The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
New Haven CC to host record ninth CT Open
The heat and humidity plaguing the Northeast has made the course conditions at New Haven Country Club exactly the way the club members like it.
“Our course is supposed to be playing firm and fast,” New Haven CC pro William Wallis said. “The Greens are running the way they should.”
The Connecticut Open returns to New Haven CC for a ninth time beginning Monday. The Hamdenbased private club has hosted the championship — this is the 88th edition of it — more than any other venue.
New Haven CC is hosting the Open just four years after its last one in 2018. It was important for the club to host it since this is the 100th anniversary that the current course, designed by Willie Park Jr., opened.
That happened around Memorial Day in 1922. The club itself was founded in 1898.
“We have so many good players at the club right now. The club is doing so well in regards to a strong golfing membership. We feel like we are the center of golf in Connecticut.”
New Haven CC plays to approximately 6,600 yards, a par 70. Wallis said the course will be playing shorter than four years ago due to the firm and fast conditions.
“A little more tree work has been done to open up some views and create a little more wind here and there,” Wallis said. “In 2018, we had a ton of rain leading up to the event, so the greens were a lot slower. … The green speeds and
breaks, hopefully, will be the game changer.”
Peter Ballo is the defending champion. An assistant pro at Connecticut Golf Club in Easton, Ballo agreed with Wallis on how the greens will be a huge factor in the 54-hole championship.
“It’s very easy to get on the wrong side of a green there, It’s very easy to 3putt or 4-putt,” said Ballo, a Stamford resident. “It’s not just a wide-open place, hit it and go find it. You have to navigate holes, have control into the greens with spin and distance control.”
Ballo will be in the group featuring the last three Open champions. Rasmey Kong, the 2019 winner, and Max Theodorakis, the 2020 champion. They tee off hole No. 10 at 8:40 a.m.
John VanderLaan, the
2018 champ at New Haven CC, now plays on the Korn Ferry Tour.
New Haven CC has 11 competitors in the tournament, including Wallis and Brett Stegmaier, who played three years on the PGA Tour and for several seasons on the Korn Ferry Tour.
Stegmaier is playing with Ben James, the No. 1 junior in the country from Milford who will be heading to the University of Virginia for his freshman year; and Adam Rainaud, the 2016 Connecticut Open winner.
The low 40 and ties advance to Wednesday’s final round.
SPECIAL OLYMPICS TO RECEIVE FUNDING
Special Olympics Connecticut is one of 81 organizations chosen to receive
funding from the golf industry’s DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) campaign called Make Golf Your Thing. Special Olympics Connecticut made the announcement in a release on Friday.
The grant program was created in May of 2021 and according to the release, the funding has totaled more than $1 million since it began. The program is run by the American Golf Industry Coalition, a partnership among golf ’s leading organizations.
Special Olympics Connecticut was one of the organizations chosen due to its success in increasing participation in the sport of golf in underrepresented populations. Golf is a featured sport when Special Olympics Connecticut begins its Unified Sports Fall
Festival. Sleeping Giant GC in Hamden will host an event on Sept. 11 that will include individual stroke, alternate shot and skills competitions.
NEW YORK JUNIOR
A number of state golfers will participate in the American Junior Golf Association’s UHY New York Junior to be held Tuesday through Thursday at Ardsley CC in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.
The field includes: Sebastian Beaver (Ridgefield), Cameron Besaw (New Canaan), Harrison browne (Westport, Staples), Will Huntington (Southport, Fairfield Prep), Elias Kennon (Old Greenwich), Zach Munno (Stamford), James O’Connor (Greenwich), Chad Ruggiero (Greenwich), Bradley Sawka (Ellington) and Andrew Stickel
(Greenwich).
The boys and girls tournament fields will be cut to a minimum of 60 percent for Thursday’s final round. The exact cut number will be determined at the tournament.
HARTFORD WOMEN’S OPEN
Mia Grzywinski will attempt to defend her championship at the Hartford Women’s Open Monday and Tuesday at Keney Park GC.
Grzywinski, a standout for the Quinnipiac women’s golf team, finished second at the Connecticut Women’s Amateur earlier this month. Grzywinski won last year’s Hartford Women;s Open by three shots.
The 36-hole stroke-play championship, which used to be held in mid-June, ends Tuesday..
Meghan Mitchell, the two-time Connecticut Women’s Amateur champion, is paired with Angela Garvin, a former winner in this event, at 9:20 a.m.. In the group behind them is Jen Holland, who finished third in the Women’s Amateur.
SMITH CELEBRATION
Orange Hills CC will hold a Celebration of Life for longtime owner Walter “Bud” Smith on Saturday, July 30, at Orange Hills CC beginning at 4 p.m.
Smith, who was the owner of Orange Hills CC since the mid-1950s, died in January at 97.