Pasternak takes 50th Boys title; Match Play Bracket Set for Junior Championship
August 24, 2020 - Liam Pasternak of Essex Fells carded a two-over-par 74 to win the 50th NJSGA/William Y. Dear Boys Championship by four strokes over runner-up Lance Hollingshead of Trump National-Bedminster on Monday at the par-72, 6,728-yard Watchung Valley Golf Club in Watchung.
In the concurrent stroke-play qualifying for the 99th NJSGA/William Y. Dear Junior Championship, Travis Dix of Eagle Oaks fired a six-under-par 66 to claim medalist honors by one shot over Cole Ekert of Fairmount. Michael Foley of Lake Mohawk was third at 70.
The top 15 players who shot 74 or better return on Tuesday for match play. The top seed, defending champion Dean Greyserman of Hamilton Farm, was exempt from Monday’s stroke play qualifying and is assigned the No. 1 seed for match play. The quarterfinals are set for Tuesday afternoon; the semifinals and final matches take place on Wednesday.
Pasternak’s 74 also earned him a spot in match play of the Junior Championship. Following him and Hollingshead (78) in the Boys’ Championship were Derek Gutierrez of Plainfield West at 79, and a four-way tie at 82 that included Holden Schipper of Neshanic Valley, Jake Morgan of Deer Run, Henry Bolster of Canoe Brook and Sam Dolan of Basking Ridge.
“I know this course, and I like it a lot,” said Pasternak, 13, a rising eighth-grader who lives in Morristown. “I shot 73 here about six weeks ago in a qualifier for the Met Junior. “I knew I could score on the back nine and I shot even par there today.
In the space of little more than a year, Pasternak has seen his handicap drop from a 7.4 to its current 2.4.
“I’ve been working really hard on my short game. I did well on my chipping. And putting has always been a strength of mine,” said Liam, the son of Essex Fells Country Club General Manager Dan Pasternak, the 2018 PGA National Golf Professional of the Year.
Noted his coach, Matt Wilson of Baltusrol: “Liam has improved quite a bit. He loves the game and works extremely hard. He’s a great putter and we’re working to refine his wedge play. He’s already exceptional for his age from tee to green.”
Dix began the lowest competitive round of his career with an eagle on the par-4 first hole.
“I hit the ball great and made a lot of putts. I work hard every day, and this year, I’ve really improved my iron play,” said Dix, an incoming freshman on the Monmouth University team.
Just six weeks ago, Dix shot 75 in the Met Junior qualifier at Watchung Valley. “I just putted a lot better,” said Dix, who this year won the New Jersey PGA Junior Cup. “I’d love to win this. It would mean a lot because it’s my last junior event and it would be the biggest thing I’ve ever won.”
“He’s won at every level, beginning with the U.S. Kids,” said his father, Wendell Dix, the PGA head professional at Eagle Oaks.
Ekert birdied all four par fives at Watchung Valley on Monday.
“It gives me a lot of confidence, knowing I can play well here. I know there are birdies out there. Hopefully I can make a few in match play,” said Ekert, a rising senior at Chatham High School.
