Registration Closed:
42nd Mid-Amateur Championship

NAPLES, Fla. - Jay Halverson claims his first FSGA Mid-Amateur Championship. Halverson defeated Jonah Wasserstrom 1up at Royal Poinciana Golf Club. The Saint Petersburg native holed a chip from behind the green for birdie on the 18th hole to claim victory. 

Stroke Play Seeding Rounds

The 42nd Mid-Amateur Championship got underway on Wednesday. Will Davenport took the first-round lead with a 4-under 66. In total, 84 players teed it up at Royal Poinciana Golf Club with hopes of advancing to match play.

Davenport got off to a strong start, carding a bogey-free front side with three-straight birdies on Nos. 6-8. He kept it rolling on the back side, playing the first five holes at 3 under. The Palm City native finished the day at 4-under 66 to hold a one-shot lead over the field. Three players sit in a tie for second at 3 under: Nathan Bertsch, Jay Halverson and Tyler Manning.

Stroke play concluded at the 42nd Mid-Amateur Championship at Royal Poinciana Golf Club. 84 players began the Championship and were cut down to the top 32 players for match play. Justin Grant took home medalist honors through the two rounds of stroke play. Meanwhile, 31 players finished at 6-over 146 or better to earn a spot in match play while nine players who finished at 7-over went to a playoff for the final spot.

In the playoff, the 15th hole at Royal Poinciana proved to be a tough hole for the contenders. Of the nine players, six made bogey on the first playoff hole and were eliminated from the Championship. On the third playoff hole Mark Spencer became the 32nd and final player to earn a spot in Match Play.

Round of 32

Early Friday afternoon saw some competitors take care of business, and quickly. Rhett Pooley, Austin Powell, Alex Slaton, Brad Knight, Joseph Latowski, and Jonah Wasserstrom all won before seeing their 16th hole of the match.

Medalist Justin Grant had trouble with the 32-seeded Mark Spencer as Spencer had a 1 up lead with two holes to play. Grant was able to win the 18th hole to force extra holes against Spencer who would be playing his 40th hole of the day and counting. The 2022 Mid-Amateur Stroke Play Champion kept the momentum going and won the first extra hole.

Round of 16

On Saturday morning, four of the eight matches were over quite quickly. Jonah Wasserstrom continued his dominance over top seeded Justin Grant in a 4 & 3 victory. Forty & Over Champion Abbie Valentine won 6 & 5, defending Champion Joey Latowski was victorious 5 & 4, and low amateur at last year’s Florida Open, Nathan Bertsch, won 6 & 4.

Austin Powell won the first hole of his match against Rhett Pooley and never looked back in a 3 & 2 victory. Tied after 15, Christopher Anderson won the 16th and 18th holes to beat Richard Donegan 2up. Despite a fight back by Brian Armstrong, Reid Bedell would win 2 & 1 to advance to the Quarterfinals.

The closest match of the day was between Jay Halverson and Alex Slaton. Halverson early in the match won four straight holes to go 4 up through 8. Slaton would not be fazed and go on a row of his own on the 12th through 17th hole. Erasing a 4 up lead, Slaton won five of six holes to stand on the 18th tee 1 up. A birdie by Halverson forced the duo into extra holes. On the third playoff hole, Halverson would take down Slaton to earn a spot in the Quarterfinals.

Quarterfinals

Joey Latowski found himself 3 down to Christopher Anderson in their quarterfinal match through 13 holes after losing 4 straight holes to start the back nine. To make matters more difficult for the defending Champion, Anderson rolls in a 60-foot birdie putt on the par-3 14th. Unfazed, Latowski would make his birdie putt to halve the hole. This would start a run for Latowski as he won three of the last four holes to force extra holes. On the third extra hole, Latowski would outlast Anderson to claim a spot in the semifinals.

Abbie Valentine and Jonah Wasserstrom would be in a back and forth battle Saturday afternoon. Through seven holes, Valentine won four of them and Wasserstrom three holes to give Valentine a 1 up lead. Then the match went into neutral as the 8th through 13th holes would all be halved. Wasserstrom would take control of the match on the 14th hole by winning there and the 15th hole to take a 1 up lead. A birdie on the 18th was enough for a 2 up victory.

Jay Halverson won three of the first four holes in his match against Austin Powell and never looked back to a 3 & 2 victory. Standing on the 13th hole, Reid Bedell was 1 down to Nathan Bertsch. A birdie-par-birdie run by Bedell would flip the match to 2-up for him and after a concession on the 17th hole by Bertsch, Bedell would find himself in the Semifinals of his first Mid-Amateur Championship.

Semifinals

The morning saw Wasserstrom defeat the defending champion, Joey Latowski, 4 and 3. Wasserstrom took the lead on the fourth hole and never let it go, extending his lead to 4 up on the 11th hole. Latowski tried to stage a comeback winning the 12th and 13th, but Wasserstrom won the next two holes to close out the match and advance. 

Halverson got off to a strong start in his morning match, winning three of his first five holes against Reid Bedell. He took a 3-up lead onto the back nine, before winning the 16th hole to move on to the Finals with a 4-and-2 victory.

Finals

The final match featuring Jonah Wasserstrom and Jay Halverson would get off to a slow start but things would heat up as both players would have looks at birdie on the 7th hole. Wasserstrom from 20 feet would see his putt slide by and Halverson would make his birdie putt to go one up. On the next hole, Wasserstrom out of position short-sided in the front bunker would hit a great shot close enough to force a concession that would halve the hole when Halverson missed his 12 footer for birdie.

On the 9th hole roles would be reversed as Halverson would be in trouble after missing the green on the wrong side while Wasserstrom found the green. A great chip from Halverson would give him an opportunity to salvage a half and go into the back nine with the lead. However, an untimely missed putt after doing the hard work with the chip meant the two would make the turn to the back nine all square.

Wasserstrom’s iron to within 6 feet on the 11th set up a birdie to take the lead but Halverson would quickly answer. Halverson would nearly hole his approach on the 13th and would be quickly conceded by Wasserstrom. With 12 feet to halve the hole, Jonah would not find the bottom of the hole and the match would go back to all square.

The rollercoaster final match saw no slowing down at this point. As the pair traded winning holes with pars, they would step up to the 16th tee all square in the Championship match. Both players would hit the green and two putt for par. On 17, Halverson would miss the green long right while Wasserstrom had 20 feet for birdie. Halverson’s chip would trickle past the hole but inside the length required for a concession. Wasserstrom gave his putt a good effort but would miss and the two would go to the 18th all square.

Halverson missed long of the green to set up a chip shot with the green running away from him, not the shot you wanted on the final hole of the Championship. Meanwhile, Wasserstrom hits his iron to 25 feet and sets up a look at birdie, with par all but solidified. With members of Royal Poinciana Golf Club surrounding the 18th green, Halverson lofted his chip shot onto the green. The ball began to race towards the hole, struck the center of the flagstick, and dropped for a birdie. Wasserstrom would miss his 25 foot birdie putt and Jay Halverson became the 42nd Mid-Amateur Championship. 

Championship Format

• 36 holes of individual gross stroke play. Low 32 scores advance to match play.
• Championship Field Size - 84 players
• There will be a hole-by-hole play-off to determine the last qualifier's place in the Championship immediately - all other ties for seeds will be broken randomly
• The match play round of 32 will begin Friday afternoon
• The round of 16 will be played on Saturday morning and the quarterfinals will begin Saturday afternoon
• Semifinals will be played on Sunday morning and Championship match will be played on Sunday afternoon.

Eligibility 

• Male amateur golfer at least 25 years of age as of the first day of the Championship
• Entrant is required to be an FSGA Adult Member with Florida GHIN of 7.0 or below

Entry Fees

• Qualifying Fee: Qualifying fee includes entry fee and cart fee.
• Championship Fee: Fee paid by those individuals who advance to the Championship through qualifying. Includes tee gifts, course fees, and range balls for each competitive round. Lunch included after the second round of stroke play.
  
• Exempt Fee: Exempt Fee includes Championship fee and entry fee for those individuals eligible for exemption.
• Late entries will be accepted subject to a $10 late entry fee should the entrant gain acceptance into the qualifying field.

Schedule of Events

Thursday, May 11th

• 8:00 AM - 9:57 AM - Tee #1 & #10

Friday, May 12th

• 8:00 AM shotgun start - Round 2 stroke play
• Field is cut to the low 32 for match play; playoff immediately following play to determine the last qualifying position
• Complimentary lunch buffet for competitors following Round 2
• 1:30 PM - Round of 32 match play off #1 and #10 tees

Saturday, May 13th

• 8:00 AM - 8:56 AM - Round of 16 match play off #1 tee
• 12:30 PM - 1:15 PM - Quarterfinals off #1 tee

Sunday, May 14th

• 8:00 AM - 8:15 AM - Semifinals off #1 tee
• 12:15 PM - Final Match off # 1 tee

Pre-Registration 

Those individuals who advance to the Championship through qualifying must pre-register and remit an additional $175 online at www.fsga.org under the "My Account" section, which can be located in the top right hand corner of the web-page.  Payment must be received by Thursday, May 4th by 3:30 pm, or the individual will be withdrawn from the Championship.

To Pre-Register:

• Log on to the FSGA website at www.fsga.org using your email address and password
• Click on "My Account" in the upper right hand corner of the homepage
• Under "My Tournaments", click on the "Pre-Register" button to the right of the tournament name
• Enter your credit card information and then click the "Charge My Card" button on the bottom right hand corner of the page

Refunds, Notice of Withdrawals

Qualifying Entry Fees - Requests for qualifying entry refunds received prior to entry closing date will be honored (less $20 per entry administrative fee). Requests received after the closing date will be honored (less 50% of entry fee). No requests will be honored within two days of the scheduled start date of the qualifier.

Championship Fees & Exempt Entry Fees - Requests for refunds of Exempt or Championship fees prior to the pre-registration deadline will be honored (less $20 per entry administrative fee). No requests will be honored after the pre-registration deadline (See pre-registration date displayed on this page).

Course Set-Up

The golf course will be set-up at approximately 6,800-7,100 yards.

Local Qualifying

18 holes of individual stroke play at 6 qualifying sites.  Cart fees are included in your qualifying fee. The number of qualifying spots will be posted at the host site and will be proportionate to other qualifying sites based on the size of the field. Ties for the last qualifying spot will also qualify (there are no playoffs). Alternates will be determined by ordering the players that just missed qualifying, and ties for alternate spots will be broken by the USGA suggested method (last 9, last 6, last 3, etc.).

Defending Champion

For the second time in three years, Joey Latowski captured the Mid-Amateur Championship. Latowski defeated Jake Sherwin, in 20 holes, on Sunday to take home the victory at the 41st Mid-Amateur Championship at The Oaks Club. The Port Saint Lucie native becomes just the eighth player to win two Mid-Amateur titles in FSGA history, after winning the championship in 2020.

Click here for previous year's results 

Championship Practice Rounds

Practice rounds are available one week prior to the Championship and after 12:00 PM the weekend prior on a space available basis.  The cost of your first practice round is $60 plus tax. Please call (239) 261-2558 to arrange your practice round.

A Golf Genius booking link will be provided after qualifying is complete to book your practice round tee time. The link will be posted under tee times and information and communicated to those players competing in the Championship.

The proper place to practice your golf swing is on the driving range, hitting multiple shots on the course is unacceptable.

Exemptions Earned from this Tournament

Winner

• Next five Mid-Amateur Championships
• Next three Amateur Championships
• Next three Amateur Match Play Championships
• Current year's Florida Open
  

Runner-up

• Next two Mid-Amateur Championships
  

Semi-Finalists

• Next year's Mid-Amateur Championship
• Current year's Amateur Championship
• Current year's Amateur Match Play Championship

Players making match play

• Next year's Senior Amateur Championship

Other Policies

• Spectators and Spectator Cart Policy - Click here.
• Caddies - Caddies are NOT permitted in FSGA Championships and FSGA qualifying rounds per the FSGA Code of Conduct; except at the Florida Open, Florida Women's Open & Senior Open, and the Florida Senior Open Click here.
  
• Championship Pace of Play Policy - Click here.
• Local Rules and Terms of the Competition - Click here.
• Championship Policies - Click here to read the withdrawal, dress code, and other policies.
• Procedures for Alternates - Click here for information on how alternates may gain entry into this Championship.
• Conditions/ Schedule - The FSGA Championships Committee/on-site Rules Committee reserves the right to alter any of the conditions, provisions and/or schedules. The decision of the Championships Committee/on-site Rules Committee in any matter will be final.

Host Hotel

Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort - $249 per night - Click Here to Book Online

Payment

Royal Poinciana Golf Club accepts Visa and MasterCard.

Directions

Royal Poinciana Golf Club
1600 Solana Road
Naples, FL 34105
(239) 261-2558

Click here for directions