Connecticut golfers take center stage this week

The 104th Metropolitan Open Championship, the third oldest open golf championship in the country, celebrates another anniversary this coming week, as 142 of the region’s top professional and amateur players will compete at Piping Rock Club in Locust Valley, N.Y.

And among the 142 players are a formidable list of golfers with Connecticut ties.

The field of competitors, which includes 99 professional and 43 amateur players, includes 19 past MGA Met Open champions and numerous 2019 Met area champions.

Mike Ballo Jr., a Stamford resident and professional at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, N.Y., won the New York State Open at Bethpage Black in Farmingale, N.Y., in July and is teeing off in Tuesday’s opening round of the Met Open at 1:03 p.m. on the 10th hole. The Met Open commences Tuesday and concludes on Thursday at Piping Rock Club, which is hosting the event for the first time, though it has held three MGA Met Amateur Championship tournaments.

Ballo has brought his clubs to the Met Open numerous times, as has Greenwich native David Pastore. A Greenwich High School graduate, Pastore has won several MGA events, including the Met Amateur and Ike Stroke Play Championship.

Competing on the PGA’s Mackenzie Tour, Pastore has produced a solid season thus far, finishing fourth at the Osprey Valley Open in Canada last month. Pastore is scheduled to tee off at 8:03 a.m. on the 10th hole on Tuesday.

Paul Pastore, David’s younger brother, also qualified for the Met Open. An assistant golf professional at Fairview Country Club, he was the runnerup at the Connecticut Open Championship at Torrington Golf Club last month and finished second at the New Hampshire Open in July. His first round at the Met Open starts at 7:52 a.m. (first hole).

The Pastore brothers each represent Fairview Country Club. Rick Dowling (Golf Performance Center, Ridgefield) begins play at the Met Open on the 10th hole at 1:47 p.m. Tuesday. Dowling, a Stratford native, won the 2019 Connecticut Amateur at Fox Hopyard Golf Club in East Haddam and also captured the tournament’s title in 2017.

Ben Carpenter, a rising Brunswick School senior, will tee off on No. 1 at Piping Rock Club at 12:41 p.m. Tuesday. Carpenter is coming off a victory at the MGA Carter Cup Championship at Baltusrol Golf Club on July 31, following an outstanding spring season at Brunswick.

Saptak Talwar (Golf Performance Center), Peter Basso (Greenwich Country Club), Andrew Gai (Longshore Golf Club), Casey Pyne (The Stanwich Club) and Adam Rainaud (Country Club of New Canaan) are also among the Connecticutbased golfers who will compete in the Met Open.

Andrew Svoboda (Engineers Club), the 2018 Met Open winner, returns, along with 2017 champion Josh Rackley (Tam O’Shanter Club), Mark Brown (Tam O’Shanter, 2016 champion), Ben Polland (Deepdale, 2015 champion), Grant Sturgeon (Arcola) and Danny Balin (Fresh Meadow, used to play out of Burning Tree Country Club in Greenwich, 2012 Met Open champion).

In the tournament, the field is cut to the low 54 scores and ties, following 36 holes. dfierro @greenwichtime.com