Carson-Seiler break through at CCC Member-Guest
PLYMOUTH – Somewhere out there, William and Roberta Carson are smiling.
Tim Carson, son of the late Canasawacta Country Club owners, teamed up with longtime partner Scott Seiler to win the 53rd Annual CCC Men’s Member-Guest championship Saturday.
As darkness befell the championship flight players, Carson and Seiler outlasted steady rain and perhaps the deepest and most talented field of players in the long history of the tourney.
Carson, wearing one of his dad’s favorite shirts underneath his rain gear, captured the title on the golden anniversary of his father’s member-guest title in 1961. “I was very aware that this was the 50th anniversary of my dad’s win,” Carson said. “I feel his presence all of the time, but today it was no more than usual.”
Ever since the two longtime friends came together, they’ve found themselves contending for that elusive title. Four of the previous five years, Carson and Seiler finished in the runner-up position. In most of those cases, they held the lead after the first or second round of the 54-hole tournament.
After firing a second-round 64, the two were again in the familiar position of leading the field – this time by three strokes over 2009 champions Jim Gorski and Lee Skillin.
Gorski and Skillin were in jeopardy of missing the championship flight for the second straight year, but an incredible stretch on holes one through four on Friday pushed them into contention. The 2009 champions played the first four holes in just 10 strokes – three birdies and an eagle two on the par-four third hole.
Carson and Seiler took turns posting the red numbers on Friday. Seiler had four birdies and an eagle, while Carson saw his birdies come on the back nine.
At 11-under-par through two rounds, Carson and Seiler were clearly in command, but could they finish the deal this time? “My partner is a little more steady than me, and he didn’t have to make any changes this year,” Carson said. “I definitely had a different plan on how to finish this tournament.Winning this was very important to us and there are a lot of good players here. No one was going to lay down for us, and I definitely had a different mental approach.”
While the morning groups in the last three flights were able to play out their final 18 holes, teams in the top-half of the field had to endure steady precipitation that varied from a light sprinkle, to a drizzle, and ultimately a driving rain that forced a stoppage of play at the midpoint of the round. Most teams on the course had finished no more than 10 holes, and several greens on the front nine were unplayable due to the build-up of casual water.
Conditions did not improve as the rain continued to fall, and head professional, Charley Winn, called it a day for the afternoon teams. However, since most of the championship flight teams had already reached the back nine – well past the unplayable greens – he sent the top eight teams back on the course to finish out the round. With a small grounds crew squeegeeing extra water away on the more soaked greens, play resumed after an hour-plus delay.
“There was definitely a question if we would finish our round,” Carson said, who is also the club owner. “I told Charley this was totally his call. As a participant, I couldn’t take part in the decision (to keep playing).
“Charley is just an unbelievable golf pro and incredibly thorough. He is always going to make the right decision, and it was a great decision to just send out the teams in the masters flight (to determine an overall champion). I never would have thought of just playing the championship flight out. I knew the weather was going to cancel the day, and there was no way the rest of the field was going to finish their rounds.”
“I never thought of that either, and I didn’t even know that was an option,” Seiler added. “I definitely didn’t want the tournament to end after playing just nine holes. It would have been a victory (for us), but we wanted to play all 18 holes.”
Just before the rain delay, the Carson-Seiler team made a nice putt for birdie on the par-five seventh, then followed that up with a nice saving par on the par-three eighth. Both players were in good position off the tee on number nine before play was halted.
“I really felt a surge on the ninth hole,” Carson said. “I couldn’t wait to hit my next shot on number nine, and it was tough hour delay. The swings weren’t quite the same after that.”
Nonetheless, to that point, none of the championship flight teams had made a dent in the Carson-Seiler lead, who still led by three shots after Seiler drained a five-foot putt for birdie on the par-five 13th hole. Also trailing by three were defending champions Bryan Smith and Todd Seiler. Playing one hole ahead of the final group, Smith birdied the 13th hole to move his team to within three.
Seiler again rapped in a testy five-foot putt on the tricky par-three 14th hole to maintain the lead, but maybe it was some nerves that kicked in on the next hole. Seiler and Carson each reached the green in regulation, but both three-putted the hole. Meanwhile, Skillin made a short par putt to lessen the gap to two. Up ahead, Smith nailed an eight-foot birdie putt on the 16th hole to create a two-shot swing and pare the Carson-Seiler lead to one.
Smith and Seiler successfully negotiated the difficult par-three 17th earning a par, and needed a birdie on the driveable 18th hole to tie. Seiler had a 25-foot birdie putt die just short of the hole. Smith, though, made a nice pitch from 20 yards to within four feet of the hole. Faced with a sharp-breaking left-to-right putt for bird, Smith narrowly missed on the low side of the hole.
Carson and Seiler showed little signs of relinquishing their lead. Seiler’s two-iron on 17 was just short and right of the green, and Carson stiffed his long iron to less than 15 feet from the cup – one of the best shots of the day.
Seiler was able to get up-and-down making a 15-foot par putt, while Carson had an easy two-putt par.
Leading by one entering the final hole – with little light left – Carson and Seiler finished in style.
Each player drove the ball close to the green with Seiler above and left of the green, and Carson just on the front fringe about 25 feet from the hole. Seiler chipped down to the hole putting himself about 15 feet away for birdie, and Carson chipped to about three feet.
Just needing a two-putt for the win – and with nearly the entire tournament field watching – Seiler did one better draining yet another putt to clinch a two-shot victory.
Carson and Seiler embraced after the win, and each player shared long hugs with their family members. The long-awaited championship was finally theirs, and Carson will now join his father on the plaque of championship winners. “The talent every year just gets better and better every year,” Carson said. “It still would have been sweet to win the tournament (if the final round was canceled), but I think everyone was happy that we were able to finish the round.”
In other flights: With rain forcing a stoppage of play for all of the afternoon flights, the final scoring reverted to the first 36 holes of play in the Oakmont, Baltusrol, Oakland Hills, Merion, and Winged Foot flights. Winners in those flights were Mark DeMellier-George Gelsomin (Oakmont); Colin Fraser-Richard Mundinger (Baltusrol); Jim Wysor-Tom Wysor (Oakland Hills); Frank Somich-Mike Somich (Merion); and Joe Loftus-Brad Hagen (Winged Foot)... In the Pebble Beach flight, Harry Myers and Josh Dolbin shot a final-round 73 to win by two shots over Brendan Hannan and Mike Schultz and the team of Lance Yerton-Steve Bennett; Aidan Hannan and Doug Coggins again won a flight in a playoff. Tied with Chuck Collier and Dave Phillipson in the Shinnecock Flight, Hannan was the lone player to make par on the par-four first hole to end sudden death play. Hannan was able to get up-and-down from the front of the green making a four-foot putt for par. A sudden-death playoff also determined the Olympic Flight. The father-son team of Joe Gutosky-Nate Gutosky beat fellow father-son team, Tony and Steve Porack, winning on the opening hole.
Scoring
(Top-five scoring by flight, plus ties)
*Only two rounds completed in Oakmont, Baltusrol, Oakland Hills, Merion, and Winged Foot Flights)
Masters
T. Carson-S. Seiler 67-64-70-201
B. Smith-T. Seiler 67-68-68-203
L. Skillin-J. Gorski 70-64-71-205
T. Porack-B. Harmon 67-70-70-207
B. Branham-M. Branham 65-72-70-207
Oakmont
M. DeMellier-G. Gelsomin 69-69-138
K. Mirabito-K. Stewart 72-67-139
B. Adsit-J. Majchrzak 71-68-139
D. Georgia-J. Ross 72-67-139
Jo. Bennett-C. Seiler 70-69-139
Baltusrol
*C. Fraser-R. Mundinger 71-71-142
S. Testani-E. Halaquist 72-70-142
S. Trojan-D. Trojan 69-73-142
J. Morris-B. Boyer 75-68-143
T. Diorio-J. Derecola 73-70-143
*Winner determined by scorecard playoff.
Oakland Hills
J. Wysor-T. Wysor 73-72-145
D. Martin-T. Dixon 74-72-146
S. McCredy-M. Meade 77-69-146
M. Ryan-T. Ryan 71-75-146
C. Maynard-C. Cleveland 70-76-146
Merion
*F. Somich-M. Somich 78-72-150
P. Eaton-K. Benjamin 72-78-150
P. O’Connor-K. Finch 73-77-150
R. Clarkson-D. Tacinelli 73-77-150
C. Wightman-B. Potter 79-72-151
B. Natoli-T. Sommer 76-75-151
*Winner determined by scorecard tiebreaker
Winged Foot
J. Loftus-B. Hagen 76-77-153
T. Hagenbuch-E. Holmquist 79-75-154
P. Flanagan-D. True 75-79-154
S. Jones-A. Boulant 81-74-155
G. Muserallo-E. Musarello 76-79-155
Pebble Beach
H. Myers-D. Dolbin 77-80-73-230
B. Hannan-M. Schultz 78-81-73-232
L. Yerton-S. Bennett 81-77-74-232
M. Mattot-R. Lathrop 80-78-76-234
N. Brunick-R. Brewer 80-78-77-235
Shinnecock
A. Hannan-D. Coggins 82-82-75-239
C. Collier-D. Phillipson 82-80-77-239
J. McCumiskey-T. McCumiskey 83-80-79-242
G. Bennett-F. Brown 76-86-80-242
J. Mitchell-P. Flanagan 82-81-81-244
Olympic
(Better of first two rounds plus final round toward final score)
J. Gutosky-N. Gutosky 85-78-163
T. Porack-S. Porack 84-79-163
P. Dowdall-D. Huhtala 82-82–164
B. Beadle-J. Rice 84-84-168
M. Janitz-J. James 85-84-169
Tim Carson, son of the late Canasawacta Country Club owners, teamed up with longtime partner Scott Seiler to win the 53rd Annual CCC Men’s Member-Guest championship Saturday.
As darkness befell the championship flight players, Carson and Seiler outlasted steady rain and perhaps the deepest and most talented field of players in the long history of the tourney.
Carson, wearing one of his dad’s favorite shirts underneath his rain gear, captured the title on the golden anniversary of his father’s member-guest title in 1961. “I was very aware that this was the 50th anniversary of my dad’s win,” Carson said. “I feel his presence all of the time, but today it was no more than usual.”
Ever since the two longtime friends came together, they’ve found themselves contending for that elusive title. Four of the previous five years, Carson and Seiler finished in the runner-up position. In most of those cases, they held the lead after the first or second round of the 54-hole tournament.
After firing a second-round 64, the two were again in the familiar position of leading the field – this time by three strokes over 2009 champions Jim Gorski and Lee Skillin.
Gorski and Skillin were in jeopardy of missing the championship flight for the second straight year, but an incredible stretch on holes one through four on Friday pushed them into contention. The 2009 champions played the first four holes in just 10 strokes – three birdies and an eagle two on the par-four third hole.
Carson and Seiler took turns posting the red numbers on Friday. Seiler had four birdies and an eagle, while Carson saw his birdies come on the back nine.
At 11-under-par through two rounds, Carson and Seiler were clearly in command, but could they finish the deal this time? “My partner is a little more steady than me, and he didn’t have to make any changes this year,” Carson said. “I definitely had a different plan on how to finish this tournament.Winning this was very important to us and there are a lot of good players here. No one was going to lay down for us, and I definitely had a different mental approach.”
While the morning groups in the last three flights were able to play out their final 18 holes, teams in the top-half of the field had to endure steady precipitation that varied from a light sprinkle, to a drizzle, and ultimately a driving rain that forced a stoppage of play at the midpoint of the round. Most teams on the course had finished no more than 10 holes, and several greens on the front nine were unplayable due to the build-up of casual water.
Conditions did not improve as the rain continued to fall, and head professional, Charley Winn, called it a day for the afternoon teams. However, since most of the championship flight teams had already reached the back nine – well past the unplayable greens – he sent the top eight teams back on the course to finish out the round. With a small grounds crew squeegeeing extra water away on the more soaked greens, play resumed after an hour-plus delay.
“There was definitely a question if we would finish our round,” Carson said, who is also the club owner. “I told Charley this was totally his call. As a participant, I couldn’t take part in the decision (to keep playing).
“Charley is just an unbelievable golf pro and incredibly thorough. He is always going to make the right decision, and it was a great decision to just send out the teams in the masters flight (to determine an overall champion). I never would have thought of just playing the championship flight out. I knew the weather was going to cancel the day, and there was no way the rest of the field was going to finish their rounds.”
“I never thought of that either, and I didn’t even know that was an option,” Seiler added. “I definitely didn’t want the tournament to end after playing just nine holes. It would have been a victory (for us), but we wanted to play all 18 holes.”
Just before the rain delay, the Carson-Seiler team made a nice putt for birdie on the par-five seventh, then followed that up with a nice saving par on the par-three eighth. Both players were in good position off the tee on number nine before play was halted.
“I really felt a surge on the ninth hole,” Carson said. “I couldn’t wait to hit my next shot on number nine, and it was tough hour delay. The swings weren’t quite the same after that.”
Nonetheless, to that point, none of the championship flight teams had made a dent in the Carson-Seiler lead, who still led by three shots after Seiler drained a five-foot putt for birdie on the par-five 13th hole. Also trailing by three were defending champions Bryan Smith and Todd Seiler. Playing one hole ahead of the final group, Smith birdied the 13th hole to move his team to within three.
Seiler again rapped in a testy five-foot putt on the tricky par-three 14th hole to maintain the lead, but maybe it was some nerves that kicked in on the next hole. Seiler and Carson each reached the green in regulation, but both three-putted the hole. Meanwhile, Skillin made a short par putt to lessen the gap to two. Up ahead, Smith nailed an eight-foot birdie putt on the 16th hole to create a two-shot swing and pare the Carson-Seiler lead to one.
Smith and Seiler successfully negotiated the difficult par-three 17th earning a par, and needed a birdie on the driveable 18th hole to tie. Seiler had a 25-foot birdie putt die just short of the hole. Smith, though, made a nice pitch from 20 yards to within four feet of the hole. Faced with a sharp-breaking left-to-right putt for bird, Smith narrowly missed on the low side of the hole.
Carson and Seiler showed little signs of relinquishing their lead. Seiler’s two-iron on 17 was just short and right of the green, and Carson stiffed his long iron to less than 15 feet from the cup – one of the best shots of the day.
Seiler was able to get up-and-down making a 15-foot par putt, while Carson had an easy two-putt par.
Leading by one entering the final hole – with little light left – Carson and Seiler finished in style.
Each player drove the ball close to the green with Seiler above and left of the green, and Carson just on the front fringe about 25 feet from the hole. Seiler chipped down to the hole putting himself about 15 feet away for birdie, and Carson chipped to about three feet.
Just needing a two-putt for the win – and with nearly the entire tournament field watching – Seiler did one better draining yet another putt to clinch a two-shot victory.
Carson and Seiler embraced after the win, and each player shared long hugs with their family members. The long-awaited championship was finally theirs, and Carson will now join his father on the plaque of championship winners. “The talent every year just gets better and better every year,” Carson said. “It still would have been sweet to win the tournament (if the final round was canceled), but I think everyone was happy that we were able to finish the round.”
In other flights: With rain forcing a stoppage of play for all of the afternoon flights, the final scoring reverted to the first 36 holes of play in the Oakmont, Baltusrol, Oakland Hills, Merion, and Winged Foot flights. Winners in those flights were Mark DeMellier-George Gelsomin (Oakmont); Colin Fraser-Richard Mundinger (Baltusrol); Jim Wysor-Tom Wysor (Oakland Hills); Frank Somich-Mike Somich (Merion); and Joe Loftus-Brad Hagen (Winged Foot)... In the Pebble Beach flight, Harry Myers and Josh Dolbin shot a final-round 73 to win by two shots over Brendan Hannan and Mike Schultz and the team of Lance Yerton-Steve Bennett; Aidan Hannan and Doug Coggins again won a flight in a playoff. Tied with Chuck Collier and Dave Phillipson in the Shinnecock Flight, Hannan was the lone player to make par on the par-four first hole to end sudden death play. Hannan was able to get up-and-down from the front of the green making a four-foot putt for par. A sudden-death playoff also determined the Olympic Flight. The father-son team of Joe Gutosky-Nate Gutosky beat fellow father-son team, Tony and Steve Porack, winning on the opening hole.
Scoring
(Top-five scoring by flight, plus ties)
*Only two rounds completed in Oakmont, Baltusrol, Oakland Hills, Merion, and Winged Foot Flights)
Masters
T. Carson-S. Seiler 67-64-70-201
B. Smith-T. Seiler 67-68-68-203
L. Skillin-J. Gorski 70-64-71-205
T. Porack-B. Harmon 67-70-70-207
B. Branham-M. Branham 65-72-70-207
Oakmont
M. DeMellier-G. Gelsomin 69-69-138
K. Mirabito-K. Stewart 72-67-139
B. Adsit-J. Majchrzak 71-68-139
D. Georgia-J. Ross 72-67-139
Jo. Bennett-C. Seiler 70-69-139
Baltusrol
*C. Fraser-R. Mundinger 71-71-142
S. Testani-E. Halaquist 72-70-142
S. Trojan-D. Trojan 69-73-142
J. Morris-B. Boyer 75-68-143
T. Diorio-J. Derecola 73-70-143
*Winner determined by scorecard playoff.
Oakland Hills
J. Wysor-T. Wysor 73-72-145
D. Martin-T. Dixon 74-72-146
S. McCredy-M. Meade 77-69-146
M. Ryan-T. Ryan 71-75-146
C. Maynard-C. Cleveland 70-76-146
Merion
*F. Somich-M. Somich 78-72-150
P. Eaton-K. Benjamin 72-78-150
P. O’Connor-K. Finch 73-77-150
R. Clarkson-D. Tacinelli 73-77-150
C. Wightman-B. Potter 79-72-151
B. Natoli-T. Sommer 76-75-151
*Winner determined by scorecard tiebreaker
Winged Foot
J. Loftus-B. Hagen 76-77-153
T. Hagenbuch-E. Holmquist 79-75-154
P. Flanagan-D. True 75-79-154
S. Jones-A. Boulant 81-74-155
G. Muserallo-E. Musarello 76-79-155
Pebble Beach
H. Myers-D. Dolbin 77-80-73-230
B. Hannan-M. Schultz 78-81-73-232
L. Yerton-S. Bennett 81-77-74-232
M. Mattot-R. Lathrop 80-78-76-234
N. Brunick-R. Brewer 80-78-77-235
Shinnecock
A. Hannan-D. Coggins 82-82-75-239
C. Collier-D. Phillipson 82-80-77-239
J. McCumiskey-T. McCumiskey 83-80-79-242
G. Bennett-F. Brown 76-86-80-242
J. Mitchell-P. Flanagan 82-81-81-244
Olympic
(Better of first two rounds plus final round toward final score)
J. Gutosky-N. Gutosky 85-78-163
T. Porack-S. Porack 84-79-163
P. Dowdall-D. Huhtala 82-82–164
B. Beadle-J. Rice 84-84-168
M. Janitz-J. James 85-84-169
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