EAST PROVIDENCE — Anthony Delisanti went from disappointment to a personal pinnacle in the span of a few short hours Saturday at the 62nd Northeast Amateur.
He shook off a tough third round by making a run at the course record in the fourth. More was required to become this event’s next champion — a playoff that didn’t decide a winner after four holes, a suspension of play due to thunderstorms and a restart in the early evening at Wannamoisett Country Club’s signature par-3 third.
It was well worth the wait for the Valparaiso standout. Delisanti carded a birdie on the fifth extra hole – the second of sudden death – to defeat Bryan Lee, becoming the first playoff winner here since Justin Shin rallied past Jordan Russell in 2012.
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“This is 100% the biggest win on my resume,” Delisanti said. “Definitely excited about it.”
Both players finished 1-over in a three-hole aggregate format, with Lee making bogey at the first and Delisanti immediately losing his lead with bogey at the second. They both made two straight pars at the third before bad weather rumbled through, and Lee retained the honor on the tee when play resumed. He hit the green left about 30 feet from the hole while Delisanti carved a wedge about eight feet above the cup.
“Losing in a playoff isn’t what I wanted, but hat’s off to Anthony and his great shot in there,” Lee said. “Great week – a lot of positives to take.”
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Delisanti started his downhill attempt inside the left-center of the hole, and the ball never deviated from its line. He celebrated on the green with girlfriend Kennedy Lang, his caddy for the week after both made the drive from their Buffalo area homes. They met as junior players at the local Willowbrook Golf Course in upstate New York – their personal partnership extended nicely to a different dimension over four days here.
“She made it a lot easier for me – that’s for sure,” Delisanti said. “She’s the most positive person I know.”
Delisanti and Lee both had lengthy birdie putts on the 18th that would have won the title in regulation. Both players burned the edge of the cup while playing in different threesomes, and Delisanti’s 11-under total was matched by Lee in the day’s final group. Lee was consistent throughout in his second time playing the event, as the Duke standout followed an opening 67 with three straight 66s.
“The only thing going through my head was I had to get it to the hole,” Lee said. “I had putted pretty well throughout the entire week. I knew my lag putting was good.”
Delisanti was in contention going into Friday but slumped to a 71 that had him well off the pace. He finished that weather-delayed round Saturday morning and reset for his tee time just before noon. Delisanti carded birdies at five of his first seven holes on his way to a 62, one shot off the course record set by Luke Guthrie in the 2011 edition.
“I needed to do something special on the final 18 being five or six back,” Delisanti said. “I just mentally kind of left the door open for something good to happen.”
Cameron Tankersley and Zac Jones both made birdie at the par-4 18th to share third place at 10-under. Tankersley fired a 6-under 63 in his final round while Jones birdied his first three holes on the way to a 3-under 66. Lance Simpson matched Delisanti for the round of the tournament with a 62, and his 9-under total was part of a four-way tie for fifth.
“Every hole I’d just pull up my phone and look at the leaderboard,” Simpson said. “I knew that I had to get out there and make some birdies. I just put the hammer down and went at every pin.”
Simpson made eight consecutive threes during one stretch – five of those were good for birdies, starting with the par-4 ninth. He added another three for eagle at the par-5 17th and wound up making a steep climb from outside the top 20.
Hunter Thomson was among those tied with Simpson, as a pair of double bogeys on Saturday – one late in his third round, one midway through his fourth – knocked him off the lead he grabbed with an opening 63. Paul Chang fired a 65 in the afternoon to finish tied for ninth with Gordon Sargent, as the world’s No. 1 amateur closed hot in the morning but only managed a 1-under 68 later in the day.
Final results (made three-round cut)
Wannamoisett Country Club, par 69
T1, Anthony Delisanti (64-68-71-62), Bryan Lee (67-66-66-66), -11 (Delisanti won on the second sudden-death playoff hole); T3, Cameron Tankersley (69-67-63-63), Zac Jones (66-68-66-66), -10; T5, Lance Simpson (70-68-67-62), Justin Hastings (70-66-65-66), Cameron Huss (69-64-68-66), Hunter Thomson (63-65-70-69), -9; T9, Paul Chang (65-68-71-64), Gordon Sargent (67-66-67-68), -8; 11, Marshall Meisel (65-70-69-65), -7; T12, Garrett Endicott (70-63-71-66), Luke Colton (68-67-68-67), Josiah Gilbert (65-67-70-68), -6; T15, Garrett Rank (65-69-70-67), Blades Brown (71-68-64-68), Jackson Van Paris (72-63-67-69), -5.
T19, Eric Lee (67-67-72-66), Jack Wall (73-68-66-65), Jake Hall (75-67-64-66), Wells Williams (69-65-71-67), Brendan Valdes (68-68-67-69), Maxwell Ford (68-68-66-70), -4; T25, Cody Paladino (66-70-70-67), Palmer Jackson (70-65-70-68), Matthew Kress (73-63-69-68), Sebastian Moss (68-69-67-69), -3; T29, Drew Goodman (71-67-70-66), Caden Fioroni (66-69-70-69), -2; T31, Joshua Bai (73-67-67-68), Deven Patel (64-71-72-68), Max Herendeen (72-71-65-67), Carson Bacha (69-71-67-68), Segundo Oliva Pinto (69-70-66-70), -1; T36, Connor Jones (67-70-71-68), Tyson Shelley (69-67-75-65), E.
T38, Stephen Campbell Jr. (67-70-70-70), Ethan Tseng (67-71-71-68), Scotty Kennon (72-72-66-67), Tyler Watts (70-68-74-65), +1; 42, Dylan McDermott (71-68-70-69), +2; T43, Stewart Hagestad (67-68-72-72), Shea Lague (72-68-68-71), Aidan Thomas (66-69-71-73), Jayden Ford (73-70-68-68), Evan Vo (68-67-76-68), Reed Lotter (69-76-67-67), +3; T49, Christoph Bleier (70-70-68-72), Tyler Kowack (75-69-65-71), Henry Guan (69-73-68-70), James Imai (73-69-68-70), Miles Russell 69-71-65-75), Jonathan Griz (71-71-69-69), Zachery Pollo (69-74-69-68), Justin Biwer (68-73-71-68), +4.
T57, Ryan Downes (66-70-72-73), Nathan Franks (71-73-68-69), Jonathan Bale (70-68-74-69), +5; T60, Pongsapak Laopakdee (70-72-69-71), Jordan Gilkison (68-73-71-70), +6; 62, Bradford Tilley (69-74-68-72), +7; T63, PJ Maybank (72-67-69-76), Ricky Stimets (71-70-68-75), Gray Albright (70-74-68-72), +8; T66, Jacob Modleski (74-69-67-75), Gerardo Gomez (69-69-74-73), +9; 68, William Love (73-71-69-75), +11.
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This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Anthony Delisanti wins Northeast Amateur at Wannamoisett Country Club
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