The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Ridgefield’s Dowling wins Conn. Amateur
EAST HADDAM — Richard Dowling described his final round at the Connecticut Amateur Championship as a roller coaster, but his wild ride in the title match ended on a high note.
Dowling had the momentum on the front nine, Chandler Morris seized it on the back nine, but Dowling had enough on the final hole to claim what he garnered in 2017 — the Robert D. Pryde winner’s trophy.
Sinking a clutch putt on the par-5, 18th hole, Dowling, a Shelton native and Ridgefield resident, won the 117th Connecticut Amateur Championship, edging University of Connecticut student Chandler Morris, 1-up, in the finals at Fox Hopyard Golf Club in East Haddam on Friday.
The victory gave Dowling, who represented Golf Performance Center (Ridgefield) his second Connecticut Amateur title in three years. He captured the Connecticut Amateur Championship two years ago at Tashua Knolls Golf Club in Trumbull.
“It means a lot, it’s pretty surreal, but obviously really cool to be Connecticut Amateur champion,” said Dowling, who was also a 1-up winner in the 2017 Connecticut Amateur final. “I just came out aggressive and hits some good shots hole-after-hole and I got up pretty quick.”
Unlike previous years, when the tournament featured a 36-hole final, Friday’s championship match was played in 18 holes, since the event was backed up due to inclement weather. The semifinal round was held Friday morning. Dowling took a 5-up lead on Morris after eight holes of the championship match, winning five straight holes (Nos. 4-8). The match was all square after the first three holes, but Dowling took the lead by making a birdie putt on the par-3 202-yard fourth hole. He parred the fifth hole, made
birdie on the par-4 sixth hole and rolled in a birdie putt on the par-4 seventh hole.
Morris, who recently completed his red shirt sophomore season as a member of UConn’s men’s golf team, made his move in a big way on the back nine. He won the par-4 ninth hole to cut his deficit to 4-down, then closed to within 2-up by taking the 11th and 13th holes (par-3, par-4, respectively).
The match got all squared up when Morris holed a birdie putt from four feet on the par-4 17th hole, setting up an exciting finish.
“You just have to keep hitting good golf shots, you can’t make up that in one hole,” Morris said. “I hit some solid shots and made some good pars today. The course played very difficult, so I figured making hard pars would go a long way on the back nine.”
Making par putts, indeed went a long way for Morris on the back nine and it helped Dowling on No. 18, as he captured his second Connecticut Amateur title with a par. Despite seeing his once five-hole lead disappear, Dowling kept his composure.
“I wasn’t paying attention to it how much I was up or down,” Dowling said. “I knew I had to re-focus myself. It was going to be a test either way, especially competing against a good player like Chandler. The momentum was going his way, but one thing I did well today, was staying consistent,” Dowling said. “It was a roller coaster round, but I stayed keel in terms of my approach and how I focused on each shot.”
Dowling earned a berth in the final by winning his semifinal round matchup by default. Seth Egnasko of Wintonbury Hills Golf Club in South Windsor could not make his semifinal match against Dowling due to work-related commitments. Morris moved on to the finals by defeating his UConn teammate Finn Boynton, 2 and 1, in Friday morning’s other semifinal.
“My play is in really good shape,” said Morris, who plays out of Waterbury Golf Club. “I started off really good in stroke play and I had some flashes of some really good golf.”
Said Dowling: “Chandler was really steady, I don’t know what he shot, he might have beat me in stroke play. I’ve got to hand it to him, he is a good competitor, coming back from 5-down.”
Both players appreciated the test of golf Fox Hopyard provided each day.
“It was relatively forgiving off the tee and rewarded a good tee shot,” Dowling said. “Each green had three little greens, it seemed like every green had three tiers. That meant your iron game had to be honed in and your short game had to be really good too. The greens were rolling all week.”
Added Morris: “The greens held up really well, despite the bad weather. They were pretty quick and pretty smooth all week,