Mad Max
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- June
- 13
Former Rye standout Max Buckley returned to the Metropolitain area after spending a season at The International Junior Golf Academy in Hilton Head, S.C. Apparently, the year of focusing on golf has paid off.
Buckley went through five opponents this past week to capture the WGA’s 89th Westchester Amateur Championship at Rockrimmon Country Club in Stamford. It’s a huge accomplishment for the 18-year-old who plays out of Westchester Hills Country Club, surpassing his victory in last summer’s MGA Carter Cup as the biggest win of his career.
Buckley, last year’s high school Journal News Player of the Year, will play at SMU in Dallas, Texas next year. He defeated Orange County Country Club’s Sean Curtain 5 and 4 in the 36-hole championship match.
Speaking of former TJN Player of the Years, it’s been a pretty good run. Michael Quagliano (Ardsley – 2003) is playing in the U.S. Open after nearly winning medalist honors in a Memphis, Tennessee qualifier that featured dozens of PGA Tour pros.
Brian Bartow (Rye Neck – 2006) has already qualified for a host of big local events this Summer, including the WGA Amateur in which he made it to the quarterfinals before losing to Curtain.
Who will be this year’s player(s) of the year for Westchester/Putnam and Rockland? Stay tuned to see in our seasonal All-Star/All-County sections that will come out sometime in July…
