Eddie Coffren V Wins Again at Maryland!
Eddie Coffren V (The Cannon Club) had not won a golf tournament in the last four years so when he saw the location of the WMGA Amateur on the schedule he liked his chances to end this drought. His last victory was the Maryland State High School Championship at the University of Maryland Golf Course in November of 2018. Playing for Northern Calvert High School he won the Class 4A/3A division individual crown with scores of 70-78–148 in a play-off. In qualifying for the Met Am he shot a 70 (-1) and earned the 14th seed. He advanced to the finals with wins over Michael Thomas, Jack Pogorelc, Dugan McCabe (winner of the Bubby Worsham earlier in the week), and Luke Schaap. Coffren is a rising junior at the University of Lynchburg where he play son the golf team.
Grant Lester (Argyle CC), an incoming freshman this fall at Columbia University, shot a 73 (+2) in the qualifier and had to survive a 12 for 2 playoff Thursday night just to get into match play. He was the second player to birdie the first play-off hole and gained the 32nd and final spot in the match play bracket. He then rode a hot putter all the way to the finals, taking out Medalist Hayden Miller, Greg Cline, Carson Looney, and Kevin Johnson. In 2022 Lester qualified for the US Junior Amateur out of the US Naval Academy GC site. He was the first golfer from the St. Alban’s School in Washington, DC to ever qualify for the US Junior. He finished T-2 in the 36 hole stroke play qualifier and advanced to the round of 32.
Both men played well but Lester’s putter was still smoking hot early in the match, building a 4 up lead through the first ten holes, the largest lead in the match. Coffren did not panic and worked the deficit to one down after the first eighteen.
The afternoon saw Lester get to 2 up early in the third nine, where it stayed until the turn. Coffren birdied the 28th and 31st to tie the match. Lester took the 32nd with a birdie to regain the lead by a hole but it was short lived. They tied the 33rd, then Coffren birdied the 34th to go even. They tied the par 4 35th with birdies, reaching the final hole even. The 486 yard par 4 final hole was parred by Coffren and bogeyed by Lester, his first bogey since the middle of the third nine. Coffren became the new champ, joining fellow Cannon Club members and Met Am Champs Joey Rice (2012) and Charlie Winegardner (2018).
Eddie Coffren V – down the middle and long!
Coffren and Lester
Grant Lester – has the tee to start the match
In all, only thirteen holes were tied. Fourteen holes were won with birdies. The last time the championship was won by a 1 up margin was in 2002 when Scott Shapin (Red Gate GC) defeated Dan Falls (Manor CC) at the River Creek Club in Leesburg, VA.
This was the first time that the University of Maryland GC has hosted the WMGA Metropolitan Amateur and it was hit with the players and WMGA staff and volunteers. Sixteen members played in the championship and three made match play – Greg Cline, Max Edminster, and Dan Walker.
Event Portal with all results ⇒ HERE
PDF of the Match Play Bracket ⇒ HERE
Past Champions ⇒ HERE
