Giuliani Wins 2006 MGA Player of the Year Award

ELMSFORD, N.Y. -- The MGA announced on Monday that Andrew Giuliani of Van Cortlandt Park Golf Course in the Bronx has won the 2006 Jerry Courville Sr. MGA Player of the Year Award. Giuliani, the son of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and author Donna Hanover, earned 697 points this season and won the award by a 92-point margin over Allan Small of Fairmount. The award will be presented at the MGA’s Annual Meeting and Dinner on December 6th at Westchester Country Club in Rye, N.Y.

Giuliani burst onto the amateur golf scene in 2005 with a dramatic playoff victory at the Ike Championship at Plainfield Country Club. Then 19, the victory bode well for his future accomplishments, and indeed it was his play at this same event in 2006 that put him in position to win his first MGA Player of the Year Award. He finished t-2nd with Joe Saladino of Huntington at this year’s Ike after a well-played final round where he was paired with eventual champion Roger Hoit of Baltusrol in the final group.

Giuliani, a Duke University sophomore and member of the golf team, earned the award by virtue of his exceptional play throughout 2006. Prior to the Ike Championship in June, Giuliani began his run with a second-place finish at the Havemeyer Invitational at Southward Ho Country Club, a third-place showing at the New York City Amateur at LaTourette and a T-5 at the always competitive Hochster Memorial at Quaker Ridge Golf Club. However, Giuliani still trailed Allan Small in the points race, who got a jump-start with wins at the Hochster and the New Jersey Mid-Amateur Championship. As both players prepared to compete in the Ike, Small held an incredible 405-to-155-point lead over Giuliani.

After nearly becoming the first player to repeat as Ike champion in six years, Giuliani shifted into high gear for the remainder of the year. He made the cut at the Westchester Open and finished T-9 and low amateur at the New York State Open, moving within 88 points of Small heading into the Met Amateur Championship at Baltusrol Golf Club. It was during medal play at Baltusrol that Giuliani had his gutsiest performance of the year. After a first-round 81 that almost knocked him out of the championship, he charged back with a second-round 68, which included birdies on the final three holes to make the cut and advance to match play.

“I was still recovering from the 36-hole qualifying round for the U.S. Amateur two days before and I really didn’t wake up until the fifth hole of my second round,” said Giuliani. “But the Lower Course fits my game and I was able to advance to match play.”

In match play, Giuliani defeated Thomas Gramigna of Pebble Creek 4 & 2 before moving on to a quarterfinal showdown with reigning MGA/MetLife Public Links Champion and qualifying medalist Mark Farrell of Higgins. Giuliani held a one-up lead throughout most of the match until Farrell took a one-up lead on the 13th hole. Giuliani evened the match on the 14th and a par to Farrell’s bogey at the 17th gave Giuliani a one-up lead. After they halved the 18th hole Giuliani won the match and advanced. Giuliani would lose to eventual champion Tommy McDonagh of Shorehaven, 2 & 1 in the semifinals, but not before earning 150 points and taking the lead in the Player of the Year points race.

Giuliani finished the year on a high note. He traveled back from Duke to compete in the Bergen County Amateur Championship at Rockleigh Golf Course on September 10. He emerged with a four-stroke victory to claim the championship and take a 111-point lead over Small. With classes at Duke starting in September, Giuliani’s season came to a close and it was up to Allan Small to try and regain his lead with the three tournaments he had left. He was able to win a match at the U.S. Senior Amateur and finished 9th at the Boff Memorial before the last event of the season, the MGA Senior Open, presented by Canon, USA. In difficult scoring conditions at Nassau Country Club, Small was unable to earn the necessary points to overtake Giuliani.

Giuliani’s total of 697 points gave him a 92-point victory over Small and a 212-point margin over third-place finisher Roger Hoit. Giuliani finished in or near the top ten in nearly every event he entered, performing exceptionally well in the biggest tournaments of the year. Giuliani becomes the first college student to win the Player of the Year award since Andrew Svoboda in 2003 and the first player since Jerry Courville Sr. in that same year to win it in a season he did not win an MGA championship.

The MGA Player of the Year Award is presented annually to the Met Area amateur who has compiled the best record in select events during the course of the year. The recipient is confirmed by the MGA Executive Committee based on a system in which players earn points for their high finishes in designated local, national and international championships.

Past Winners

1976 Richard Siderowf
1977-78 Jimmy Dee
1979-80 George J. Zahringer III
1981 H.P. Van Ingen Jr.
1982 George J. Zahringer III
1983 Jonas Saxton
1984 Jonas Saxton & George J. Zahringer III
1985 Mark Trauner
1986-87 George J. Zahringer III
1988 Ralph Howe III
1989 George J. Zahringer III
1990-91 John C. Baldwin
1992 George J. Zahringer III
1993-94 Jeff Thomas
1995 Jerry Courville Jr.
1996 Jeff Thomas
1997 Jerry Courville Jr.
1998 Greg Rohlf
1999-2000 Jerry Courville Jr.
2001 George J. Zahringer III
2002 Jerry Courville Jr.
2003 Jerry Courville Jr. & Andrew Svoboda
2004 Peter Meurer
2005 Ron Vannelli
2006 Andrew Giuliani

Giuliani Wins 2006 MGA Player of the Year Award

Duke information