The 12th MET Hungarian MidAmateur Open Golf Championship were fought to the limit and the situations were tense.
From the very first moment there was no doubt that the MidAm Open Championships would be the most competitive in the history of the event, as the average handicap of the technically full field was under 11 and for the first time ever 4 players with plus handicaps were on the first tee.
So the lesson was up to defending men's champion Máté Szeberényi, who has dedicated this year's golf to club management rather than his game. In the women's competition, however, there was no question that there would be no title defence, as this time we had to miss Ukraine's Galyna Zagorodnia.
In the first two rounds, Sweden's Christian Tidén set the tone with two sub-70 rounds, followed by Tom Burley (72-70) from Great Britain, ranked 1239th in the world. In third place with +3 strokes was surprisingly, Balázs Vajta, whos carrier started three years ago on this Open Championship!
In the women's lead, the first two days were much more exciting. It was expected that Krisztina Batta would be challenged by Linda Sazavska, who showed the Hungarian public last year that she had not started her golfing career today. After two days, Sazavska was only 1 shot ahead in their duel.
On Sunday's final day, 61 men qualified with a two-day total of +28 strokes. Eleven ladies qualified for the CUT, maintaining the 15% women's share of the field at the start.
The final day was a blast for Sweden's Tidén. After two bogey-free rounds on the first two days, he made two bogeys on the front nine but still led -2, -8 overall, and then a turn of events occurred that no one expected. In seven holes he collected +5 strokes. Then hope was raised that Vajta, who had been performing excellently, could catch up with Tiden. Vajta had accumulated a 9 stroke deficit over Tiden in the first two days, which he maintained thanks to his 34 stroke score in the first 9, but he went -1 in the next 7 holes, reducing the gap between the two to 3 strokes. At this point, many of us began to think that it was not "impossible" to make up 3 strokes in the last two holes. Especially as Vajta was caught in the flow. But Tidén left no doubt as to why his handicap is +3. On 17, all three players of the leading flight hit their balls in front of the green, but only the Swede made birdie, extending his lead back to 4, which grew to 5 at the end, thanks to Vajta making bogey, and making a Swedish golfer the 2024 Open Men's Champion for the first time. The long chase was not in vain for Vajta, as he was able to get into a tie with Tom Burley with his round of 70, and as both players shot a tied 145 in the last 36 holes, the last 18 holes were the final decider for Vajta, with the Hungarian player on the second step of the podium and Tom Burley from Great Britain on the third.
MidAm Open Men's Championship
1. Christian Tidén (69-69-74)
2. Balázs Vajta (72-75-70)
3. Tom Burley (72-70-75)
The women's final was even closer. The match between Sazavska and Batta was wide open. The first nine of day three (which was physically the back nine for them) was evenly matched at 40-40 shots, only to see the Czech player increase her lead further in hole nr. 1. From a two-shot deficit, Batta made one on 3, then they both birdied the fourth, and Batta levelled the score on five. The organisers then began to prepare for the eventual play-off, which traditionally takes place with a play-off on No. 4 and then a tie on No. 5. By the time the tournament committee had reviewed the two holes, Batta was already 1-over on six, but a bogey on 8 and 9 sealed his fate. Although the day ended in a 77-77 tie between the two, it also meant that Sazavska won the 2024 Open MidAm Champion title by 1 stroke.
MidAm Open Women's Championship
1. Linda Sazavska (81-74-77)
2. Krisztina Batta (82-74-77)
3. Réka Nagy (81-82-79)
Sweden was represented in the Nations Cup for the first time, and without too much effort they lifted the trophy for the champion team with 670 shots. Second place went to the Austrian team with 678, represented by 3-time MidAm Open champion Franz Prem, Markus Erhart-Schippek (77-73-69), Fritz Clement and Dieter Rautnig, who had to withdraw in the final round. Third place went to the quartet of Véh, Csepregi, Rádonyi, Vajta, the Hungary Green team with 684 strokes.
Our heartfelt congratulations to all the winners and thank you for your honourable participation!
We look forward to seeing you again in 2025!
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