Men’s Golf: Westfield’s Summers Tops Season with 3rd-place Finish at MGA Met Open

DARIEN, CT — The summer season for Colin Summers concluded on Thursday in heart-breaking fashion.

Summers, a Fairfield University senior and 2021 NJ.com Boys' Golfer of the Year from Westfield High School , shot a 2-under-par 70 (73-73-70--216) to finish in a four-way tie for third place at even par in Thursday's final round of the 109th MGA Met Open at Wee Burn Country Club in Darien, Connecticut.

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In six overall MGA or NJSGA tournaments this season, Summers posted top five finishes in five with his best finish of the summer season recorded Thursday afternoon.

“Wee Burn was a fantastic host to the Met Open this year as it provided golfers with a proper test of golf, in my opinion,” Summers said.

“You needed to go around hitting solid golf shots and managing your misses well, which is what I did for the majority of the week,” he said. “I was not quite hitting the ball as good as I wanted to, but my short game definitely kept me in the mix for the final round. After the second round I found something in my swing and thought that I could make a run for the final round.”

It was some round for Summers, who had back-to-back bogeys on holes 3 and 4 and then got them right back with birdies on holes 5 and 6, completing his front nine with a birdie on hole 9 enroute to a 1-under-par entering the back nine. He then had two birdies on holes 10 and 17, with two bogeys on holes 12 and 16.

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“I got off to a slow start being 2-over through four holes,” Summers said. “I really didn’t worry much about the start just because the first four at Wee Burn are some of the hardest holes you can find anywhere. I rolled in two good birdie putts on 5 and 6 which settled me into the round. I finished with a birdie on 9 to turn in -1 then birdied the short par 5, 10th hole to get into mix.

“I made two really poor swings that led to bogeys. A wedge shot into 12 and tee shot on 16, but knew I was swinging it well so didn’t think much about it," he continued. “The MGA moved the tees up on 17 to make it drivable. I drove it in the green side bunker and fortunately holed out for eagle which jumped me into a tie for the lead.”

Heading into the last, Summers figured he needed one more to put himself in a good spot.

“ I hit a great tee shot into the par 5, 18th. I hit a great 3 wood that I caught a little out of the heel and ended up coming just short of the green, and I struggled to get up and down for birdie. All around it was another great learning experience for me and enjoyed being in contention at such a prestigious event like the Met Open.”

Earlier this summer, Summers’ schedule was hectic.

He recorded a top five finish after finishing in a two-way tie for fourth with a score of 1-under-par (71-70-71--212) to finish five strokes back behind fellow amateur and winner Rutgers sophomore Derek Gutierrez at the 104th New Jersey Open Championship presented by Donnelly Industries at Plainfield Country Club in Edison on July 25.

Summers made it to the quarterfinals of the 122nd Met Amateur Championship (Aug. 1-4) at Somerset Hills Country Club in Bernardsville and missed the match play cut at the 124th U.S. Amateur Championship at Hazeltine Golf Club in Chaska, Minnesota (Aug. 12-18). He qualified for the historic event after a 2-under-par 70 during final qualifying at Wykagyl Country Club in New Rochelle, New York on July 22.

“The U.S. Amateur was a great experience with family and friends,” Summers said. “My swing wasn’t in the best spot to be able to compete the way I wanted to, but I learned a lot about preparation and how I react under pressure and I am definitely looking forward to playing more USGA events in the future.”

After a week of rest and relaxation, Summers will head up north to return to Fairfield University for the start of his senior season on Sept. 1 and play in his first fall tournament at the Ryan T. Lee Memorial Collegiate at Shuttle Meadow Country Club in Berlin, Connecticut (Sept. 21-22).

“No more tournaments. I'm definitely sad to see the summer go by,” Summers said. “I loved competing and trying to get better every day, but now I’m going to go back to school and do the same so I'm excited for what’s to come.”

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