When all hope was lost, the golf gods reversed themselves. Matt Stasiak of Fox Valley Club was four under par for the day on the 17th tee. He walked off the penultimate green two under, having double-bogied the 395 yard hole. Victor Fox had led the tournament since round one and he strode to the final tee with a two-stroke advantage. Minutes later, Stasiak had birdied the 418-yard finisher while Fox had made six. The three-stroke swing made Stasiak the 2013 New York state amateur champion.
The 36-hole finishing day demanded the greatest of endurance from the leading competitors. Stasiak’s six-birdie 69 in the afternoon was one of four rounds in the 60s all week and the one that mattered most. Trevor Sluman, who battled with Stasiak and Fox all week for the title, made bogey on the 72nd hole when birdie would have earned a playoff.
Sluman marked down 16 birdies over the four rounds, while Fox also had 16 and Stasiak posted 18. All golfers fell victim to big numers at Schuyler Meadows Club in Loudonville (north of Albany). Stasiak had one double each round, while Fox and Sluman each counted two. Unfortunately for Victor Fox, both of his large numbers came in the final round, when momentum was key.
Stasiak added a second NYSGA championship to his 2013 tally, In May, he and East Aurora resident Jonathan Clark (currently competing in the Porter Cup) won the Four-Ball Championship at Leatherstocking golf club in Cooperstown.
Other Buffalo-area golfers to complete four rounds were:
Jiim Scorse, Stafford CC. T4
Thad Wier, Springville CC, T24
Billy Gaffney, Crag Burn, 27th
Andy Bernatovicz, River Oaks, 28th
Kenneth Riter, park Club, T2
