Tournament Champions
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The New Jersey Amateur Players Tour opened its 2027 season on Saturday, October 10, 2026 at RiverWinds Golf Club, with the Gloucester County Open serving as the chapter’s first stop and one of the first New Jersey amateur golf tournaments of the new season. A field of 42 players competed across five divisions, with two net games running alongside them, and as an Elevated Event it carried a purse of over $2,500.
RiverWinds plays to a par of 72, and the card’s chief defender was the par-4 9th. It surrendered no birdies at all across the 42 players who passed through it and played a shot and a half over par, which made the turn the hardest stretch of ground on the property.
Division 1 produced the best golf and the longest day. Dan Ayars of Millville, New Jersey and George Steinmetz of Malvern, Pennsylvania finished regulation locked together at 5-over 77 — the two low rounds of the day — and the title went to two extra holes of sudden death before Ayars emerged victorious. The regulation golf deserved the extra time. Ayars went out in 2-over 38 and came home in 3-over 39, built on 11 pars and just three bogeys, with a birdie at the par-5 1st to start and another at the par-4 18th to finish. Steinmetz did it the other way around, turning in 3-over 39 before coming home in 2-over 38 with a birdie at the par-5 10th; after 15 holes played he was actually a stroke clear of Ayars, which is how close the thing ran before the final three holes squared it. Noah Rivera of Trenton had the best start in the division, turning in 1-over 37 with birdies at the par-5 1st and the par-5 4th, and although the inward nine cost him 6-over 42, he was still level with Ayars with three holes to play. Rivera finished third at 7-over 79.
Division 2 belonged to Rocky Dare of Salem, New Jersey, who led from the front and held on for a one-shot win at 7-over 79 — a number bettered only by the pair of 77s in Division 1. Dare went out in 4-over 40 and improved to 3-over 39 coming home, picking up his birdie at the par-4 16th when it mattered most. John Willadsen of Carneys Point never let him clear out: two behind after six holes, he was within a single stroke by the turn into the closing stretch and stayed there to the house, signing for 8-over 80 with a birdie of his own at the par-4 8th. Christopher Mains of West Grove, Pennsylvania and Michael Daniels of Wilmington, Delaware shared third at 12-over 84.
Division 3 drew the largest gross field of the day at 17 players, and Richard Guillod of Rutherford won it by a stroke with a 9-over 81 that never once gave up the lead. Guillod made no birdies at all; he simply kept the card clean of anything worse than a bogey, going out in 5-over 41 and home in 4-over 40, and in a division where seven players finished within five shots of him, that steadiness was the whole story. Raymond Van Ness of New City, New York pushed him hardest, trailing by two at the halfway mark and closing to within one with three to play before signing for 10-over 82 with a birdie at the par-4 3rd. Trevor Pieh of Somerville matched him at 10-over 82 by way of the division’s best finish — out in 8-over 44, home in 2-over 38, and even par over his last six holes, including a birdie at the par-3 17th. That hole yielded only two birdies in the entire field all day, and Pieh took one of them.
In Division 4, John Amos of Germantown, Maryland, playing out of the Maryland chapter, won by a single stroke with a 14-over 86. Amos was two behind Andrew Michael of Waterford Works after six holes, took the lead back by the turn, and never surrendered it again, improving from 8-over 44 on the front to 6-over 42 on the back with seven pars on the card. Michael, who opened with a birdie at the par-5 1st, finished a shot adrift at 15-over 87 after going out in 7-over 43 and home in 8-over 44 — a stroke behind with three to play and a stroke behind at the end. David Conforth of Towaco took third at 20-over 92.
Division 5 turned late. Peter Kratzel of Port Monmouth won it by two with a 21-over 93, but he had to chase to do it. Michael Kelly of Nesbit, Mississippi, in from the Memphis chapter, was level with Kratzel after six holes, three clear of him after twelve, and still a stroke to the good with three holes to play before Kratzel’s finish decided it. Kelly signed for 23-over 95 with a birdie at the par-4 3rd. Robert Irwin of Upper Chichester, Pennsylvania and Stephen Kraus of New Gretna shared third at 25-over 97.
The Mid-Am Net came down to the finest margin the format allows. Trevor Pieh and John Amos both posted net even-par 72, sharing the points and the purse at the top, and the trophy was settled on a scorecard playoff: with a net score of 33, Pieh claimed the Mid-Am Net Trophy over Amos’s net 35. Five players finished within two shots of the lead, and three of them shared third at net 2-over 74 — Andrew Michael, Dylan D’Amato of Flemington and Stevie Stevenson of Mount Holly. For Amos it was a second piece of silverware very nearly made three; he had already won Division 4 outright.
The Senior Net was the day’s most emphatic result. Richard Guillod followed his Division 3 title with a net 4-under 68 to win the senior game by three strokes, making him the only player at RiverWinds to win twice. Eric Boothe of Port Murray and Raymond Van Ness shared second at net 1-under 71, Van Ness doubling up on his runner-up finish in Division 3. George Steinmetz, Larry Barber of Paulsboro and Rocky Dare finished in a three-way tie for fourth at net 1-over 73 to round out the money positions, with Dare adding that to his Division 2 win.
The chapter raised $75 for Folds of Honor at the event, with Troy Isaksen Sr. the winner.
A word, too, for the traveling contingent: the season opener drew players from well beyond the chapter’s own roster, with Ayars in from the Central Pennsylvania chapter, Amos from Maryland and Kelly making the trip from Memphis to tee it up in South Jersey.
That is one event in the books and the 2027 season under way for the New Jersey Amateur Players Tour, with Elevated Event points already on the board for Ayars, Dare, Guillod, Amos, Kratzel and Pieh. The chapter’s schedule picks up from here — straight tee times, five divisions, and a leaderboard that starts fresh at every stop.
