Paul Toliuszis of Miami Beach won the 2001 Mid-Amateur Championship on Sunday at Interlachen Country Club.
In the semi-finals, Toliuszis defeated medalist Brad Lanning of Sarasota 4 and 3. The other semi-final paired Winter Park’s David Boesel, a home course favor and a previous champion, against Cap Caponi of Orlando. In this classic match play match, Boesel was up three holes with four to play when Caponi birdied the next 3 holes to square the march.
On the 20th hole, a par four, Caponi won the match with a birdie. The 20th hole is also where Boesel defeated Lutz’s Joe Alfieri on Saturday to win the most exciting match of the tournament with an eagle from 170 yards using an 8 iron. Alfieri birdied 7 of the last 14 holes to take the match into extra holes. For the 20 holes, Boesel played 6 under par while Alfieri scored 4 under.
In the finals Toliuszis established an early lead with an excellent short game and was 3 up after the turn. Caponi rallied on the back with long powerful drives and a fine display of putting, but in the end it was the steady play and consecutive pars of Toliuszis that prevailed.
Both players have been invited to play in the Florida Cup Matches to be held November 15-16 at Lago Mar Country Club in Ft. Lauderdale. They also earned exempt status into the 2002 Mid-Amateur Championship to be held at the Country Club of Ocala.
The Florida State Mid-Amateur Championship is the 15th of 17 state championships conducted annually by the Florida State Golf Association. The FSGA is a not-for-profit organization that promotes, preserves, and protects amateur golf in the state of Florida.
