NORTH NORWICH – Playing with the lead has proven a losing proposition of late at the Canasawacta Country Club Men’s Member-Guest Tournament. The 49th installment of the tournament bore a striking resemblance to the 48th as Tim Mirabito and Ken Stewart made up four strokes to chase down second-round leaders Tim Carson and Scott Seiler.
Mirabito and Stewart’s 4-under-par 66 forced a tie and the first playoff in the tournament’s near half-century history. On the first playoff hole, Mirabito sunk a five-foot downhill birdie putt on the 18th green, and clinched the title as Seiler’s long birdie try fell short earlier on the hole.
It was the second win for Stewart and Mirabito and Mirabito’s third overall. A decade ago, he grabbed the top prize with David Aust. Mirabito, affable and relaxed on the course, as is Stewart, was not thinking about shooting a specific number to make a run at Carson-Seiler. “You can’t worry what everyone else is doing, you just have to go out and make as many birdies as possible,” Mirabito said.
It was the second year in the row Carson and Seiler were in the final group. A year ago, the twosome was paired with leaders Bob and Mike Branham, and they were certainly not expecting the final-round 63 from Tom and Matt Ryan. The Ryans’ six-stroke comeback win set the stage for Saturday’s similar outcome. “We just couldn’t make any putts today,” Seiler lamented afterward.
Three teams found themselves tied or within one stroke of the Carson-Seiler standard on an exciting back nine. The hottest team on the course was several groups ahead of the leaders. Tom Porack and Brian Harmon moved to 6-under-par on the day and one shot back after a birdie on the 16th hole. Needing a birdie on the final hole to tie, the duo stumbled with a double bogey.
Mirabito and Stewart had their first taste of the lead – sharing it – with a birdie on the par-five 13th hole. Carson and Seiler matched that birdie to pull in front by one again. Tom Muserilli and Brian Conklin started the day in second place and paired with the leaders. A mediocre start to their day sent the deficit to four shots entering the ninth hole. There, a birdie by Muzzy combined with a bogey by the leaders pared that lead in half. Another red number on the 10th hole closed the gap to one, and Conklin’s long birdie on the 14th hole knotted the two teams up. A bogey on the ensuing hole for Muzz and Conklin put them one step behind, a margin they did not close the rest of the while.
Meanwhile, Stewart and Mirabito strung solid hole after solid hole together, and Mirabito appeared ready to draw his club even when he stuck his low-iron shot on the difficult par-three 17th hole to within 2 1/2 feet – the closest shot of the day. He pulled that putt in what seemed like an egregious miss. He came back on the final hole rolling in an uphill 10-foot putt for birdie. “I wasn’t really nervous on that last putt, I was more angry after missing that one on seventeen,” Mirabito said.
Still, Carson and Seiler had an opportunity to win the tournament outright with a birdie; instead, Carson holed a tricky five-foot right-to-left putt for par just to force a playoff. Muserilli and Conklin struggled for par on the final hole to end up one shot back.
“It was a great feeling to win this again,” Stewart said. “It’s different feeling playing from behind. Last time we were in front, so maybe we were a little looser this time.
“I still had those butterflies in my stomach, and you just can’t buy that kind of feeling.”
Other flights: An even-par 70 gave Joe Brillinger and David Lowe a two-shot win in the Heritage Flight. …The father-son team of Brian and Bill Loomis took the Doral Flight in a playoff over Spencer McCredy and Matt Meade. …Roger Gray and P.J. Brunick shot a 2-over-par 72 to take a two-shot win in the Memorial Flight. …Josh Morris and Bryan Boyer put together a steady 75 to grab the 14-team Colonial Flight. …Greg Binelli and Kevin Finnegan held a one-shot lead in the Westchester Flight entering the final round, and a 76 allowed them to maintain that one-shot advantage. …Barney Natoli and his grandson, Tom Sommer, fashioned a 76 in the International Flight, the best score in their division by three strokes, to grab a win. …Tim Corey and Mike Hawkins posted the widest margin of victory in any flight taking the Bay Hill by five shots over John Swertfager and Lou Shaheen.
Scoring by Flight
(Top-six plus ties)
Masters
*Mirabito-Stewart 71-64-66-201
Carson-Seiler 64-67-70-201
Muserilli-Conklin 64-69-69-202
Porack-Harmon 68-70-66-204
T. Ryan-J. Ryan 65-72-71-208
Skillin-Gorski 70-68-71-209
*Won playoff
Heritage
Brillinger-Lowe 74-72-70-216
M. Flanagan-Larkin 67-78-73-218
DeMellier-Gelsomin 69-77-73-219
Somich-Somich 74-72-73-219
Costin-Provost 75-71-75-221
Trojan-Trojan 71-75-76-222
McBride-Frazier 73-74-75-222
Doral
*Loomis-Loomis 75-75-73-223
McCredy-Meade 71-77-75-223
Dorio-Delecola 77-73-75-225
Ferrarese-Leonard 78-72-76-226
Eaton-Rivenburg 76-72-78-226
Lewis-Lewis 75-73-79-227
P. Flanagan-True 77-73-77-227
*Won playoff
Memorial
Gray-Brunick 78-73-72-223
P. Ryan-J. Ryan 71-80-74-225
Williams-Kelly 73-79-73-225
D. Kelly-Walton 72-80-74-226
Skillin-Berry 77-74-75-226
Mitchell-P. Flanagan 75-76-79-230
Colonial
Morris-Boyer 74-81-75-230
Wysor-Wysor 82-74-76-232
Collins-Cutting 79-77-76-232
Dowling-Dowling 80-78-76-234
McCumiskey-McCumiskey 76-80-78-234
Burrell-Roswick 81-73-80-234
Westchester
Binelli-Finnegan 83-76-76-235
McIntyre-Wightman 79-81-76-236
Sastri-Schermerhorn 81-79-77-237
Voss-Trask 78-83-78-239
O’Connor-Manwarren 80-81-78-239
Bennett-Brown 81-81-79-241
International
B. Natoli-Sommer 83-82-76-241
Webber-Markham 77-87-79-243
A. Hannan-Eccelston 82-82-79-243
Steward-Vidler 80-85-79-244
Gage-Markham 86-79-80-245
Boudet-Potter 82-85-79-246
Bay Hill
(Final round plus better of first two rounds)
Corey-Hawkins 84-80-164
Swertfager-Shaheen 84-85-169
Manwarren-Myers 85-85-170
Yerton-Fowler 88-82-170
Huhtala-Huhtala 85-86-171
Pierce-Pierce 85-87-172