January 7, 2009
Port St. Lucie (FL)


Florida Southern College golfer - Danny Evelyn (70/75/80-225, 4th), was the story of the first two rounds, but after sustaining heavy winds, a difficult golf course, and tough final round pin positions, Duke University senior - Michael Quagliano (74/73/74-221, 5-over par), beat fellow Duke teammate - Adam Long (77/73/72-222), by one stroke, and Barry University's - Christopher Carlin (76/72/75-223), by two strokes to win the 2nd Annual FL New Year’s Open.

Quagliano, originally from White Plains, NY, was a model of consistency with his 18 holes scores each day, but the ingredients contributing to reach those numbers – 10 birdies, 10 bogeys, 1 double-bogey, and 1 triple-bogey, truly may have personified what the field faced all week-long at Santa Lucia River Club.

“The course is really nice with great greens, but I thought it was playing pretty tough the past few days with difficult pins and especially with the wind today,” said Quagliano. “It was at least a couple-club wind today which made it tougher than the past two days, and I was fortunate to be able to make a few birdies out there on the back (nine) because (Long) was playing well all day and I needed those to catch up.”

With the 36-hole leader, Evelyn, struggling to a 4-over, 40 on the front nine before suffering the same fate on the back, Long actually had tournament well within his grasp after reaching 4-under par for the day through 12 holes, but playing the final 6 holes in 4-over par, including a double-bogey on the last, Quagliano snuck in for the win with a good finish of his own.

“I saw the leaderboard on 17 and saw (Long) was up two shots at that point, so I figured if I could get a birdie on one of the last two, I’d have at least a shot to tie,” said Quagliano. “The (par-3) 17th was playing very tough and I was lucky to judge the distance correctly and hit a good shot and made birdie, and then I made a good par on the last and it happened to be enough with (Long’s) unfortunate finish.”

With the two Duke University teammates both hailing from much colder non-January-friendly golf climates (Long is from the St. Louis, MO area), Quagliano felt his and Long’s participation in the FL New Year’s Open were no-brainers for each.

“It was a good time to come down with (Long), shake off the rust, and play a good event in warm weather before the season starts,” said Quagliano. “We haven’t played any tournaments with the team since October, so I was trying to help convince a lot of the other guys on our team to come down and play.”

“This is a great idea and its something a lot of college players should look at playing next year for sure,” he said.

Along with the AZ Holiday Classic in Arizona last month, the completion of the FL New Year’s Open this week concludes The Gateway Collegiate Tour’s holiday events. The Gateway Collegiate Tour will resume again this summer with the Mountaintop/Gateway Collegiate Players Invitational, August 8-12, 2009 at the prestigious Mountaintop Golf and Lake Club in Cashiers, NC.

Stay tuned for further updates…


Click here for full field results of the FL New Year's Open…