GF’s Brayden Dock 6th at NYS Men’s Amateur Golf

The Chronicle’s Ben Westcott writes: Brayden Dock, the Glens Falls grad who will be entering his junior year at Colgate, finished sixth in the New York State Golf Association Men’s Amateur at Glens Falls Country Club in Queensbury Thursday.

Dock, 19, shot two over par through four rounds, 12 strokes off the pace of champion Matthew Lowe, a 30-year-old former pro from Farmingdale.

“I was very satisfied,” he told The Chronicle. “The State Amateur’s a very good event and there’s a lot of great players. To finish sixth at Glens Falls was amazing. I was very happy with it. I was very happy with how I handled the pressure with it being my home course and everything, expectations and all that.”

The Chronicle reached Dock Tuesday, as the busy teen was just stepping off the course after he shot 79 in his first round at the New York State Open at Bethpage Black on Long Island.

During the State Amateur, he said playing his home course “helped a lot” but “also hurt a little bit too.”

“Sometimes I found myself just kind of being quick, because I play the course all the time — I kind of know what to do. I didn’t necessarily get into my full routine. I think I was a victim of that early on in the tournament. Then I kind of started to settle in and remind myself to slow down a bit. After that, it was very helpful to know where to hit it and where not to hit it and stuff like that.”

Dock was four over par through six holes in round one, but battled back to shoot one under for the round.

In his third round, he made a nine on his 10th hole, but shot two under on his last eight holes to finish just one over par.

“Occasionally I made some silly mistakes, but for the tournament, I was very good at bouncing back from a bad hole or a bad stretch of holes,” Dock said. “I think I handled adversity pretty well.”

He said Glens Falls Country Club was in the best shape he’s ever seen it.

“I think the grounds crew did an amazing job.”

Of his 79 Tuesday at Bethpage Black, Dock said, “Definitely not the greatest score, but that’s golf, you know? I have tomorrow at least to try to play a little bit better and potentially make the cut.”

Describing the difference between the State Amateur and the State Open, hesaid, “The Amateur is New York State’s amateur-only event; the best non-pro golfers in the state play. The State Open — the Met PGA runs it — it’s the New York professional event. Like the professional version of the State Amateur, essentially.

“Amateurs are allowed to play in it if you qualify, but it has a purse, payouts. It’s tailored towards the teaching professionals and head pros of golf courses around New York.”

What’s next for Dock? He says he has a qualifier in Rochester next week for the Monroe Invitational in Pittsford. He then takes some time off before heading back to Colgate the last week of August.

He said the grind is “definitely taxing, but I really like competing…It’s one of those things. If you want to go play tournament golf, you’re going to have to deal with the mental. I think that college golf really preps me for that sort of play.”

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