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Matt Mattare qualifies for his fifth U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship
September 20, 2018
BLUE BELL, PA– Lower Saucon Township native Matt Mattare holed out a 123-yard wedge shot for eagle on the first sudden-death playoff hole Monday, August 20 at Cedarbrook Country Club to successfully qualify for the 38th U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship
Matt Mattare, one of the nation’s finest amateur golfers, qualified for his fifth U.S. Mid-Amateur.
Mattare shot 1-under–par 71 to gain a place in a 12-player playoff for the two remaining qualifying spots. Playing in the third foursome on the par-4 first hole, Mattare drove into some light rough, then holed out his approach shot for an eagle.
The 32-year-old Mattare was one of six golfers in the field to advance to the championship, to be played September 22-27, 2018 at Charlotte Country Club and Carolina Country Club in Charlotte, North Carolina.
“I hit it perfectly,” Mattare said. “It had a nice little drift to the right. It landed, took one bounce, and rolled into the cup.”
Jason Wilson, a 44-year-old South Whitehall Township resident, also shot 71 and participated in the playoff. He bogeyed the first playoff hole, and was eliminated.
In 2017, Mattare won the Philadelphia Open and Metropolitan Golf Association MET Amateur.
Mattare is the first golfer from the Lehigh Valley to win the prestigious MET Amateur; one of the country’s top regional amateur golf competitions. Mattare was the 2017 Golf Association of Philadelphia Player of the Year.
Mattare is the son of Gene Mattare, the Saucon Valley Country Club General Manager and Director of Golf. Gene Mattare was inducted into the Lehigh Valley Golf Hall of Fame in 2012.
A Lower Saucon Township native, Mattare is a former Central Catholic golfer (2004) and 2008 University of Notre Dame graduate. As a senior in 2003 at Central Catholic, Mattare qualified for the PIAA state championship tournament.
Mattare previously qualified for four U.S. Mid-Amateur Championships:
1. he was a quarterfinalist in the 2012 U.S. Mid-Amateur at Conway Farms Golf Club in Lake Forest, Illinois
2. earned qualifying medalist honors in the 2013 U.S. Mid-Amateur at the Country Club of Birmingham, Alabama
3. advanced to the sweet 16 in the 2014 U.S. Mid-Amateur at Saucon Valley Country Club
4. lost in a playoff to advance to match play in 2016 at the Stonewall Links in Elverson, Pa.
Mattare won the 2008 Lehigh Valley Medal Play Championship, and 2008 Eastern Pennsylvania Amateur en route to earning the 2008 Lehigh Valley Player of the Year award.
Other big amateur victories for Mattare include the 2016 Philadelphia Middle-Amateur, 2011 Lehigh Valley Inter-Club Championship, 2010 Washington (D.C.) Metropolitan Golf Association 91st Metropolitan Amateur Championship, and the 2010 Northern Virginia Amateur.
Mattare was the runner-up in the 2017 New Jersey Mid-Amateur, tied for third place in the 2016 Philadelphia Open, and was the 2012 MET Amateur runner-up.
A financial advisor with Morgan Stanley, Mattare works both in Allentown and in Greenwich, Conn. He resides in Jersey City, NJ. He is a member at Saucon Valley Country Club.
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