Kong leads by 1 stroke
GOSHEN — Finishing in the red is, of course, something to be proud of in golf, and plenty of players did so Friday in the opening round of the 85th Connecticut Open Championship.
Twentyfive players posted negative numbers at steamy Torrington Country Club, including Rasmey Kong of West Haven, who led the lowshooting contingent.
Kong, a 22yearold North Haven High School graduate, shot a 7underpar65 and is atop an extremely crowded leaderboard, heading into the second round of play of the 54hole tournament.
Right behind Kong is Danbury native Max Theodorakis of Ridgewood Country Club, who carded a 6underpar 66 in the CSGA’s muchanticipated event. Ben James from Milford (Great River Golf Club), who like Theod
orakis is an amateur, finished his opening round at 5under 67, followed by Blake Morris (Country Club of Waterbury), CJ Swift (Great River Golf Club), Cody Paladino (Country Club of Farmington), Jason Thresher (West Suffield) and Michael Van DerLaan (Eclub of Connecticut) — all of whom registered a 4under 68.
Kong’s eyeopening round featured eight birdies, nine pars and only one bogey. A threetime medalist at the Division II high school state boys tournament, Kong turned professional on Dec. 18.
“I’ve been playing like this for the last month and a half,” Kong said. “I’m playing smart golf, which is kind of what you have to do out here. I played pretty smart all day.”
Kong sank a 15footer for birdie on his last hole (No. 7) to take the lead at 7under. His first birdie came on the par4 ninth hole.
“My goal was give myself as many chances as I can and don’t make bogey,” he said. “I made one. I threeputted on 11, but you’ve got to bounce back. The Par 3s here aren’t easy. I made eight birdies today and it could have been 10.”
Theodorakis, 21, a rising senior at Campbell University, continued his pattern of shooting under par — especially at CSGA events. He was the runnerup in the 2017 Connecticut Open Championship at Ellington Ridge, in a finish that included a fourman playoff and was the low amateur in last year’s event. Theodorakis also placed second at the Connecticut Junior Amateur Championship in 2014. His bogeyfree round on Friday included six birdies and 12 pars.
“I just didn’t make any mistakes really,” Theodorakis said. “I hit 17 greens and whenever you do that, you are going to have a lot of looks.”
My main goal was to keep it below the hole, without any threeputts.”
Birdies on 7, 8 and 9 sparked Theodorakis’ round. He’s coming off a successful junior golf season at Campbell University.
“I had six top10 finishes, including one win, so it was really consistent,” he said of his college season. “That was something I lacked the first two years, I wasn’t consistent. I took that momentum and brought it into the summer.”
James, a 16yearold, who teed off on the first hole Friday, shot a 31 on the back nine, with five birdies. He is fresh off victories at the Connecticut Junior Championship and the AJGA Killington Junior Championship.
“I hit the ball pretty similar the whole day and putts just fell on the back,” said James, a Hamden Hall Country Day School student. I got the feel of the greens. On the front I wasn’t taking a good line off the ball and my speed was great. I think I’ve got a good groove going, I’ve been working pretty hard, but working much smarter.”
James is entering the second round with a free mind.
“I’m not really thinking of a number, I’m just having some fun out there,” he said. “This is a bonus, I didn’t even know I was going to play in this until I won the junior.
A New Canaan native, Swift rolled in five birdie putts and parred 12 holes en route to his impressive opening round. Well known at the Connecticut Open, Swift was the runnerup to John VanDerLaan at last summer’s tournament, with his threeday total of 14underpar marking the second lowest score in the event’s history.
Indeed, Swift entered the 2019 Connecticut Open inspired.
“As soon as I drove in, I saw John VanDerLaan’s name as the previous champion, so that gave me a little extra motivation,” Swift said. “It was a good battle last year, coming down to the last hole.”
Swift, who plays on the PGA Latinoamerica Tour, began his round by sinking a birdie putt on the par4 eighth hole, the first of his five birdies.
“The first round, it’s good to move in the right direction,” said Swift, who plays out of Great River Golf Club. “You can’t win it on the first day, but you can lose it, so it’s good to start well. This was a good setup for the next two days.”
His putter was reliable throughout.
“I had one threeputt bogey on 12, other than that my putting was good,” Swift said. “I made a couple of putts outside of 20 feet, which helped me keep the momentum going.”
Cory Muller of Country Club of Darien shot a 3under 69, as did Paul Pastore of Fairview Country Club. Mike Ballo of Stamford, Jerry Courville (Shorehaven Golf Club), Benjamin Conroy (New Haven Country Club), Michael Hanratty (Farmington Woods) and Woodbury’s Chris Wiatr each finished at 2under 70.
Pastore, a 2014 Greenwich High graduate, is an assistant at Fairview Country Club in Greenwich. A runnerup recently at the New Hampshire Open, Pastore has enjoyed a productive summer at the venues he’s competed at. His strong, consistent play continued Friday, as he posted four birdies on his way to shooting a 69..
“I hit the driver good, hit it in play most of the time and made a couple of longer putts,” Pastore said. “I birdied No. 2, I birdied No. 8 and I also birdied two others on the back nine. I just played solid today.”
Birdies also came on the 12th and 15th holes for Pastore, who has been gearing up for the Connecticut Open.
“Growing up in Connecticut, I always had my eye on this one,” Pastore said. “I really like this golf course and tomorrow (Saturday), I’m going to stick to my game plan. I hit a lot of driver out here and hopefully, I can make more putts.”
Ballo visited Torrington Country Club one day after winning the New York State Open Championship event.
“Playing here today after winning a huge event like the New York State Open was tough,” Ballo said. “I need a good night’s sleep, then I’ll be all right. I was so wound up and hyped up yesterday (Thursday), I barely slept. I’m pleased with what I’m doing out there. I made some big putts and I hit it solid. The second round, I just have to continue to hit it in the right places and give myself good opportunities.”