McDade Grabs Westchester Open

photo courtesy of Richmond Athletics

Colin McDade became the first amateur in over forty years to win the Westchester Open when he slipped past Cameron Wilson in a three-hole playoff. McDade, who plays out of Winged Foot, also became the first player to hold the Westchester Golf Association's amateur and open titles in the same year since 1962, when it was accomplished by Ralph Ginsberg.

McDade posted 67-68 on the final day of the championship at Manhattan Woods, propelled by an eagle on the 491-yard fifteenth hole. That put him in a tie in regulation with Wilson, who recently captured the MGA's Ike Championship. McDade's finishing putt for the tie, a two-footer on the eighteenth hole, was held up by an hour-long rain delay. Even then, he had to wait for the rest of the field to finish before he knew he was going into the playoff.

Wilson struggled on the third playoff hole, requiring four strokes to reach the green after putting his drive into the fescue and his next shot into an environmental hazard. McDade just missed the fairway with his tee shot, but put his approach safely on the green.

Third place went to Westchester Country Club member Max Buckley. Amateur Dylan Newman of Bonnie Briar stumbled a bit in the third round to end up T7. Low pros in the field were Curtis Loop, who turned pro just before the tournament, and Carl Alexander, the Director of Golf at the Golf Club of Purchase. They split $10,000.

Past champions of the event include Claude Harmon, Doug Ford, Paul Runyon, and Ben Hogan. The Westchester Golf Association has raised over $9 million for the Westchester Caddie Scholarship Fund since it's founding in 1956.

Among many other books, Dave Donelson is the author of Weird Golf: 18 tales of fantastic, horrific, scientifically impossible, and morally reprehensible golf