Close to a quarter-century had passed since any Central New York golfer had claimed the title at the New York State Men’s Amateur tournament – until Baldwinsville’s Tyler McArdell broke that drought.
On Aug. 11 at Mohawk Golf Club in Schenectady, McArdell’s brilliant effort in the 36-hole finale helped him defeat Jack Gianniny by two strokes for the amateur title. New Hartford’s Derek Bard finished third.
In doing so, McArdell became the first local golfer to win the State Amateur since Todd Dischinger in 1992, doing so with a steady finish where he avoided bogeys on the last four holes and, by doing so, claimed the title.
In years past, the State Amateur was an event dominated – and usually won – by younger golfers who see regular competition in the college ranks, such as Bard, who was runner-up in the 2015 U.S. Amateur and participated in both the Masters and U.S. Open earlier this year.
McArdell, though, does not fit that mold. At 26, he is well past his college days, and has maintained amateur status, tying for 20th in the State Amateur a year ago.
But McArdell, who manages the pro shop at Timber Banks Golf Course, headed to Niskayuna with lots of momentum, having tied for third in a field full of professionals at the New York State Open earlier this summer at Bethpage State Park’s famous Black Course on Long Island.
In the opening round on Aug. 9, McArdell carded a two-under-par 69 on the par-71 Mohawk Golf Club layout, tying Bard for the lead. He only made one bogey, on the par-four 11th, while claiming birdies at 9, 13 and 17.
Four bogeys and three birdies followed in a second-round 72 on Aug. 10. With a midway score of 141, McArdell stood one shot behind Bard and tied with Luke Feehan, but while Feehan would end up in a tie for sixth place, McArdell had no intention of going backward.
The 36-hole finale began on Aug. 11 with a third round where McArdell put plenty of red on his scorecard. Starting on hole no. 10, he birdied four times, offsetting a bogey on 12 and turning in three-under-par 32. An up-and-down second nine included three birdies and three bogeys.
So, with a 68, McArdell began the final round at four-under-par 209, three shots ahead of Bard and Gianniny, a Rochester native who had followed up opening rounds of 71 and 72 with a 69 to vault into contention.
Following a bogey on his opening hole, McArdell netted back-to-back birdies on 3 and 4, and parred the rest of the front nine to turn in 35. Meanwhile, Bard had a front-nine 34 to move within two, but Gianniny made the bigger move, tearing to a front-nine 32 with four birdies on holes 4, 6, 7 and 9.
So McArdell found himself tied with Gianniny. But as the pressure mounted, Gianniny and Bard went backward, as Gianniny recorded four bogeys and two birdies in an up-and-down back-nine 37, while Bard did not make a single birdie the rest of the way.
Still, McArdell had to play clutch golf – and he did. Following a bogey on 10 to drop one back, he birdied 12 as Gianniny bogeyed to retake the lead by one. A birdie on 13 pulled Gianniny back even, and he took a one-shot lead when McArdell bogeyed 14.
It turned on the par-three 15th, a 150-yard beauty that is Mohawk’s signature hole. Gianniny bogeyed it as McArdell parred, tying it again, and on the par-four 16th McArdell surged ahead with a clutch birdie as, again, Gianniny bogeyed.
