The final nine holes of the 69th MGA Public Links Championship, contested on July 7th, featured a stacked leaderboard with several competitors having a shot at claiming victory at Spook Rock Golf Course, but St. Thomas Aquinas College junior Michael Miranda of Pine Ridge came away with the two shot victory, closing the day with a stellar 5-under par 67 and a 2-under par 142 tournament total.
Miranda began the championship with a 3-over 75, and stood six shots off the morning pace of 3-under 69 set by Nick Dilio of Casperkill and Gray Barnes of Centennial.
While Miranda began his afternoon with a bogey on the par-4 10th, he fought back with four birdies and a bogey to make the turn in 2-under, moving to 1-over for the championship. But, the rising Spartan really began to make his move shortly after the turn. Miranda, who fired an incredible round of 11-under 60 en route to a collegiate win last fall at the Dowling College September Shootout, birdied three straight holes on numbers 2 through 4. He carded a bogey on the par-5 sixth, but finished strongly with a five-foot birdie on the par-4 ninth, securing his two-shot win.
The top-five finishers will receive an automatic exemption into the 2017 MGA Public Links Championship, which will take place at Ballyowen Golf Club in Hamburg, N.J. Miranda also receives an exemption into the 2016 Met Amateur at Country Club of Fairfield, in addition to 100 MGA Player of the Year points.
The MGA Public Links Championship, the oldest public links championship in the nation, is contested over 36 holes and is open to male amateur golfers who reside in the MGA territory and do not have playing privileges at a course at which the general public is excluded. Competitors must have a Handicap Index of 8.0 or below. Five sectional qualifying rounds were held throughout the Met Area to determine the final field.