A three-hole playoff decides the New Jersey Amateur Golf Championship
DENVILLE – Will Celiberti had 45 minutes to contemplate what went wrong, then spent the next 45 minutes making it right.
Celiberti won the 121st New Jersey Amateur Golf Championship in a three-hole aggregate playoff over fellow collegian William Huang on Wednesday evening at Rockaway River Country Club.
Celiberti went par-birdie-par to win the playoff by two strokes, about 45 minutes after he surrendered a two-shot lead in regulation when Huang birdied the par-5 18th hole and he followed with a bogey.
“I just tried to stay loose,” Celiberti, 21, said of his playoff mindset.
Celiberti, who plays out of Arcola in Bergen County and lives in nearby Ridgewood, won the three-hole playoff, 11-13. He and Huang, representing Springdale, finished four rounds knotted at 7-under-par 281.
Celiberti parred the first playoff hole, the par-5 first, then birdied the par-4 eighth with a putt just inside 10 feet to extend his lead to two strokes. On the par-3 ninth, the rising senior at Maryland hit a 9-iron onto the front of the green and turned it into a tap-in par.
“It takes a lot of effort and grit to not be focused on what you did and what could have been, but focus on what will be soon when you make your shots and make your putts,” said Charlie Cummings, Celiberti's caddie and former teammate at state powerhouse Bergen Catholic.
In the playoff, Huang hurt himself with bad tee shots on the first two holes and went bogey-par-par. On the first hole, he pulled his drive left and into a hazard and suffered a bogey. On the eighth, he hit his tee shot right and onto the cart path and managed par. He parred the ninth.
“I’m really proud of the way that I handled myself,” said Huang, 20, a rising sophomore at Princeton who lives in Jersey City. “And the golf swing has been pretty good, except for the first tee shot of the [playoff].”
Celiberti and Huang each took different paths Wednesday to the playoff. During the morning third round, Celiberti had a "hot putter" and shot a bogey-free, 8-under-par 64 that is believed to have tied the course record. He shot a fourth-round 74. Huang, meanwhile, was stellar for all 36 holes and carded back-to-back 68s.
Bergen County clubs placed three finishers in the top four. Max O’Hagan of Knickerbocker and Chris DeJohn of Arcola, co-leader after Tuesday’s second round, tied for third at 4-under 284. O’Hagan closed with 70, while DeJohn carded 74.
Reed Greyserman of Hamilton Farm was fifth after closing with back-to-back 70s for a 3-under 285. Pat Wilson, also of Hamilton Farm, the first-round leader and second-round co-leader, was sixth after closing with 76 for 2-under 286.
Prior to the playoff, members of Arcola offered Celiberti encouragement, and he appreciated it. During the playoff, the crowd following along was decidedly pro-Celiberti.
“It’s just nice to know Arcola’s such a tight-knit group there,” Celiberti said.
121st New Jersey Amateur Championship
At Rockaway River CC, Denville
Par: 72; Yardage: 6,754
Final
#Will Celiberti, Arcola 71-72-64-74-281
William Huang, Springdale 73-72-68-68-281
Max O'Hagan, NJSGA E-Club 71-71-72-70-284
Chris DeJohn, Arcola 70-69-71-74-284
Reed Greyserman, Hamilton Farm 71-74-70-70-285
Pat Wilson, Hamilton Farm 68-71-71-76-286
Dean Greyserman, Hamilton Farm 69-71-77-71-288
Troy Vannucci, Little Mill 72-74-70-73-289
Cole Ekert, Fairmount 71-73-74-72-290
Jack Simon, Rockaway River 79-71-71-69-290
Brendan Hansen, Spring Lake 71-72-70-77-290
Jason Bataille, Raritan Valley 76-71-70-74-291
John Havay, High Bridge Hills 76-72-73-70-291
Jack Irons, Little Mill 72-74-71-75-292
Melan Dhaubhadel, NJSGA E-Club 70-76-71-76-293
Arjun Malik, Forsgate 75-71-72-75-293
Joey Lostumbo, Stanton Ridge 74-77-71-71-293
Trevor Randolph, Arcola 73-70-76-74-293
Tyler Galantini, Montclair 72-73-76-73-294
Austin Devereux, Manasquan River 76-76-71-72-295
Sean Flanigan, Town and Country 76-73-72-74-295
Michael Brown, Rock Spring 72-76-72-75-295
Barnes Blake, Baltusrol 72-78-76-70-296
Doug Ergood, Tavistock 75-75-74-72-296
Thomas McCarthy, Essex County 74-72-75-76-297
Davis Weil, Ridgewood 76-71-76-74-297
Arav Patel, Forsgate 74-73-78-73-298
Ricky Calve, NJSGA E-Club 74-75-75-74-298
James Arbes, Watchung Valley 73-74-74-78-299
Garrett Kessler, Mountain Ridge 72-78-75-74-299
Zach Mueller, Trump Colts Neck 76-73-75-76-300
Lance Hollingshead, Trump Bedminster 77-73-75-76-301
Adam Fuchs, Colonia 76-75-76-76-303
Benjamin Ortwein, Oak Hill 71-80-81-72-304
Spencer Weiner, NJSGA E-Club 76-76-75-79-306
Gregg Angelillo, Baltusrol 72-74-84-76-306
Mike Paduano, Eagle Oaks 77-75-79-76-307
Jimmy Wolfe, Mercer Oaks 75-77-81-75-308
Edmund Broderick, Fiddler's Elbow 74-77-76-81-308
Jimmy Apostolico, Rockaway River 76-74-78-83-311
Eric Lasota, Colts Neck 73-79-81-79-312
Matt McCormick, Deal 71-79-WD-WD-WD
Ryan Cass, Canoe Brook 77-73-WD-WD-WD
Michael McCrone, Stanton Ridge 77-75-WD-WD-WD
#-Celiberti won 3-hole aggregate playoff
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: A 3-hole playoff decides the New Jersey Amateur Golf Championship
