Youth served at CCC Member-Guest
PLYMOUTH – One of the questions entering the 55th Annual Canasawacta Country Club Men's Member-Guest Tournament was if a pair of teenagers - one a senior-to-be in high school - belonged amongst a field of teams that included some of the most experienced and talented players to grace the 93-year-old course.
The answer to that question? Yes!
Corey Johnson, 17, and Eric Walling, 19, showed uncanny nerves and unflappable resolve to win the tournament in each other's first attempt. Over the last few holes, it really wasn't really that close, either.
Most players - and teams - have paid their dues for many years before finally breaking through. Tim Carson, part of the two-time defending championship duo along with Scott Seiler, was a runner-up multiple times before he and Seiler broke through in 2011. Carson and Seiler were paired with the winners over the last 18 holes in what would be a grueling mental and physical test.
"I was just incredibly impressed with them," Carson said, who had as good a view as anyone of the two youngsters. "Eric easily has the composure and maturity of a 30-year-old, and Corey, I didn't know he had it in him. The two of them played with exactly the same level of composure the first eight or nine holes. There was very little doubt."
Walling worked at CCC for several years before graduating from Norwich High School last year, while Johnson still works at the golf course in the pro shop. Both have dreamt of playing in CCC's biggest event since they were young boys.
"I couldn't wait to play," Johnson said. "It's like the U.S. Open."
Walling was equally excited to have the opportunity to play. "I've seen members get amped up for this tournament, and we wanted to get a piece of that, too," he said.
An opening-round 68 proved that the tandem belonged among the best teams in the 96-team field, and a second-round 65 that matched the low round of the tournament had the upstart youngesters in the lead, two shots clear of Carson-Seiler, and Bob Branham-Mike Branham.
Nerves typically settle in for any level of golfer, and Johnson said he and Walling were a little nervous early on. Still, it was machine-like pars that allowed them to hold their advantage.
"The whole focus of our day was to just play our game, not worry what other people were doing, and play it shot by shot," Walling said.
Carson-Seiler applied some early pressure birdieing the opening hole to trim the deficit to one shot.
Carson stuck his tee shot on the par-three second hole to within five feet, but was unable to drain his putt that would have created a tie. A bogey for Carson-Seiler on three moved the lead back to two shots, and that was as close as any team came the rest of the way.
Johnson rolled in 20-foot birdie putts on the seventh and eighth holes, and following the team's lone bogey, number 12, Johnson sunk another birdie on 13.
Down the stretch, Walling and Johnson deftly handled any sign of trouble. With Johnson out of bounds on 16, Walling sunk a curling five-foot putt for par. One hole later, Walling placed his tee shot into hazard left of the par-three 17th green, while Johnson hit his 3-hybrid tee shot over the green. Johnson chipped back to within four feet, and calmly sunk his par.
From a young age, Johnson and Walling have played golf with many of the members at CCC, so it was not surprising they easily found their comfort zone playing with and against men two and three times their age. "Playing with a lot of the members definitely made it more comfortable for us," Walling said.
Despite bogeys on the 14th and 15th holes, Tom Ryan and Justin Harris moved up to second place in the Masters flight shooting a 69 in their final round, four shots shy of Johnson-Walling. Bob Branham and Mike Branham were alone in third, one shot behind Ryan-Harris.
Other flights: Former member-guest champions Lee Skillin and Jim Gorski captured the Oakmont flight finishing 2-under-par overall to edge Stu Hughes and John Ross by a shot. Skillin and Gorski birdied their final two holes, and they needed to as Hughes and Ross birdied their final three holes. ...In the Baltusrol Flight, Pat Newell and Hawk Edwards defeated Bob Adsit and Duane Britton in a playoff. The two teams shot even-par 71s in the their final round, and had matching pars on the first playoff hole. Edwards drained a 20-foot par putt on number one, while Britton rolled in a six-footer that curled around the right side of the cup extending the playoff. One hole later, all four players had birdie putts on the 18th green with Adsit and Britton leaving theirs at least two feet away, while Edwards rolled his birdie attempt into tap-in range for par. Newell finished the playoff holing a curling left-to-right 20-footer for birdie, the last stroke of the tournament. ...Josh Bennett and Matt Morley shot a second straight 2-over-par 73 to win the Oakland Hills flight one stroke over Nick Brunick-Ryan Brewer, and Mark Matott-Rich Lathrop. Bennett and Morley birdied their opening hole, number 12, to get their round off to a quick start. Of note, Matott had the shot of the tournament acing the par-three 12th hole, the first ace in the tournament in several years. ...Matt Ryan and Tim Ryan shook off a slow start to win the Merion flight. After bogeying their first hole and double bogeying their second, the Ryans proceeded to play 3-under-par golf the rest of the way shooting an even-par 71 to top Denny Cevasco and Bryant Parker by one shot. Cevasco and Parker had five birdies in a wild round that was offset by seven bogeys. ...Brothers Keegan and Terry McCumiskey came from three shots off the pace to win the Winged Foot flight. The McCumiskeys had three birdies in carding a 75 to nip Pat Ryan and Justin Ryan by one. ...Steve Trojan and his son Doug improved in every round winning the Pebble Beach flight by a single shot over Joe Loftus and Brad Hagen. The Trojans did not birdie a hole, but avoided the big numbers. Meanwhile, Loftus and Hagen doubled bogeyed their first and last holes of the day in what was otherwise a solid day of golf. ...Coming off an 86 in their second round, Ernie Muserallo and Gary Muserallo improved by 12 shots on the final day shooting a 74 to take the Shinnecock flight by four strokes over Stacy Gage and Rick Simonette. ...Jay Whipple and Ken Coon had a steady-as-she-goes day in taking the Olympic flight. Whipple and Coon avoided any double bogeys shooting an 83 to cruise to a four-shot victory over Jim Williams and Charles Breaud.
Scoring by Flight
(Top five plus ties)
Masters
C. Johnson-E. Walling 68-65-69-202
T. Ryan, J. Harris 70-67-69-206
B. Branham-M. Branham 70-65-72-207
T. Carson-S. Seiler Sr. 66-69-73-208
B. Smith-T. Seiler 66-72-71-209
Oakmont
L. Skillin-J. Gorski 69-72-70-211
S. Hughes-J. Ross 70-70-72-212
D. Wilson-J. Gutosky 71-71-71-213
C. Fraser-R. Mundinger 71-69-74-214
T. Porack-B. Harmon 67-77-70-214
T. Mirabito-E. Larkin 70-73-72-215
Baltusrol
P. Newell-H. Edwards 72-75-71-218*
B. Adsit-D. Britton 72-75-71-218
S. Testani-E. Halaquist 75-70-75-220
J. Morris-B. Boyer 75-73-74-222
M. DeMellier-G. Gelsomin 75-74-74-223
R. Ferris-S. Mackintosh 73-72-78-223
Oakland Hills
Jo. Bennett-M. Morley 79-73-73-225
N. Brunick-R. Brewer 74-76-76-226
M. Matott-R. Lathrop 78-73-75-226
J. Parker-K. Walsh 75-77-76-228
J. Wysor-T. Wysor 76-75-77-228
T. Borfitz-T. Kozkowski 77--74-78-229
Merion
Ma. Ryan-Tim Ryan 78-76-71-225
D. Cevasco-B. Parker 76-77-73-226
M. Hayes-P. Hayes 76-77-75-228
D. Martin-T. Dixon 76-77-78-231
K. Nial-M. Christopherson 78-75-78-231
G. Bennett-F. Brown 79-75-78-232
B. Natoli-T. Sommer 78-76-78-232
Winged Foot
K. McCumiskey-T. McCumiskey 77-80-75-232
P. Ryan-J. Ryan 77-78-78-233
R. Smith-B. Farrow 76-78-81-235
T. deCordova-C. Hartigan 76-82-78-236
C. Collier-D. Philipson 79-77-81-237
H. Atkinson-T. Atkinson 77-80-80-237
Pebble Beach
S. Trojan-D. Trojan 81-80-76-237
J. Loftus-B. Hagen 80-79-79-238
H. Skillin-B. Berry 80-83-76-239
C. Wolford-A. Wolford 78-81-81-240
S. Aikins-T. Revoir 80-80-80-240
Shinnecock
E. Muserallo-G. Muserallo 81-86-74-241
S. Gage-R. Simonette 79-86-80-245
J. McIntyre-M. Morse 86-81-78-245
T. Porack-S. Porack 83-82-82-247
E. Burrell-R. Roswick 86-82-81-249
R. Manwarren-J. Vinal 85-83-81-249
J. Mitchell-T. Flanagan 86-82-81-249
Olympic
(Final round score plus better of first two rounds)
J. Whipple-K. Coon 86-83-169
J. Williams-C. Breaud 85-88-173
J. Gutosky Sr.-N. Gutosky 84-90-174
J. McCumiskey-J. Godfrey 85-91-176
M. McLaughlin-B.J. Jackson 89-87-176
R. Slocum-D. Smith 86-91-177
*Won playoff on second hole.
The answer to that question? Yes!
Corey Johnson, 17, and Eric Walling, 19, showed uncanny nerves and unflappable resolve to win the tournament in each other's first attempt. Over the last few holes, it really wasn't really that close, either.
Most players - and teams - have paid their dues for many years before finally breaking through. Tim Carson, part of the two-time defending championship duo along with Scott Seiler, was a runner-up multiple times before he and Seiler broke through in 2011. Carson and Seiler were paired with the winners over the last 18 holes in what would be a grueling mental and physical test.
"I was just incredibly impressed with them," Carson said, who had as good a view as anyone of the two youngsters. "Eric easily has the composure and maturity of a 30-year-old, and Corey, I didn't know he had it in him. The two of them played with exactly the same level of composure the first eight or nine holes. There was very little doubt."
Walling worked at CCC for several years before graduating from Norwich High School last year, while Johnson still works at the golf course in the pro shop. Both have dreamt of playing in CCC's biggest event since they were young boys.
"I couldn't wait to play," Johnson said. "It's like the U.S. Open."
Walling was equally excited to have the opportunity to play. "I've seen members get amped up for this tournament, and we wanted to get a piece of that, too," he said.
An opening-round 68 proved that the tandem belonged among the best teams in the 96-team field, and a second-round 65 that matched the low round of the tournament had the upstart youngesters in the lead, two shots clear of Carson-Seiler, and Bob Branham-Mike Branham.
Nerves typically settle in for any level of golfer, and Johnson said he and Walling were a little nervous early on. Still, it was machine-like pars that allowed them to hold their advantage.
"The whole focus of our day was to just play our game, not worry what other people were doing, and play it shot by shot," Walling said.
Carson-Seiler applied some early pressure birdieing the opening hole to trim the deficit to one shot.
Carson stuck his tee shot on the par-three second hole to within five feet, but was unable to drain his putt that would have created a tie. A bogey for Carson-Seiler on three moved the lead back to two shots, and that was as close as any team came the rest of the way.
Johnson rolled in 20-foot birdie putts on the seventh and eighth holes, and following the team's lone bogey, number 12, Johnson sunk another birdie on 13.
Down the stretch, Walling and Johnson deftly handled any sign of trouble. With Johnson out of bounds on 16, Walling sunk a curling five-foot putt for par. One hole later, Walling placed his tee shot into hazard left of the par-three 17th green, while Johnson hit his 3-hybrid tee shot over the green. Johnson chipped back to within four feet, and calmly sunk his par.
From a young age, Johnson and Walling have played golf with many of the members at CCC, so it was not surprising they easily found their comfort zone playing with and against men two and three times their age. "Playing with a lot of the members definitely made it more comfortable for us," Walling said.
Despite bogeys on the 14th and 15th holes, Tom Ryan and Justin Harris moved up to second place in the Masters flight shooting a 69 in their final round, four shots shy of Johnson-Walling. Bob Branham and Mike Branham were alone in third, one shot behind Ryan-Harris.
Other flights: Former member-guest champions Lee Skillin and Jim Gorski captured the Oakmont flight finishing 2-under-par overall to edge Stu Hughes and John Ross by a shot. Skillin and Gorski birdied their final two holes, and they needed to as Hughes and Ross birdied their final three holes. ...In the Baltusrol Flight, Pat Newell and Hawk Edwards defeated Bob Adsit and Duane Britton in a playoff. The two teams shot even-par 71s in the their final round, and had matching pars on the first playoff hole. Edwards drained a 20-foot par putt on number one, while Britton rolled in a six-footer that curled around the right side of the cup extending the playoff. One hole later, all four players had birdie putts on the 18th green with Adsit and Britton leaving theirs at least two feet away, while Edwards rolled his birdie attempt into tap-in range for par. Newell finished the playoff holing a curling left-to-right 20-footer for birdie, the last stroke of the tournament. ...Josh Bennett and Matt Morley shot a second straight 2-over-par 73 to win the Oakland Hills flight one stroke over Nick Brunick-Ryan Brewer, and Mark Matott-Rich Lathrop. Bennett and Morley birdied their opening hole, number 12, to get their round off to a quick start. Of note, Matott had the shot of the tournament acing the par-three 12th hole, the first ace in the tournament in several years. ...Matt Ryan and Tim Ryan shook off a slow start to win the Merion flight. After bogeying their first hole and double bogeying their second, the Ryans proceeded to play 3-under-par golf the rest of the way shooting an even-par 71 to top Denny Cevasco and Bryant Parker by one shot. Cevasco and Parker had five birdies in a wild round that was offset by seven bogeys. ...Brothers Keegan and Terry McCumiskey came from three shots off the pace to win the Winged Foot flight. The McCumiskeys had three birdies in carding a 75 to nip Pat Ryan and Justin Ryan by one. ...Steve Trojan and his son Doug improved in every round winning the Pebble Beach flight by a single shot over Joe Loftus and Brad Hagen. The Trojans did not birdie a hole, but avoided the big numbers. Meanwhile, Loftus and Hagen doubled bogeyed their first and last holes of the day in what was otherwise a solid day of golf. ...Coming off an 86 in their second round, Ernie Muserallo and Gary Muserallo improved by 12 shots on the final day shooting a 74 to take the Shinnecock flight by four strokes over Stacy Gage and Rick Simonette. ...Jay Whipple and Ken Coon had a steady-as-she-goes day in taking the Olympic flight. Whipple and Coon avoided any double bogeys shooting an 83 to cruise to a four-shot victory over Jim Williams and Charles Breaud.
Scoring by Flight
(Top five plus ties)
Masters
C. Johnson-E. Walling 68-65-69-202
T. Ryan, J. Harris 70-67-69-206
B. Branham-M. Branham 70-65-72-207
T. Carson-S. Seiler Sr. 66-69-73-208
B. Smith-T. Seiler 66-72-71-209
Oakmont
L. Skillin-J. Gorski 69-72-70-211
S. Hughes-J. Ross 70-70-72-212
D. Wilson-J. Gutosky 71-71-71-213
C. Fraser-R. Mundinger 71-69-74-214
T. Porack-B. Harmon 67-77-70-214
T. Mirabito-E. Larkin 70-73-72-215
Baltusrol
P. Newell-H. Edwards 72-75-71-218*
B. Adsit-D. Britton 72-75-71-218
S. Testani-E. Halaquist 75-70-75-220
J. Morris-B. Boyer 75-73-74-222
M. DeMellier-G. Gelsomin 75-74-74-223
R. Ferris-S. Mackintosh 73-72-78-223
Oakland Hills
Jo. Bennett-M. Morley 79-73-73-225
N. Brunick-R. Brewer 74-76-76-226
M. Matott-R. Lathrop 78-73-75-226
J. Parker-K. Walsh 75-77-76-228
J. Wysor-T. Wysor 76-75-77-228
T. Borfitz-T. Kozkowski 77--74-78-229
Merion
Ma. Ryan-Tim Ryan 78-76-71-225
D. Cevasco-B. Parker 76-77-73-226
M. Hayes-P. Hayes 76-77-75-228
D. Martin-T. Dixon 76-77-78-231
K. Nial-M. Christopherson 78-75-78-231
G. Bennett-F. Brown 79-75-78-232
B. Natoli-T. Sommer 78-76-78-232
Winged Foot
K. McCumiskey-T. McCumiskey 77-80-75-232
P. Ryan-J. Ryan 77-78-78-233
R. Smith-B. Farrow 76-78-81-235
T. deCordova-C. Hartigan 76-82-78-236
C. Collier-D. Philipson 79-77-81-237
H. Atkinson-T. Atkinson 77-80-80-237
Pebble Beach
S. Trojan-D. Trojan 81-80-76-237
J. Loftus-B. Hagen 80-79-79-238
H. Skillin-B. Berry 80-83-76-239
C. Wolford-A. Wolford 78-81-81-240
S. Aikins-T. Revoir 80-80-80-240
Shinnecock
E. Muserallo-G. Muserallo 81-86-74-241
S. Gage-R. Simonette 79-86-80-245
J. McIntyre-M. Morse 86-81-78-245
T. Porack-S. Porack 83-82-82-247
E. Burrell-R. Roswick 86-82-81-249
R. Manwarren-J. Vinal 85-83-81-249
J. Mitchell-T. Flanagan 86-82-81-249
Olympic
(Final round score plus better of first two rounds)
J. Whipple-K. Coon 86-83-169
J. Williams-C. Breaud 85-88-173
J. Gutosky Sr.-N. Gutosky 84-90-174
J. McCumiskey-J. Godfrey 85-91-176
M. McLaughlin-B.J. Jackson 89-87-176
R. Slocum-D. Smith 86-91-177
*Won playoff on second hole.
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