A breakthrough win at CCC tourney
PLYMOUTH – The best players to have called Bluestone Golf Course home have not had the same level of success coming to Canasawacta Country Club’s Men’s Member-Guest Tournament. Bryan Smith, in his second year as a member at C.C.C., teamed with Todd Seiler for an Oxford breakthrough winning the 52nd annual tourney in a come-from-behind performance Saturday afternoon.
The duo, who recently won the Bluestone Member-Guest tournament, backed that title up shooting a final-round 5-under-par 66 to surge past the majority of the Masters (championship) Flight.
“I figured we had to shoot at least a 64 today to have a chance,” Seiler said, who passed his brother (Scott) and nephew (Scotty) along the way to get to the top.
“The top groups kind of came back to us a little bit, which we didn’t expect,” Smith said. “I thought the top teams would at least shoot 68, 69, then we would have to shoot 64 to maybe get into a playoff.”
Smith and Seiler trailed second-round leaders Tim Carson and Scott Seiler by four shots entering the last round, and trailed Scotty Seiler Jr. and his partner Josh Bennett by three. Not to mention, the brother team of Nick and Paul Brunick led the eventual winners by two, and other high-caliber teams – Justin Bennett-Brian Loomis and Bob Branham-Mike Branham – were tied with Smith and Seiler.
After nine holes, Carson and Seiler remained in command shooting a 2-under-par 34 on the front nine to maintain a one-shot lead over Bennett-Seiler, and a three-shot lead over Brunick-Brunick. Despite a 2-under-par effort on the front nine, Smith and Seiler had not made up any ground.
One by one, though, nearly all of the groups in front of Smith and Seiler faltered on the back nine.
* The Branham team, who did not make a birdie on the front nine, double-bogeyed the ninth hole to fall out of contention.
* Bennett and Seiler Jr. dropped back when they double-bogeyed the par-five 10th hole. Seiler hit one shot out of bounds and Bennett plunked his third shot into the water.
* Carson and Seiler slipped with a bogey on 12, a double bogey on 14, and a bogey on 15th hole.
* Bennett and Loomis were within two shots of the lead after birdies on the 10th and 11th holes, but slumped bogeying the 14th through 17th holes.
* The Brunicks, with their Seve Ballestros swashbuckling style of play, needed just a par on the last hole to tie the Smiths. Paul drove his tee ball long and out of bounds, and Nick hooked his tee shot into bushes above the green. Nick Brunick received a fortunate drop without penalty, but placed his second shot into a greenside bunker, and took four more shots to finish the hole carding a double bogey.
Smith and Seiler, who wrapped up their round nearly a half-hour before the final group, looked on almost in disbelief as their final score of 12-under-par held up.
“We didn’t have any bogeys yesterday or today, and we didn’t have any eagles either,” Smith said. “We were just consistent all three days.”
Thursday, Smith and Seiler were one of 14 teams that had under-par rounds, and with a 69 on the board, really weren’t on the radar as a championship contender. Back-to-back 66s to finish the tournament not only put on the Oxford graduates on the radar, but also on the distinguished roll of champions. “It’s a three-day tournament, not two rounds where you’ve got to have a really good first day,” Smith said. “The first round, you just don’t want to shoot yourself out of it. We were two-under-par and we put together a couple good rounds.”
Smith and Seiler followed up their front side with birdies on the par-five 10th and 13th holes, and a birdie-three on the 15th hole. Seiler added a nice uphill par save on the 18th to complete the round.
Carson and Seiler Sr. finished in a tie for second with the Brunicks at 10-under-par. Alone in fourth were Bennett and Seiler Jr., who were the tournament’s first-round leaders.
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In other flights: A pedestrian first two rounds – by their own standards – for defending champions Lee Skillin and Jim Gorski kept them out of the championship flight, but the duo came through with the second-best round on Saturday shooting a 67 to win the Oakmont Flight by two shots over 2003 champions Doug Wilson and Joe Gutosky. Skillin-Gorski had six birdies in their round, and their final two-day total of 135 was second only to the champions, Smith and Seiler….Steady golf led Tom Ryan and Todd Hall to a win in the Baltusrol Flight. Ryan-Hall had two birdies and three bogeys for a final-round 72 to edge Charlie Wightman and Bill Potter. Wightman-Potter shot 1-under-par on the more-difficult front nine, but struggled to a 3-over-par 38 on the back nine….Peter and Steve Somich bounced back from a 79 in the second round to shoot a 73 and win the Oakland Hills Flight. Somich-Somich had two birdies and four bogeys in their 2-over-par 73 round. Trip deCordova and Charlie Hartigan carded a career-best 73 to place second, just a shot behind the winners….Terry Hagenbuch and Ed Holmquist bogeyed their opening hole, but proceeded to play even-par golf the rest of the way to take the Merion Flight by three shots over Dave Martin and Tom Dixon. Hagenbuch-Holmquist notched four birdies in their round….In the Winged Foot Flight, longtime partners Eric Burrell and Rick Roswick were three-shot winners over Sal Testani and Earl Halaquist....The father-son team of John Huhtala and John Huhtala Jr. put together a strong back nine picking up four birdies to shoot a final-round 73 to earn the low score in the Pebble Beach Flight. Jeff Todd and Donald Eisele were alone in second three shots behind the Huhtalas....In the Shinnecock Flight, brothers Doug and Greg Caesar parred the second playoff hole to edge John Zieno and Mike Teller….In perhaps the most exciting tit-for-tat action of the final round, Barney Natoli and his grandson, Tom Sommer, teamed to win the Olympic Flight in a two-hole playoff over Chuck Collier and Dave Philipson. Playing the opening hole, Collier-Philipson drained a 40-foot birdie putt to seemingly take hold of the playoff. Natoli followed that by knocking in a 30-foot bird to extend the playoff. Sommer birdied the second playoff hole – the par-four 18th – to clinch the flight. Interestingly, Natoli and Sommer said that they did not make a single birdie during their 18-hole round Saturday.
The duo, who recently won the Bluestone Member-Guest tournament, backed that title up shooting a final-round 5-under-par 66 to surge past the majority of the Masters (championship) Flight.
“I figured we had to shoot at least a 64 today to have a chance,” Seiler said, who passed his brother (Scott) and nephew (Scotty) along the way to get to the top.
“The top groups kind of came back to us a little bit, which we didn’t expect,” Smith said. “I thought the top teams would at least shoot 68, 69, then we would have to shoot 64 to maybe get into a playoff.”
Smith and Seiler trailed second-round leaders Tim Carson and Scott Seiler by four shots entering the last round, and trailed Scotty Seiler Jr. and his partner Josh Bennett by three. Not to mention, the brother team of Nick and Paul Brunick led the eventual winners by two, and other high-caliber teams – Justin Bennett-Brian Loomis and Bob Branham-Mike Branham – were tied with Smith and Seiler.
After nine holes, Carson and Seiler remained in command shooting a 2-under-par 34 on the front nine to maintain a one-shot lead over Bennett-Seiler, and a three-shot lead over Brunick-Brunick. Despite a 2-under-par effort on the front nine, Smith and Seiler had not made up any ground.
One by one, though, nearly all of the groups in front of Smith and Seiler faltered on the back nine.
* The Branham team, who did not make a birdie on the front nine, double-bogeyed the ninth hole to fall out of contention.
* Bennett and Seiler Jr. dropped back when they double-bogeyed the par-five 10th hole. Seiler hit one shot out of bounds and Bennett plunked his third shot into the water.
* Carson and Seiler slipped with a bogey on 12, a double bogey on 14, and a bogey on 15th hole.
* Bennett and Loomis were within two shots of the lead after birdies on the 10th and 11th holes, but slumped bogeying the 14th through 17th holes.
* The Brunicks, with their Seve Ballestros swashbuckling style of play, needed just a par on the last hole to tie the Smiths. Paul drove his tee ball long and out of bounds, and Nick hooked his tee shot into bushes above the green. Nick Brunick received a fortunate drop without penalty, but placed his second shot into a greenside bunker, and took four more shots to finish the hole carding a double bogey.
Smith and Seiler, who wrapped up their round nearly a half-hour before the final group, looked on almost in disbelief as their final score of 12-under-par held up.
“We didn’t have any bogeys yesterday or today, and we didn’t have any eagles either,” Smith said. “We were just consistent all three days.”
Thursday, Smith and Seiler were one of 14 teams that had under-par rounds, and with a 69 on the board, really weren’t on the radar as a championship contender. Back-to-back 66s to finish the tournament not only put on the Oxford graduates on the radar, but also on the distinguished roll of champions. “It’s a three-day tournament, not two rounds where you’ve got to have a really good first day,” Smith said. “The first round, you just don’t want to shoot yourself out of it. We were two-under-par and we put together a couple good rounds.”
Smith and Seiler followed up their front side with birdies on the par-five 10th and 13th holes, and a birdie-three on the 15th hole. Seiler added a nice uphill par save on the 18th to complete the round.
Carson and Seiler Sr. finished in a tie for second with the Brunicks at 10-under-par. Alone in fourth were Bennett and Seiler Jr., who were the tournament’s first-round leaders.
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In other flights: A pedestrian first two rounds – by their own standards – for defending champions Lee Skillin and Jim Gorski kept them out of the championship flight, but the duo came through with the second-best round on Saturday shooting a 67 to win the Oakmont Flight by two shots over 2003 champions Doug Wilson and Joe Gutosky. Skillin-Gorski had six birdies in their round, and their final two-day total of 135 was second only to the champions, Smith and Seiler….Steady golf led Tom Ryan and Todd Hall to a win in the Baltusrol Flight. Ryan-Hall had two birdies and three bogeys for a final-round 72 to edge Charlie Wightman and Bill Potter. Wightman-Potter shot 1-under-par on the more-difficult front nine, but struggled to a 3-over-par 38 on the back nine….Peter and Steve Somich bounced back from a 79 in the second round to shoot a 73 and win the Oakland Hills Flight. Somich-Somich had two birdies and four bogeys in their 2-over-par 73 round. Trip deCordova and Charlie Hartigan carded a career-best 73 to place second, just a shot behind the winners….Terry Hagenbuch and Ed Holmquist bogeyed their opening hole, but proceeded to play even-par golf the rest of the way to take the Merion Flight by three shots over Dave Martin and Tom Dixon. Hagenbuch-Holmquist notched four birdies in their round….In the Winged Foot Flight, longtime partners Eric Burrell and Rick Roswick were three-shot winners over Sal Testani and Earl Halaquist....The father-son team of John Huhtala and John Huhtala Jr. put together a strong back nine picking up four birdies to shoot a final-round 73 to earn the low score in the Pebble Beach Flight. Jeff Todd and Donald Eisele were alone in second three shots behind the Huhtalas....In the Shinnecock Flight, brothers Doug and Greg Caesar parred the second playoff hole to edge John Zieno and Mike Teller….In perhaps the most exciting tit-for-tat action of the final round, Barney Natoli and his grandson, Tom Sommer, teamed to win the Olympic Flight in a two-hole playoff over Chuck Collier and Dave Philipson. Playing the opening hole, Collier-Philipson drained a 40-foot birdie putt to seemingly take hold of the playoff. Natoli followed that by knocking in a 30-foot bird to extend the playoff. Sommer birdied the second playoff hole – the par-four 18th – to clinch the flight. Interestingly, Natoli and Sommer said that they did not make a single birdie during their 18-hole round Saturday.
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