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22 Years Later, Alfieri Raises Trophy Again

May 16, 2021


JUPITER, Fla. – Twenty-two years ago, a 30-year-old Joe Alfieri captured the Mid-Amateur Championship. On Sunday, a 52-year-old Joe Alfieri raised the trophy Mid-Amateur again.

Alfieri defeated Garrett Morrison, 3 and 2, on Sunday to take home the victory at the 40th Mid-Amateur Championship at The Club at Admiral’s Cove. The Lutz native becomes just the seventh player to win two Mid-Amateur titles in FSGA history, after winning the championship in 1999 at Timuquana Country Club.

"It means a lot. To be able to stay that competitive for that long. Especially in the state of Florida, where I feel like we have the best competition," Alfieri said. "My game has been trending for the last month in the right direction and this proves that even further."

Stroke Play Seeding Rounds

Sean Fromme set the pace in the first round of stroke-play seeding, posting a 4-under 68 on Thursday. Scott Turner was one-shot back at 1-under 69, while only three other players finished the round under par at 2-under 70: Derek Hurwitch, Gabriel Vanososte and Will Davenport.

Turner carded an even-par 72 in the second round to earn medalist honors at 1-nuder 141, while Miles McConnell posted a 4-under 68 to take the No. 2 seed at even-par 142. A 6-for-4 playoff decided who was moving on to match play, with Steve Carter taking the final spot.

Round of 32

Taking the momentum from stroke play, Turner survived a 20-hole playoff to take down Cater in the Round of 32 on Friday. Matthew Galloway captured a big win to advance to the Round of 16, defeating Robbie Wight, 7 and 5.

After advancing through a playoff, Chip Brooke, the 2016 champion, defeated Miles McConnell, 5 and 4, to advance to the next round. Alfieri and Daniel DeBra picked up solid wins to advance, with DeBra beating Hurwitch, 4 and 3, and Alfieri winning against Richard Donegan, 4 and 2.

It took extra holes to decide a winner for Airik Medinis and Chester VandenBerg. Medinis held the team for a majority of the match, as VandenBerg won two of the final three holes to tie the match and force extra holes. Medinis eventually defeated VandenBerg on the 21st hole.

Round of 16

Davenport and Jose Vega both needed extra holes to punch their ticket into the Quarterfinals. Davenport defeated Cody Carrick in 20 holes on Saturday, while Vega took the win in 20 holes against the defending champion, Joey Latowski.

DeBra also need an extra hole to advance, taking down Carl Santos-Ocampo in 19 holes. Alfieri pick up another stron win, defeating Chris Henderson, 3 and 2.

Brooke secured a spot in the quarterfinals, with a 4-and-2 win over Medinis, while Garrett Morrison overtook Adam Armagost, 1 up.

Quarterfinals

Morrison took a quick lead against Daniel Sellers in their Quarterfinal match on Saturday afternoon, taking the lead on the second hole and never giving it up. He secured his spot in the Semifinals with a 3-and-2 win. Alfieri won two of the first four holes to start the match against Galloway, never letting go of the lead to win 3 and 2.

Brooke won four-straight holes to take down Vega, 4 and 3, and pick up a spot in the Semifinals. After being down for most of the match, DeBra won the last two holes to defeat Davenport, 1 up.

Semifinals

Alfieri took a quick lead over Brooks in the Semifinals on Sunday morning, making the turn, 2 up. Brooks fought back, winning three-straight holes to bring the match back to tied on the 12th. Alfieri came back, winning the 15th and 16th to go 1 up, securing the win 1 up.

DeBra started off strong against Morrison, winning the first three holes to go 2 up. Morrison answered on the back nine, winning the 12th with a birdie to cut the lead to 1 up. He won three-straight holes on No. 14-16 to go 2 up and secure a spot in the Finals, 2 and 1.

Finals

In Sunday’s afternoon's Finals, Alfieri jumped out to a quick lead, winning three of the first five holes, and never looked back. Morrison tried to fight his way back cutting Alifieri lead to 1 up on the 13th, but a birdie on the 16th secured the victory for Alfieri.

"Admiral's Cove was an amazing test this week," Alfieri said. "Extremely difficult, but in a different way. I'd say it fits someone who manages the game a little more methodical. Picking the right spots, fairways and greens were very important, and missing it in the right spots."

Results