Slade
Winner: Slade 7&6
6th Flight
10:30 Stevens vs. Boudin
Winner: Stevens 8&6
45-59 Consolation Flight
10:40 Johnsen vs. Hnat
Winner: Johnsen 4&3
60& Over Consolation Flight
10:50 Stein vs. Jones
Winner: Stein 5&3
Men’s Amateur Saturday Match Results
4th Flight
9:00 Lewis vs. Morton
Winner: Morton 1up 20 holes
9:08 Reikofsky, K. vs. Barner
Winner: Barner 2&1
3rd Flight
9:16 Colligan, Jr. vs. Malik
Winner: Malik 6&4
9:24 Dwaileebe vs. Worth
Winner: Worth 6&4
2nd Flight
9:32 Frank vs. Bzdak
Winner: Frank 4&3
9:40 McArdle vs. Fitzpatrick
Winner: Fitzpatrick 6&5
1st Flight
9:48 Riekovsky, C. vs. Liguori
Winner: Liguori 6&5
9:56 Swanson, N. vs, Hartnett
Winner: Swanson 6&5
Championship Flight Consolation
10:20 Logue, Kal vs. Cornelius
Winner: Logue 2&1
10:28 Crist, S. vs. Peterson
Winner: Peterson 2&1
Championship Flight
10:36 Haas, C. vs. Williams, G.
Winner: Haas 5&4
10:44 Brady, S. vs. Davis
Winner: Brady 2&1
Senior Flight
11:00 Brady, Mike vs. Kubiak
Winner: Brady 6&5
11:08 Reiley, D. vs. Brady, J.
Winner: Reiley 2&1
5th Flight
11:16 Withers vs. Folts
Winner: Withers 5&4
11:24 Slade vs. Butler
Winner: Slade 4&3
6th Flight
11:32 Stevens vs. Williams, J.
Winner: Stevens 4&3
11:40 Boudin vs. Travis, M.
Winner: Boudin 7&5
11:52 Starter Time
45-59 Consolation Flight
12:00 Johnsen vs. Orcutt
Winner: Johnsen 7&5
12:08 Hnat vs. Hamed
Winner: Hnat 3&1
60 & Over Consolation Flight
12:16 Padlo vs. Stein
Winner: Stein 1up 19 holes
12:24 Marra vs. Jones
Winner: Jones 1up
Men’s Amateur Friday Match Results
Championship Flight Consolation:
8:00 Unverdorben vs. Wright, O.
Winner: Wright 4&3
Schott vs. Peterson
Winner: Peterson 3&2
8:10 Swanson, C. vs. Henzel, K.
Winner: Henzel 2&1
Crist, S. vs. Jennings
Winner: Crist 4&2
8:20 Cornelius vs. Hall
Winner: Cornelius 5&3
Carls vs. Logue, Kade
Winner: Logue 3&2
8:30 Swanson, D. vs. Petryszak
Winner: Swanson 2&1
McHone, E. vs. Logue, Kal
Winner: Logue 3&2
Afternoon Quarterfinal matches:
1:10 Henzel, K. vs. Crist, S.
Winner: Crist 5&4
Wright vs. Peterson
Winner: Peterson 5&4
1:20 Swanson, N. vs. Logue, Kal
Winner: Logue 3&2
Cornelius vs. Logue, Kade
Winner: Cornelius 4&3
