Host club well represented
A strong contingent from the host club is expected to fare well when New Haven Country Club hosts the Connecticut Open for a record eighth time.
There are 10 golfers scheduled to tee it up in the 84th edition beginning Monday. This is the 120th year of the New Haven CC’s existence.
The 54- hole tournament runs through Wednesday.
“It’s pretty cool to have 10 guys be in this event,” said New Haven CC pro Bill Wallis, one of the 10. “We have the current State Amateur champ ( Ben Conroy), the current Mid- Amateur champ ( Mike Kennedy), a slew of good players. I feel like our players have a huge advantage knowing the course and the greens.”
Conroy goes off the 10th tee at 2 p. m. along with former Connecticut Open winners Adam Rainaud ( 2016) and Kyle Gallo ( fourtime winner, last in 2010). Kennedy also goes off No. 10 Monday, but at 7: 50 a. m. alongside former three- time champ Frank Bensel, a Norwalk resident, and Mike Gilmore of Bethel. Wallis also goes off at 7: 50, on No. 1 with David Dell of Wallingford CC and Donny Kirkpatrick of Wampanoag CC.
Other members of New Haven CC playing include: reigning club champion Patrick Lynch ( No. 10, 7: 40 a. m.); former Palmer Cup winner Ben Day ( No. 1,
9: 10); and Evan Beirne ( No. 10, 2: 40 p. m.), who owns the course record with a 58.
A lot of trees have been taken down since the last time New Haven CC has hosted the Open in 2002. It’s not long — just 6,600 yards from the tips — and not terribly hard to get around. But the winner will need to have a tip- top short game.
“The greens will be fast,” Wallis said. “I’ve noticed over the last five- plus years since we started doing tree work ( taking down a number of trees) that it’s always windy here. It’s always a one- club wind going one way or the other. The course doesn’t beat you up tee to green, but it’s about being in the right spot of the green.
“For me personally, I play it all the time and I still need to make a game plan of how to play the course right. Whoever plans it out right can do well, but it also can easily get away from you.”
Defending champion Jeff Evanier has played New Haven CC several times. He won the Open last year in a sudden- death playoff against Max Theodorakis
and Jason Thresher at Ellington Ridge CC.
“I’ve played it enough in both competitive and fun rounds where I know the greens so well,” said Evanier, who goes off at 8: 10 a. m. Monday. “I know where you can and cannot miss. My putting has been really sharp lately. I should be able to read the greens fine and make my share of putts out there.”
Evanier, 26, earned conditional status on PGA Tour Canada through its qualifying school in May but has yet to get into a tournament. So he has been playing mini- tour events near his home in Palm Beach, Florida and helps supplement his income by opening a region for America Senior Benefits. Evanier, a member at Clinton CC and a 2010 Weston High graduate, said he isn’t as tournament ready as last year but knowing the course will certainly his chances to possibly repeat.
The man who won the last time the Open was held at New Haven CC is in the field. Jim St. Pierre, a Shelton resident and head pro at Newtown CC, applied and received a special exemption from the Connecticut State Golf Association. Champions now only receive a 10- year exemption.
But St. Pierre, 46, said he almost decided not to play once his son Kyle, who was a Register All- Area selection as a freshman at Shelton, qualified for the Open. Jim caddied for his son during the qualifier.
“I’d rather caddy for him and watch him play and not think about how he is doing while out there playing,” St. Pierre said. “My goal is to try and win. If I am not playing well, my mind will wander to what he is doing. All the members at our club can’t wait to see if Kyle can beat me, so I have to show my son I’m still the best golfer in the family.”
Jim goes off the 10th hole at 7: 40 a. m., alongside Lynch and former PGA Tour winner Ken Green, also a former Open winner at New Haven CC in 1985. Kyle goes off No. 1 at 8 a. m.
Jim won in a seven- hole playoff over Bensel back in 2002.
“When I won it, Kyle wasn’t even born yet,” Jim said. “It is special, its awesome. I can still recall ( the playoff ) shot for shot.”
The low 40 players including ties will advance to the final round on Wednesday.