Silver Spring resident wins Md. Amateur
For Jay Mulieri it was all slipping away — his 3 up lead in the finals, his chance to win the biggest title of his career, his opportunity to make history, joining his brother Mike, the 2008 Maryland Amateur champion.
Recommended Stories
With bad tee shots leading to bogeys at No. 16 and No. 17, Mulieri, 19, had given Silver Spring’s Zach Lese, 25, a chance. When Mulieri did it again at No. 18 Wednesday, pulling his drive into the rough and finding his ball in a horrible lie, he was on the verge of a making history of a different kind, with a humbling collapse.
But with a final brilliant stroke, Mulieri won the tournament. From an awkward bunker, 50 yards out, Mulieri hit his sand wedge pure. The ball came to rest 3 feet from the pin, giving Mulieri a 2 up win over Lese.
“It’s a shot you never practice,” said Mulieri. “At first I was going to hit lob wedge. Then I went to a sand wedge. I wasn’t sure what to do.”
The Mulieris, both players on the golf team this spring at Loyola College, are the first pair of brothers to win the 88-year history of the Maryland Amateur.
“I just talked to [Mike] on the phone. He said it was awesome to have our name on the trophy again,” said Jay Mulieri. “That’s our goal next year – to do it again.”
Mulieri was clutch throughout the tournament. Each of his five match-play victories went the distance, including two that required extra holes.
“I kept telling myself to find a way to get it done,” said Mulieri, a member at Avenel.
