Former pro Christian Chapman pulls away at State Amateur heading into finale

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First-round leader Christian Chapman added to his lead during the second round of the State Amateur golf tournament on Wednesday, July 8, 2026, at the Glens Falls Country Club. He followed his opening-round 65 with a 69 and will be ahead by four strokes at the start of play Thursday. (Dan Thompson / NYSGA)


QUEENSBURY - The preliminaries are over. Now it's a sprint to the finish line.

After the second round on Wednesday at the Glens Falls Country Club, the State Amateur golf tournament reached its halfway point. By early Thursday evening, a champion will be crowned.

A starting field of 159 was trimmed to the top 44, who will play a double round Thursday in pursuit of the Ganson Depew Cup, emblematic of the state's top amateur golfer.

The survivors will be chasing Christian Chapman, the first-round leader who extended his advantage to four strokes with a 2-under-par 69. Chapman, 27, is a former pro who regained his amateur standing last year and now works for a wealth management firm outside of Rochester.

"I think there's a really big advantage for me, not playing so much anymore," Chapman said. "I feel fresher. Obviously, I work full-time, so it's a nice escape from golf. I'm not going to be upset if I lose. I'm going to be disappointed, but my life doesn't revolve around golf anymore. It did for a while, and now that that ship has sailed, this is just something to take a few PTO days."

Chapman was one of the few afternoon starters who finished under par. Several players capitalized on softer conditions in the morning, ready to pounce on Thursday if Chapman falters.

"I'm excited," said Lucas Rizo-Patron, a UCLA-bound player from Rye who will begin the day alone in second. "I'm carrying my own bag, so I may pull a couple of clubs out to lighten the load."

"It's a long day tomorrow," said Liam Maloney, the 2025 State Junior champion from Chester, who is in third at 3 under. "Anything can happen. Guys can get hot. I can get hot. It's going to be a long day, and I'm sure the course is going to play pretty hard."

"That's all I want is a chance," said Jack Angelucci, 26, a New Hartford player whose best finish was a tie for fifth in 2024. "You've got 36 more holes, and you never know what's going to happen. It's a lot of good players in this field, but I'm just happy to have a chance."

Michael McConie, who is entering his senior season at Siena, is in the group tied for fourth.

The local contingent is led by Brayden Dock, a junior-to-be at Colgate who is tied for 14th. Dock had a steady round on Wednesday until a double bogey on the par-5 16th took him over par.

"It's amazing that I made the cut," said Dock, who shot 73 and is 1 over for the tournament. "I wasn't really sure where to set my expectations for this week. It's tough. There's a lot of pressure on your shoulders being at your home club, and you want to play well for a lot of people. I'm happy that I at least made it to the 36 on Thursday."

The cut came in 6-over 148. Other locals who will be playing 36 on Thursday are Kellen Dean of McGregor (+2), Vinny Liguori of Edison (+4), Travis Deuel of Hiland Park (+5), Tanner LaTorre of eClub Capital Region (+5), Jason Urschel of Glens Falls (+6), Michael Eshoo of Glens Falls (+6) and Francisco Cupp of Saratoga Polo (+6).

Two players scored a hole-in-one on the 124-yard 18th hole in the second round. Neither will play in the final two rounds, but for different reasons.

Michael Hakewell, 15, of Saratoga Polo posted 155 for 36 holes, even with the ace and missed the cut. Carl Schimenti of Ithaca ended his round with a hole-in-one, giving him a 3-under 68 and a two-round score of 2-under 140, but he had to withdraw because of family considerations.

"Our (4-year-old) daughter doesn't sleep very well, and I just hate leaving my wife," said Schimenti, 34, who won the 2021 State Mid-Amateur at Shaker Ridge. "She's working. She's up all night. I just feel guilty. Last night, it was really bad. She made blueberry muffins at 2:30 in the morning. She's like, ‘Oh, you play,' and I just feel bad. Yeah, I'm just going to go home."

It was Schimenti's second career ace. His first also came in the State Am in 2012 at Elmira.

Morning fog delayed the start of play by 50 minutes.

Second round results​

(Glens Falls CC (Queensbury)

Par: 35-36-71

• Christian Chapman (Victor) 65-69-134
• Lucas Rizo-Patron (Rye) 73-65-138
• Liam Moloney (Chester) 68-71-139
• Jack Angelucci (New Hartford) 70-70-140
• Carl Schimenti (Ithaca) 72-68-140
• Jonathan Oakes (Tarrytown) 69-71-140
• Michael McConie (Huntington) 71-69-140
• Dean Muratore (Dix Hills) 73-67-140
• Colin Barber (Victor) 69-72-141
• Joseph Dolezal (Old Westbury) 69-72-141
• Matthew Lowe (Farmingdale) 71-71-142
• Samuel Gao (Scarsdale) 73-69-142
• Jack Tebeau (Hamburg) 73-69-142
• Brayden Dock (Queensbury) 70-73-143
• Kellen Dean (Saratoga Springs) 70-74-144
• John Duthie (Lansing) 74-70-144
• Brett Cooper (East Rockaway) 72-72-144
• Kyle Downey (Webster) 70-74-144
• Phil Minnehan (Rochester) 73-72-145
• Mike Auerbach (Bellport) 72-73-145
• Stephen Nicholas (Scarsdale) 72-73-145
• Aiden Spampinato (Victor) 72-73-145
• Brandon Conner (Binghamton) 75-70-145
• Jamie Miller (Orchard Park) 75-71-146
• Anthony Maglisco (Syracuse) 72-74-146
• Vinny Liguori (Rexford) 69-77-146
• Zachary Pallis (New York) 71-76-147
• Travis Deuel (Gansevoort) 73-74-147
• Tanner LaTorre (Nassau) 73-74-147
• Danny Wehle (Rochester) 73-74-147
• Leo Chu (Scarsdale) 74-73-147
• M Andrew Edbauer (Buffalo) 73-74-147
• Ryan Borruso (Tampa (Fla. 73-74-147
• Kurt Carey (Yorktown Heights) 81-67-148
• Billy Hanes (Elma) 75-73-148
• Nick Barney (Endicott) 76-72-148
• Ramon Aroca (Clinton) 74-74-148
• Jason Urschel (Albany) 72-76-148
• Mike Eshoo (Saratoga Springs (New York 78-70-148
• Javier Benerofe (Armonk) 72-76-148
• Francisco Cupp (Saratoga Springs) 72-76-148
• Brian McGovern (Yonkers) 73-75-148
• Ty Kaufman (Buffalo) 76-72-148
• Owen Corby (Pittsford) 66-82-148
  (failed to qualify)
• Tim Carlson (Delmar) 74-75-149
• Ryan Jones (Canton) 73-76-149
• Charlie Fischer (Orchard Park) 75-74-149
• Brian Muench (Rochester) 75-74-149
• Jack Bennett (Chappaqua) 77-73-150
• Caleb Decker (Vernon) 74-76-150
• Benjamin Choe (New York) 74-76-150
• Christopher Stilwell (Whitesboro) 75-75-150
• Doug Kleeschulte (New Rochelle) 76-74-150
• Brian Albertazzi (Sodus Point) 75-75-150
• Joe Feeney (Lima) 77-73-150
• Jack Coyne (New York) 76-74-150
• Charlie Blake (Saratoga Springs) 77-73-150
• Mike Donner (Hamburg) 75-75-150
• Aidan Fitzgerald (Albany) 76-74-150
• Eric Soderberg (Pelham Manor) 76-74-150
• Eric Terminello (White Plains) 76-74-150
• Matt Carpentier (Pittsford) 77-73-150
• Richard Essen (Rochester) 77-74-151
• Tim Saur (Victor) 74-77-151
• Brody Burgess (Victor) 75-76-151
• Brent Herlihy (New Canaan (Conn. 76-75-151
• Ike Rothman (Staatsburg) 76-75-151
• Landon Arnold (Orchard Park) 75-76-151
• Frank Meizoso (Westbury) 78-73-151
• Cooper LaBarge (Cobleskill) 76-75-151
• Andrew Brunozzi (Cicero) 78-74-15
• Timothy Cleary (White Plains) 71-81-152
• Wills Reardon (New York) 70-82-152
• Mike Sporton (College Point) 72-80-152
• Mac Quinn (Glenwood) 76-76-152
• Brayden Sentz (Cooperstown) 76-76-152
• Ethan Yao (Manhasset) 79-73-152
• John Hiller (New York) 77-76-153
• CJ Strong (Troy) 80-73-153
• Edward Molloy (Rye) 76-77-153
• Jim Gifford (Ballston Lake) 75-78-153
• Nicholas Smith (Rye) 75-78-153
• Luke MacDougall (Cambridge) 77-76-153
• Ty Monroe (Saugerties) 74-79-153
• Nathan Scheer (Norwich) 78-76-154
• Jimmy King (Niskayuna) 73-81-154
• Louis Walsh (Ballston Spa) 78-76-154
• Dave Segot (Oyster Bay) 75-79-154
• Andy Bernatovicz (Grand Island) 78-76-154
• Gavin Poyer (Deansboro) 74-80-154
• Max Adler (Saratoga Springs) 77-77-154
• Darin Goldstein (New York) 75-79-154
• Brett Cunningham (Clay) 77-77-154
• Jayden Freedman (Boca Raton (Fla. 79-75-154
• Grady Glennon (Haines Falls) 76-78-154
• Mitchell Archer (Syracuse) 76-78-154
• Connor Abess (Glens Falls) 76-78-154
• Diego Ocasio (Yonkers) 77-77-154
• Tyler Berkman (Potsdam) 74-81-155
• Michael Hakewill (Saratoga Springs) 76-79-155
• Denver Milord (Brooklyn) 83-72-155
• Evan Steffen (Bemus Point) 84-71-155
• Spencer Sautin (Ballston Lake) 77-78-155
• Aleksei Panek (Syracuse) 74-81-155
• Joseph Quijano (Troy) 76-79-155
• Tyler Delisanti (Williamsville) 77-78-155
• Joe Carey (Yorktown Heights) 80-75-155
• Mike Wolski (Lancaster) 82-74-156
• Mitch Weigand (Liverpool) 75-81-156
• Colin Offenbacher (Cortlandt Manor) 76-80-156
• George Green (Hilton) 78-78-156
• Joe Fitzsimmons (Latham) 73-83-156
• Dan Young (Syracuse) 79-77-156
• Jacob Dantonio (Lancaster) 76-81-157
• Connor Jackson (Clarence) 77-80-157
• Johnny Solari (Warwick) 71-86-157
• Cole Jones (Lancaster) 78-80-158
• Brayden Thomas (Syracuse) 74-84-158
• Ben Bush (Sea Cliff) 78-80-158
• Bryce Barber (Victor) 81-77-158
• Loyal Goodermote (New Paltz) 76-83-159
• Tyler Stark (Hilton) 82-77-159
• Brady Carrow (Altamont) 78-81-159
• Thomas Sutter (West Harrison) 79-80-159
• James Welch (Valatie) 75-84-159
• Jeff Wolniewicz (Buffalo) 77-82-159
• Timothy Spitz (Pittsford) 80-79-159
• Mark Vitels (Garden City) 84-75-159
• Cooper Yaccino (Sag Harbor) 79-80-159
• Nicolas Paviet (New York) 74-85-159
• Kevin Sheller (Pittsford) 83-77-160
• Spencer Baum (Liverpool) 78-83-161
• Nicholas Prosa (Holbrook) 78-83-161
• Jonathan Blauner (New York) 79-83-162
• Robby Kurzer (Bedford) 79-83-162
• Daniel Nesti (Delanson) 75-88-163
• Paulie Latino (Poughkeepsie) 84-79-163
• Griffith Hunter (Schodack Landing) 81-83-164
• Brian Morse (Brooklyn) 78-86-164
• Colin Patterson (Massena) 80-85-165
• Joshua Bradley (Rochester) 85-80-165
• David Brooks (Clarence) 82-83-165
• Padraic Bradley (Kingston) 82-83-165
• Robbie Lamb (Pittsford) 85-82-167
• Phillip Duell (Latham) 85-82-167
• Gidi Katz (White Plains) 78-89-167
• Jason Douglas (Webster) 80-88-168
• Gavin Clarke (Neversink) 85-84-169
• Craig Jenkin (Queensbury) 84-85-169
• Wes Farrell (Augusta (Ga. 87-82-169
• Chase Buckley (Binghamton) 80-89-169
• John Paulsen (Napanoch) 88-82-170
• Quinlan Hood (Haverstraw) 84-87-171
• Jack Leonard (Delmar) 81-91-172
• Josh Carr (Greenwich) 85-87-172
• Jack Corcoran (Huntington) 88-86-174
• Joe Cimmino (Malta) 90-86-176
• Adam Williams (Woodstock) 88-94-182
• Shawn Baker (Rochester) WD

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This article originally published at Former pro Christian Chapman pulls away at State Amateur heading into finale.

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