The 108th Met Amateur Championship
Quaker Ridge Golf Club, Scarsdale, N.Y. • July 29–August 1, 2010
Evan Beirne stood out from
the field from the start of
match play, and walked
away with the biggest win
of his career.
Beirne Baby Beirne
Familiarity with a golf course can prove to be a critical advantage to competitors in any tournament. When the course is a world-renowned layout like Quaker Ridge and the competitor
is steely Evan Beirne of Bethpage, the advantage is decisive. Beirne, 22 and a senior at St.
John’s University, rode his wave of confidence and a hot putter to beat defending champion
Cameron Wilson of Shorehaven, 7 & 6, in the 36-hole final match.
The four days of the championship served as
an opportunity for the talented players of the Met
Area to showcase their talents on one of the premier courses in the world. This was highlighted
by Princeton University sophomore Bernard
D’Amato of Wheeler Park shooting a 65 during
stroke play, which stood as a new course record
for about four hours, until it was beaten that afternoon with a 64 by Hans Albertsson of Bethpage.
But it was Beirne who stood out above the rest.
Beirne has become very fond of Quaker Ridge
this year, as he won the 73rd Hochster Memorial Tournament on this classic A.W. Tillinghast
course in June. That was just one stop on Beirne’s
scorching summer tour, which included a victory
at the CSGA Russell Palmer Cup in May and a
tie for fifth at the Ike championship. He showed
determination as he went about his business for
the entire tournament, shooting even par in
stroke play qualifying and coolly dispatching each
of his match play opponents. Beirne consistently
hit fairways and greens, playing solid, smart golf
all week en route to winning the MGA’s most
prestigious amateur title.
Met Amateur Championship – Quick Facts
Field & format: 74 players; 36 holes of stroke play qualifying; top 16 advance
to match play
Stroke play medalist: Cameron Wilson ( 66-69—135)
Semifinalists: Evan Beirne, Bethpage; Alex Edfort, Neshanic Valley; Tommy
McDonagh, Shorehaven; Cameron Wilson, Shorehaven
Finalists: Beirne and Wilson
Winning performance: Beirne putted lights-out, sinking putts of between 10
and 35 feet to birdie four holes in a row, and five out of six, during the
second round of the final.
Turning point: Holding a 3-up lead through 22 holes in the final, Beirne hit his
approach shot on the par-three fifth hole to the front section of the green,
about 35 feet uphill to the hole. He drained the long-distance putt and
began his four-hole birdie run two holes later.
It was over when: Beirne grabbed an 8 up lead with 8 holes to play. As
talented a player as Wilson is, it would have taken a handful of miracles to
make that kind of comeback.
In the champion’s words: “This means so much to me after last year,” said an
emotional Beirne, referring to his 2009 foot surgery that shelved him for
five months. “You see stories like this and hear of people coming back
from injuries, but to actually experience it and feel that, especially at this
tournament, with so many great players, is even more special.”
