Cox Claims Medalist Honors as Match Play Begins at 43rd Mid-Amateur Championship
DEMAREST, N.J. –– Cody Cox out of Black Oak Golf Club shot a 1-under par 71 on Tuesday to earn medalist honors in the 43rd Mid-Amateur Championship at Alpine Country Club.
Cox, 31, rattled off five birdies throughout his round, two of which followed up a double bogey on the 404-yard par 4 15th hole to make his way back to the top of the leaderboard. A closing par on No. 18, the 570-yard downhill par 5, rounded out the day for Cox to take the lead in the clubhouse.
“I had an idea of how I wanted to play the golf course and stroke play,” Cox remarked after his round. “Even though I had one bad hole where I missed it in the wrong spot, I had my game plan to fall back on. I was able to lock back in and make a good swing on the next hole.”
Layered with steep hills and spanning a total of 6,791 yards, Alpine proved to be a challenging test for the field of advancing golfers.
“Great golf course,” Cox said. “The greens are awesome. A lot of undulation. They make you really careful about where you place your ball. It’s a great test of golf, and I think it’s going to be a great match play course.”
Cox will take the No. 1 seed and play against Brandon Capone, of Mercer Oaks Golf Club, during the Round of 16 Wednesday morning.
“The first goal is always to make it to match play, because anything can happen once you get to match play,” Cox said. “It’s certainly nice to play a good round and post a good score.”
With an even-par, 72, Sean Vowells, of Canoe Brook Country Club, followed behind Cox on the leaderboard. The 25-year-old carded six birdies through an up-and-down round that saw six off-setting bogeys across his scorecard.
“The number on the card is the number on the card,” Vowells remarked after his round. “You just have to hit it straight and I was good at that today. If you can do that, you can attack some of these holes.”
With his Four-Ball partner Henry Bolster on the bag, Vowells felt confident on a tough Alpine course.
Rounding out the third top spot of the leaderboard, Andrew Biggadike, of The Ridgewood Country Club, shot a 1-over par 73 on Tuesday afternoon. A bogey-free back nine, coupled with some saving birdies on his front nine, powered Biggadike through the rest of the leaderboard and afternoon.
“I got off to a really crazy start,” Biggadike said after his round. "After I made double, I felt like I needed to buckle down and try to grind out a lot of pars.”
“I had some good looks, I just couldn't get any of the birdie putts to drop on the back nine.
Brandon Dalinka, Eric LeFante, and Austin Devereux completed the list of former champions who made the cut to advance to the Round of 16 on Wednesday.
Dalinka, of Baltusrol Golf Club, shot a 2-over par 74 to move on to the second day of competition. The 2018 and 2022 Mid-Amateur Champion fired in two closing birdies on holes 17 and 18 to take the No. 4 seed.
“I hit the ball really well today,” Dalinka said following his round. “The greens are incredibly fast, so it’s tough to make putts, but just keep the ball in front of you and hopefully play well again tomorrow.”
There was a 7-for-2 playoff to determine the final spots in the match play bracket.
The Round of 16 of the Mid-Amateur Championship will take place on Wednesday, June 3 beginning at 7:30 a.m. at Alpine. Quarterfinals will follow in the afternoon.
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