Palazzolo, Lee Share Medal At 94th Junior Championship

With nine players shooting par or better, the surviving 16 players who enter Wednesday’s Round of 16 for match-play in the 93rd NJSGA William Y. Dear Junior Championship comprises one of the strongest fields ever.

Vince Palazzolo of Colts Neck, 17, and Leo Leonard of Darlington, 17, shared medalist honors with rounds of 2-inder-par 69 at the 6,293-yard Suburban Golf Club in Union.

Just one shot behind were Thomas LaMorte of White Beeches, 18, Dawson Jones of Eagle Ridge, 16, and Evan Quinn of New Jersey National, 16.

Last year’s champion, 19-year-old Max Greyserman of Crestmont last week became one of the youngest ever to win the State Open.

The Round of 16 match-play begins Wednesday morning with quarterfinal matches slated for the afternoon. The semifinals and final matches are schedule for Thursday.

LEADERBOARDS, MATCH-PLAY BRACKETS PHOTO GALLERY

In the 44thBoys Championships, a pair of 15-year-olds, Chris Gotterup of Rumson and Jimmy Criscione of Paramus shot 2-under-par 69s over a slightly shorter course of 6,057 yards. They will be the top seeds in the Boys’ Round of 16 which will be played concurrently with the Junior Championship.

Palazzolo is a recent graduate of Christian Brothers Academy and will enter George Washington University and play golf there in the fall. He turns 18 on October 10. He was runner-up in the Met Boys championshio in 2011.

This summer, Palazzolo made the cut at the State Amateur and qualified but missed the cut at last week’s State Open.

“I switched putters on Sunday, going from a blade to a mallet and I putted a lot better. I had three birdies and one bogey but made a lot of up and downs. I also struggled with my driver, but today I played smart. It was the first time I played the course and it set up nicely for me,” said Palazzolo, who will compete in the Carter Cup matches at Baltusrol next week and has been selected to play in the 18-and-under Williamson Cup at Laval sur le Lac Club in Quebec next month.

He will also play in 46th Trusted Choice Big "I" National Championship at the Pete Dye Club in Bridgeport, West Virginia, beginning August 5.

Lee will be 17 on August 11 and will be a senior at Ramapo High School. He is playing in the Junior Championship for the first time and his 69 was a career low, two shots better than the previous-best 71 he shot at the IMG Junior Championship at Grand Cypress, Fla., last November.

“Suburban is one of the tightest courses I’ve ever played, but it is in excellent condition,” said Lee, who led his high school division in scoring average this spring. “I used my driver once today. I got a 3-iron utility club four months ago that I was hitting 240 yards off the tee all day. Being co-medalist here is about progression and patience for me.”

LaMorte this summer has qualified for the U.S. Amateur. The graduate of Demarest High School will attend Campbell College in North Carolina. He won the State Group 3 championship and was the runner-up in the scholastic Tournament of Champions this spring.

Jones last week won the Met Junior at Rockaway River. The rising senior at Howell High School on Monday qualified for the Met Open at Forest Hill Field Club. This spring he won the Wall Invitational, the Monmouth County and Shore Conference championships. He marred his scorecard with a triple bogey on the par-4 18th hole.

Quinn shot a career-best 66 in winning a state high school sectional championship at Darlington while playing for Morristown High School where he will be a junior this fall. He also won the Morris County championship and led Morristown to sixth place in the high school championship.

Gotterup turned 15 on July 20. His career best was a 66 at Suburban in a practice round on July 9. The rising sophomore at Christian Brothers Academy last week placed in the Top 15 in the Callaway World Juniors in San Diego. He was second in the Donald Ross championship for 14-and-under boys this past December.

Criscione was a member of Bergen Catholic’s state championship team. The rising sophomore had the low score of 216 at the American High School Championships at St Andrews last month in leading Bergen Catholic to the team title.

On Monday he scored a hole-in-one at Valley Brook in a Pioneer Tour event that he won with a 69. Last summer he won six Pioneer Tour events including the championship.

“This course fit my eye. I love hitting it low and running it up the fairway,” Criscione said.