John VanDerLaan Wins 85th New England Amateur
E
ighteen year-old John VanderLaan of Southbury and the
Country Club of Waterbury
won the 85th playing of the New England Amateur Championship on Thursday with a 72-hole score of 278, six
under par. VanDerLaan fired rounds
of 67 and 70 over the final 36 holes
and claimed the biggest victory of his
young career by three strokes over
Nicholas Pandelena of New Hampshire. VanDerLaan has won several junior tournaments including the 2012
CSGA Junior Amateur Championship,
but his latest victory is his greatest
golfing accomplishment to date.
“It is awesome,” said VanDerLaan, a recent graduate of Pomperaug
High School. “The best players in New
England for the most part are here,
and to play as well as I did for four rounds to earn that title is pretty awesome.”
The 2014 New England Amateur was played at the 6,832 yard, par 71, Donald Ross
designed Winchester Country Club in Winchester, Massachusetts. One hundred fifty-six of the
best amateurs in New England began play on Tuesday, July 22, with the field reduced to forty
and ties after 36 holes.
In addition to the champion VanDerLaan, Connecticut was well represented among the
top finishers. 2014 CSGA Amateur champion Zach Zabach (TPC River Highlands) finished third,
2012 Russell C. Palmer Cup winner Sam Bernstein (The Course at Yale) was fourth, and twotime New England Junior champion Brian Carlson (Clinton CC) finished tied fo Ȁ