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Madison, IL - It was another beautiful day at Gateway National Golf Links for the Final Day of the East Side Amateur. The temperature reached the low-80’s with a light breeze blowing throughout the day. Coming into today’s round, there was a tie in both the open and senior divisions. Joe Midgal and Blake Skornia were tied in the open division at three-under (-3) par, while Brian Hall and Paul Neeman were tied at even (E) par in the senior division. Once again the first group of the day teed off at 6:30am and the final group began at 12:10pm. Across the course of the two days, hole 15 played the hardest, while hole 6 played the easiest. There were six eagles, five of which were made in Round 2. 
 

The Open Division turned into a nail biter, coming down to the very last putt of the day. Seven players that were even par or over yesterday, shot under par in today’s round. This moved them up the leaderboard and put the pressure on the guys at the top. The two lowest rounds of the day came from Sam Migdal of Norwood Hills Country Club and Adam Pfeiffer of Spring Lake Country Club, who shot 67 (-4). For S. Migdal this jumped him up the leaderboard to tied for ninth at two-over, but for Pfeiffer, this bogey-free round moved him to two-under (-2) par and into the mix. Pfeiffer was the first player to come into scoring with this score, and he would have to wait to see where those behind him fell. At that point, Ryan Sullivan of Tapawingo National Golf Club and first round leader, Blake Skornia of Algonquin Golf Club, were both sitting at two-under par as well. Sullivan was the next to finish his round, and he finished with a par on 18 to remain tied with Pfeiffer. In the last grouping of the day, Skornia was having an up-and-down round. He came into the eighteenth at two-under par and set himself up for birdie. Putting last out of his group, Skornia drilled one in to make the birdie and clench the title at three-under (-3) par. 

 

In the Senior Division, things got tight on the leaderboard. There were times throughout the day where players would take a hold of the lead, but then would fall back into tied positions. Brian Lovett of Bellerive Country Club came into the clubhouse as the leader with a score of two-over (+2) par. Lovett was in the next to last group of this division, so he had to wait for the final group to finish to see his fate. Right behind him was Paul Neeman of Persimmon Woods Golf Club, who sat just one stroke back. As Neeman made his way down 18, everyone watched to see if he could tie the lead, and that he did. With a birdie on Hole 18, Neeman pulled himself to two-over (+2) par and tied with Lovett. These two players have a history of playing each other, including Lovett beating Neeman in the 2023 Old Warson Cup Senior Final and Neeman winning the 2023 Metropolitan Senior Amateur Championship over Lovett, who was runner-up. The pair set off on a play-off of Hole 1, which was a rocky start for both players earlier in the day. In this playing of the hole, Lovett would make par to win the hole and the championship. 

 

The hardware for the 2024 East Side Amateur would be going home with Blake Skornia at three-under (-3) par and Brian Lovett at two-over (+2) par plus a playoff hole.



Full Results
Round 1 Recap
Photos