Andrew Svoboda not only made the weekend, he kept on climbing the leaderboard at the Rex Hospital Open, closing 65-69 at TPC Wakefield Plantation in Raleigh, N.C. to finish in a 14th-place tie.

The Mamaroneck native got in via Monday qualifier.

Svoboda was 11-under for the event, his first this season on the Nationwide Tour. He rolled in 14 birdies yesterday and today.

Dylan Newman of New Rochelle fired a 2-over 74 and is three strokes off the lead after the first day of the New York State Open at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Course in Ithaca.

Newman is in third place overall, one stroke ahead of Mark Mumford of Rye and Mike Miller of Brewster, and two in front of Mahopac’s Marisa Kamelgarn.

Yes, Kamelgarn, the lone female in the 99-golfer field, is in the hunt for a state championship. On a blustery day in Ithaca, her length off the tee was actually an advantage. She made some great up-and-downs for pars while other golfers had balls blowing all over the place.

Kamelgarn usually downplays all of her success. Today, though, you could see she was thrilled. She even admitted to being shocked herself at the fact she enters the second day in a tie for five-way tie for eighth place.

Section 1 as a team was sensational. All nine golfers shot 81 or better, which is a great score considering the conditions. It’s in second place in the team standings behind Section 5 of Rochester, which leads by nine strokes.

Here are the rest of Section 1’s scores through the first round:

Luke Feehan, Mahopac 38-39-77
Joe Raitano, Mahopac 38-40-78
Derrick Kim, Clarkstown North 41-38-79
Matt Richard, Lourdes 38-42-80
Stuart Kaufman, Byram Hills 41-40-81

Be back in a bit with more information and hopefully tomorrow’s tee times when they’re released.

Arrived at Cornell around 3 o’clock this afternoon. It’s been four years since I’ve covered this event. I forgot how, er, lovely the town of Ithaca is this time of year.

It’s actually beautiful out today and expects to be nice over the next two days for the tournament. The nine Section 1 respresentatives got in practice rounds yesterday and today and are all set for the event. Here’s what times and where they’ll tee off tomorrow:

Round 1 Pairings
Tee 1
9:24 a.m.: Stuart Kaufman, Byram Hills
9:56 a.m.: Luke Feehan, Mahopac
10:20 a.m.: Dylan Newman, New Rochelle
10:52 a.m.: Mark Mumford, Rye

Tee 10
9:08 a.m.: Marisa Kamelgarn, Mahopac
9:32 a.m.: Derrick Kim, Clarkstown North
10:04 a.m.: Mike Miller, Brewster
10:36 a.m.: Joe Raitano, Mahopac
11:00 a.m.: Matt Richard, Lourdes

I’ll be checking in throughout the day with live updates from the course. I’ll do my best to give as much info as possible. It all depends on my wireless internet capabilities.

Andrew Svoboda followed up an opening-round 68 with a 71 today at the Rex Hospital Open at TPC Wakefield Plantation in Raleigh, N.C. and is 3-under heading into the weekend.

He is tied for 58th, six shots off the lead.

The Mamaroneck resident qualified for the Nationwide Tour event on Monday, and could earn a spot in the field next week if he can finish inside the top 10.

On the PGA Tour, Johnson Wagner missed the cut at the Colonial, and will have a third weekend off in the last four events.

Kevin and I got to sneak out of work and play golf with the boss, Henry Freeman, yesterday. We aren’t revealing scores in the interest of maintaining credibility on the course, but we had an outstanding time with the golfers who came to Sleepy Hollow for the 28th Westchester Golf Association Caddie Scholarship Fund Pro-Am.

The event raised $85,000 for a program that was started in 1956 by the late Udo Reinach and Willie Turnesa. To date, the fund has distributed more than $9 million. In the last school year, 270 students from 61 member clubs received financial aid.

Here are the results:

PRO AM RESULTS:

8:30 SHOTGUN – – ALL TIES DECIDED BY BLIND DRAW. GROSS IS PREFERENCE PRIZE.

LOW PROFESSIONALS
66 COLIN AMARAL Metropolis CC
68 DAN BALIN Burning Tree CC
69 HEATH WASSEM Fenway GC

MORNING TEAM LOW GROSS
64 DAN BALIN Burning Tree CC
James Carey Burning Tree CC Titleist Driver
Steve Bensinger Burning Tree CC  Titleist Driver
John Troy Burning Tree CC Titleist Driver

65 GREG BISCONTI St. Andrew’s GC
Tom Martin St. Andrew’s GC Scotty Cameron Putter
Larry Coben St. Andrew’s GC Scotty Cameron Putter
Victor Von Klemperer St. Andrew’s GC Scotty Cameron Putter

65 KEVIN SPRECHER Sleepy Hollow CC
Kevah Konner Fairview CC Titleist Golf Bag
Drew Murray Sleepy Hollow CC Titleist Golf Bag
Fred Putney Sleepy Hollow CC Titleist Golf Bag

65 HEATH WASSEM Fenway GC
Jason Monroe Fenway GC Vokey Wedge by Titleist
Marc Lisker Fenway GC Vokey Wedge by Titleist
Glen Fuhrman Fenway GC Vokey Wedge by Titleist

PRO AM RESULTS CONTINUED:

MORNING TEAM LOW NET
58 BEN HOFFHINE Wykagyl CC
Neil Clark Wykagyl CC Titleist Driver
Joe Miressi Wykagyl CC  Titleist Driver
Robert Ivosevich Wykagyl CC  Titleist Driver

60 CLAUDIA BEAUCHESNE Ridgeway CC
Ken Iscol Rockrimmon CC Scotty Cameron Putter
Martin Goldstein Rockrimmon CC Scotty Cameron Putter
Lloyd Heller Rockrimmon CC Scotty Cameron Putter

60 GRANT TURNER Siwanoy CC
John Conner Siwanoy CC Titleist Golf Bag
Charlie Parkhurst Apawamis Club Titleist Golf Bag
Michael Shaffer Unaffiliated Titleist Golf Bag

61 JIM FATSI Brooklawn CC
Bill Wallace Brooklawn CC Vokey Wedge by Titleist
Pat McCormack Brooklawn CC Vokey Wedge by Titleist
John Eck Brooklawn CC Vokey Wedge by Titleist

1:30 SHOTGUN – – ALL TIES DECIDED BY BLIND DRAW. GROSS IS PREFERENCE PRIZE.

LOW PROFESSIONALS
66 DAVID YOUNG Sleepy Hollow CC
68 KYLE BAEHLER Apawamis Club
70 BOBBY HEINS Old Oaks CC

AFTERNOON TEAM LOW GROSS
61 DAVID YOUNG Sleepy Hollow CC
Rob Rusk Sleepy Hollow CC Titleist Driver
Phil Cuthbertson Sleepy Hollow CC Titleist Driver
Jeff Howe Sleepy Hollow CC Titleist Driver

65 KYLE BAEHLER Apawamis Club
Lee Paton Apawamis Club Scotty Cameron Putter
Steve Delaney Apawamis Club Scotty Cameron Putter
Richard Oleson Apawamis Club Scotty Cameron Putter

66 JOHN DEIGAN Wykagyl CC
Chris Silo Wykagyl CC Titleist Golf Bag
James Martell Wykagyl CC Titleist Golf Bag
Tom Lanning Unaffiliated Titleist Golf Bag

67 MARK WANSER Salem GC
David Lee Salem GC Vokey Wedge by Titleist
Robert DiGilio Salem GC Vokey Wedge by Titleist
Trevor Franklin Salem GC Vokey Wedge by Titleist

After winning the last two Catholic State Championship in playoffs, Jon Renza realized what it’s like to be on the other side.

The Fordham Prep junior was beaten in the first sudden-victory playoff hole by St. Joseph’s freshman James Blackwell after both shot an even-par 73 at James Baird State Park today. Renza bogeyed the hole (thanks in part to some suspicious yardage marking). The 15-year-old Blackwell hit a brilliant 120-yard approach from under a tree and had a 20-foot birdie putt lip out.

It was still good enough for the title for Blackwell, who’s a name everyone should learn. He grew up in Buffalo, hits the ball a mile and is still a pretty raw talent. The kid’s got guts, though. He sank a 40-footer for birdie on 18 to fall into a tie with Renza, and was poised enough to hit that incredible shot in the playoff.

Renza, meanwhile, was in the fairway, 120 yards from the green in the playoff. But just like he did during his round on the par-4 first hole, he skied the green and landed on a hill behind it. He had a chance to get up and down for par but didn’t make the 10-footer.

Unfortunately, Renza will be the lone local CHSAA golfer at the Federation tournament (June 7 in Elmira). It will be his third trip. He finished second as a freshman and third last year.

Here’s how the other locals did today:

Paul Toohey (Fordham Prep) 38-40-78; Joe Collins (Stepinac) 38-40-78; Joe Patalano (Iona Prep) 40-38-78; Teddy Morrissey (Fordham Prep) 38-41-79; Shane Malloy (Iona Prep) 37-43-80; Rich Korzelius (Iona Prep) 38-42-80; John Hough (Fordham Prep) 41-40-81; Ryan Hudson (Iona Prep) 41-40-81; Brian Cioffi (Fordham Prep) 42-42-84; John Martinelli (Iona Prep) 45-40-85; Mike Collins (Stepinac) 45-45-90; James Chimelli (Stepinac) 44-47-91; Rocco Miani (Stepinac) 48-45-93.

I spoke to Renza for a while afterwards and, like always, he was pretty upbeat. Why wouldn’t he be? Deep down he knows playoffs can be flukey, even if he’s won the last two. He was also just 24 hours removed from leading Fordham Prep to a CHSAA championship.

The Rams beat Iona Prep in a thriller, 3-2, at Pelham Bay Golf Course. While Renza and Paul Toohey won their respective matches for Fordham — and Ryan Hudson and John Martinelli won theirs for Iona — the match came down to John Hough vs. Joe Patalano. Hough, a Fordham Prep senior, won it on the 17th as the Rams claimed back-to-back titles.

You never know who’s going to reach Federations, but I think Renza has as good of a chance to win as anyone. He’s excelled on the course in the past and, perhaps losing today will motivate him even more.

I’m heading up to Cornell tomorrow for the NYSPHSAA Championship. I’ll check in tomorrow with news and notes from the practice rounds before the 36-hole tournament starts on Sunday.

Michael Quagliano started the final round of the NCAA championship in a fifth-place tie, but closed with a 78 at Inverness today and finished the event at 5-over.

He tied for 31st.

The Ardsley native who is a senior at Duke shot a 67 in Round 2 to move into contention, but carded three bogeys and one double through five holes before regrouping and playing 2-over the rest of the way.

The Blue Devils finished 14th overall.

If you don’t have plans to browse the mammoth merchandise tent next month at Bethpage, you can still pick up a unique souvenir from the 109th U.S. Open.

Individual scoring sheets from the manual scoreboards will be auctioned online to benefit the Metropolitan Golf Association Foundation and the Long Island Caddie Scholarship Fund. Every single player in the field is up for grabs from Tiger Woods on down the list.

A preview is available by clicking here.

Each strip will be validated by the USGA, and bidding will open June 15 at 9 a.m. and close on June 23 at 5 p.m.

Who needs Mike Miller?

Apparently, Brewster doesn’t. Somehow the Bears captured the Section 1 Team Championship today at Centennial Golf Club, beating Scarsdale and Arlington, while Miller was home sick. Miller flew back from a tournament in Florida well past midnight last night and returned with a potential case of strep throat.

In his place, Ian Fleming carded an impressive round of 1-under 35 as Brewster compiled a 211 aggregate, ahead of Scarsdale at 214 and Arlington at 223.

Despite rainy and cold conditions, Mike Cavalieri turned in a round of 4-over 40 for Brewster and Dan Blumberg shot a 42. Marc Delzio’s 46 and a 48 from junior Joe Fanelli was just enough to capture the title. Fanelli, filling in for Miller, was playing only his second match of the season.

I spoke with Miller’s father, Bob, who said Mike was in pretty bad shape at home. The state tournament is only four days away and Mike should be fine by Sunday morning’s opening round. Whether he can play in the practice rounds on Friday and Saturday is uncertain.

For Scarsdale, Maqy Quartner had the low round of 39. David Spiro shot 41 and Robert Gelber had a 42. Andrew Graham and Alex Frost were the low for Arlington at 43.

Andrew Svoboda fired a 66 in a Monday qualifier to gain entrance into this week’s Rex Hospital Open, a Nationwide Tour event in Raleigh, N.C.

There were seven spots up for grabs, with a field of 123 playing at Grandover Resort.

Svoboda, a Mamaroneck native and former St. John’s standout who’s been working at Old Oaks with Bobby Heins, tees off at TPC Wakefield Plantation at 2:05 p.m. on Thursday afternoon. Svoboda will be playing in a U.S. Open sectional qualifier at Old Oaks and Century on June 8.