Simione helped Bentley reach new heights
So maybe it wasn’t the perfect storybook ending, but for Cheshire’s Chris Simione, it was a memory to cherish for a lifetime.
His final round of 75 at the The Resort at Glade Springs in Daniels, West Virginia was team-best for Bentley University in the final round of his collegiate career. But it’s the event that was impressive — the Division II national championship meet.
Bentley finished 17th out of 20 teams that qualified. Simione finished 82nd with a 13-over 229 for 54 holes. But it did come in the last possible tournament of the collegiate season — somewhere the school had never been before.
“My own game wasn’t on point, but to be there was special,” Simione said. “No one in Bentley history had done it before.”
Florida Southern’s Michael VanDerLaan, who played at Pomperaug High in Southbury, captured the individual national championship with a 9-under 217. VanDerLaan’s older brother, John, is the reigning Connecticut Open champion and plays on the Mackenzie Tour Canada.
Bentley had qualified for the nationals by placing second in the NCAA Division II East/Atlantic Regional held at the Totteridge Golf Club in Greensburg, Pa. Simione tied for 17th place in a 105-player field.
Simione said he played in the final group in the regional and when he saw all of his teammates together around the 18th green, he knew the Falcons had clinched a spot at nationals.
“I didn’t know until I came up the 18 fairway and they were all hugging it out,” said Simione, a cocaptain this past season and a former two-time Register All-Area selection at Cheshire High.
Simione has already decided not to pursue a playing career. That’s because he intends to work in the golf industry.
“I ruled that out a little
while ago. I have a couple of buddies trying to make it on tour,” Simione said. “It’s a hard, long process. I’d rather go into work in the golf industry than try to make it as a pro.”
He already has a headstart. Last summer, Simione worked for the Connecticut State Golf Association as a USGA intern. He helped run a number of state tournaments.
When he returned to Bentley in the fall, he began to apply for internships for this summer. He got one with the American Junior Golf Association.
Simione works for the AJGA’s Northeast Region, going from tournament to tournament each week. He is currently in Columbus, Ohio, for the Memorial Junior hosted by Sung Hyun Park.
The internship runs through Labor Day.
“The game plan hopefully is to get a full-time position next January,” the 22-yearold Simione said.
There are two AJGA events being held in Connecticut this summer: the Junior Golf Hub Championship at Hop Meadow CC in Simsbury July 9-12 and the Golf Performance Center Junior All-Star at Redding CC Aug. 12-15.
And in between work
and planning for the future, Simione will still get some chances to tee it up, even if his competitive days are behind him.
CT WOMEN’S OPEN
Four decades after hosting its only U.S. Women’s Open, Brooklawn CC in Fairfield will be hosting its first Connecticut Women’s Open.
This will be the 21st edition of the tournament. The 36-hole event will be held Tuesday and Wednesday.
Brooklawn CC will be playing to approximately 5,802 yards and is a par 72. It’s a prelude to 2020, when the third U.S. Senior Women’s Open will be held there July 6-12.
Defending champion Sarah Burnham is now a rookie on the LPGA Tour and isn’t in the field. But former four-time champion Liz Caron (Janangelo) is, teeing off at 10:40 a.m. on Tuesday.
Also among those competing are: past champions Lynn Valentine (2008) and Jordan Lintz (2011), both going off at 9:50 a.m.; 2009 winner C.J. Reeves (8:20), two-time Women’s State Amateur champion Catherine McEvoy (9:10) and former longtime Yale University women’s golf coach Chawwadee Rompothong (12:40 p.m.).
U.S. OPEN SECTIONALS
A number of players with Connecticut ties will tee it
up at the 36-hole U.S. Open sectional qualifying, many of them at Century CC and Old Oaks CC in Purchase, New York.
J.J. Henry, a three-time winner on the PGA Tour and a Fairfield native, is among them (7 a.m., Old Oaks, No. 10).
Players with state ties include Cameron Wilson from Rowayton, who made the cut in last year’s Open at Shinnecock Hills (7:40, Old Oaks, No. 10), Max Theodorakis from Danbury (8, Old Oaks, No. 1), Corey Birch from Ridgefield (8:20, Old Oaks, No. 1), Peter Ballo from Stamford (7:20, Century, No. 10), Paul Pastore from Stamford (8, Century, No. 1), Max Buckley from Greenwich (8, Century, No. 10), and Dylan Newman from Greenwich and Alex Beach from Stamford, who qualified for the PGA Championship (8:20, Century, hole 1).
Also attempting to qualify is Gary Nicklaus, son of the 18-time major champion (7:20, Century, hole 1).
The two state players who qualified out of the lone state local qualifier at Lyman Orchards GC, Madison’s Brian Carlson and Cheshire’s Eric Dietrich, are both attempting to qualify in Walla Walla, Washington Monday — both play on Makenzie Tour Canada.