DIRK AYERS

EDITOR’S NOTE: It’s been nearly 25 years since Penn State University’s Dirk Ayers captured the 73rd New York State Golf Association Men’s Amateur Championship at Moon Brook Country Club. The Falconer Central School graduate needed just 26 holes of the final 36-hole match to claim the title. Read former Post-Journal sports editor Jim Riggs’ story from July 23, 1995. It is the latest in the “Remember When?” series.

The most important match of the 73rd New York State Golf Association Men’s Amateur Championship was the easiest for Dirk Ayers.

In his opening-round match, the Falconer Central School graduate had to go a grueling 20 holes to win and remain alive in the tournament. In his semifinal match Friday afternoon, Ayers again had to go two extra holes to record a win and advance to Saturday’s 36-hole final against Jason Piurkoski.

But the championship match didn’t go 36 holes, it went only 26 as Ayers breezed to an 11 and 10 victory.

Ayers, who is the No. 1 man on the Penn State golf team, was 5-up after 9 holes and 10-up after 18.

Following a break before the afternoon session, Piurkoski won his first two holes and cut Ayers’ lead to 8-up. But Ayers responded by winning the 23rd, 25th and 26th holes to close out the match.

When asked if he was exhausted, the 23-year-old State Amateur champion said, “Right now, I feel like a million bucks. But all day my legs were tired. It’s been a long week with a lot of holes to play.”

Ayers never dreamed the final would be so easy and entered it with an objective attitude.

“I told myself last night I had a couple of tough matches and no matter what happened today it was a good week,” he said. “I played well.”

But the best play of his good week was on Saturday.

“That first 18 I don’t know if I could have hit it much better than that,” Ayers said.

Piurkoski, who plays golf at Southern Methodist University, said, “I just couldn’t hit the ball as good as I hit it all week. I didn’t putt as good. I didn’t do anything as good today. I just kept falling behind and he played great all day. He was steady and he’s hard to beat. He played like a real state champ.”

Ayers’ big day got off to a good start with a win at the first hole and that got him going. They halved No. 2, but Ayers won Nos. 3 and 4 to go 3-up. Then Ayers won the seventh and eighth holes to move to 5-up and that’s how it stood after nine.

“At the turn I said (to caddy Dan Bjork, who failed to qualify for match play), ‘Let’s win five more.'”

He added, “I played good on that side; steady. He made some mistakes. He tried to make some putts because he was behind.”

Some of the mistakes by Piurkoski were hitting over the greens at No. 4 and No. 5.

He was also long on some putts and Ayers said, “He has a real firm stroke. I think what was in my favor this morning was the greens were a bit faster today.”

Piurkoski also showed he was long off the tee with some tremendous drives past Ayers, but when Ayers teed off with a wood, it was a 3-wood, except at No. 6.

Ayers had recorded nine straight pars Saturday morning. In his semifinal match that went 20 holes Friday, Ayers shot par, so he was even par for his last 29 holes.

That ended when Ayers birdied 10 and 11 to go 8-up.

“I wasn’t going to change my strategy because I was up,” Ayers said.

At No. 14, Ayers had recorded his par 5 and Piurkoski missed his birdie putt. In disgust, the 19-year-old from Webster rushed his tap-in and missed, which moved Ayers to 9-up.

They halved the next three holes, including No. 16, with birdies, but Ayers won No. 18 with a par to lead 10-up.

Ayers had shot 3-under on the back for a round of 69 while Piurkoski, who has been instructed by Jamestown native Suellen Northrop since he was 6, shot 80.

The first 18 holes were completed by 11 a.m., so it was decided to begin the afternoon session at 12:30 p.m. instead of the scheduled 1 p.m. start.

The 90-minute, instead of two-hour, break was still quite long, but it didn’t bother Piurkoski.

“It was fine,” he said. “It didn’t bother me at all.

Ayers said, “You sure can think a lot in an hour and a half.”

They halved No. 1, but Piurkoski won his first hole of the day with a par at No. 2. After halving No. 3, he won No. 4 with another par to cut Ayers’ lead to 8-up.

“I got off to a slow start there,” Ayers said. “I missed a couple of putts early. I hit a bad shot on 4, but after that I hit it good.”

He began hitting it good at the par-5 fifth, where he sunk a tricky downhill putt for a birdie and the hole to move back to 9-up.

“I didn’t want to let him get back in it,” Ayers said. “If it got to maybe 6-down, it might have been something. Then I made that putt at 5. That might have been the best shot I hit all day, that sand wedge in there. I felt that (the momentum) swung back the other way. I was more confident from there.”

Piurkoski said about moving to 8-down, “You never know, but as soon as I got them back, I lost them. I had to make a big move really fast. If I was to do it, I had to make a lot of birdies and it just didn’t happen.”

They halved No. 6, then Ayers moved back to 10-up at No. 7 with a par. He moved to the par-3 eighth with a chance to end the match and did.

Ayers landed on the green while Piurkoski was in putting position pin high on the right fringe. Ayers was away and sunk about a 12-foot putt for a birdie. Piurkoski had to sink his putt to tie, but failed and Ayers was the new State Amateur champion.

“He didn’t have his best with him today,” Ayers said about his opponent. “You can’t make a lot of bogeys in match play and that’s what he did this morning.”

Concerning his new title of State Amateur champion, Ayers said, “It’s the first time I’ve attempted to play in it and being so close to home (Falconer) I really wanted to win. Anytime you enter you think you can win and this was my week, I guess.”

Quite a gallery followed Ayers in match play with the largest Saturday.

“They were great,” Piurkoski said.

Ayers credited the gallery all week with helping him win.

“In the tough matches it made a difference,” he said. “Being 1-down, 2-down the whole day and when I turned around there’s a friendly face rooting me on. It helps a lot.”

Ayers won’t have long to savor the win because Monday he heads to Niagara Falls to compete in the Porter Cup, one of the most prestigious amateur tournaments in the nation.

“I’m going to sleep in a little bit, then maybe I’ll get some practice,” Ayers said were his plans for today.

Then it’s on to the Porter Cup, where Ayers will be introduced as the new State Amateur champion.