Record-setting title defense for Menante at Northeast Amateur
Dylan Menante (Northeast Amateur photo)
As
Dylan Menante prepared to tee off Saturday for the final round of the Northeast Amateur, it wasn't a question of how but by how many that he would successfully defend his title at Wannamoisett Country Club.
Afterall, the Carlsbad, Calif. native enjoyed an 11-stroke lead on a course he had riddled with birdies at an unprecedented rate in a tournament that has attracted the top amateurs in the game for the last 60 years.
Starting with his opening round 62, Menante showed no signs he was about to relinquish his title anytime soon. When he birdied his final hole on Saturday for a final round 67, the newest North Carolina Tar Heel had established a new 72-hole scoring record at 19-under par to win his second consecutive Northeast Amateur title by nine strokes over
Karl Vilips of Stanford.
Menante's total shattered the previous 72-hole record of 15 under which was reached by Oklahoma State University’s Peter Uihlein (2011) and the University of Southern California’s Justin Suh (2018).
“It is cool to be able to win here again,” said Menante. “I am not sure if the redesign of the golf course will yield lower scores in the future. Only time will tell but breaking the tournament record means a lot.”
With the win, Menante becomes the fifth player in the history of the Northeast Amateur to successfully defend his title, joining Ronnie Quinn (1964-65), John Cook (1978-79), renowned amateur R. Jay Sigel (1984-85) and Luke Donald (2000-01) to accomplish this feat.
Menante also matches Cook’s biggest margin of victory at nine shots, which is the largest in tournament history. Cook won by nine in 1979, which was the second of his consecutive titles.
“This week was all about grit and determination,” said Menante. “I don’t hit it as solid as a lot of the players here, but my short game made up for it. My putter was far better than any other club in my bag.”
Vilips shot the lowest final round on Saturday, carding a 6-under 63 to lock up a solo second place finish, while Tennessee-bound
Caleb Surratt finished third at 8-under 268.
Dalton Balthaser of the Northeast Amateur contributed to this report
ABOUT THE
Northeast Amateur
The Northeast Amateur has a historic list of winners,
including Ben Crenshaw, Dustin Johnson, Collin
Morikawa, Luke
Donald,
Scott Hoch, John Cook, Hal Sutton, and David Duval.
It
has been annually held at the Donald Ross-designed
Wannamoisett Country Club since 1962. The event
is
limited to 90 elite players; there is a cut after 54
holes
and the entire tournament is played in twosomes.
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