Westport, Connecticut (August 16, 2021) – Throughout his round Dave Szewczul (TPC River Highlands) looked like he was going to cruise to a comfortable victory in the 25th Super Senior Championship at Longshore Golf Course. However, Szewczul would have to battle bogey woes late in his round and grind out a playoff against Terry Ruzzo (Tallwood CC) to take home the title for the second consecutive year.
“Overall, it was a solid round, I hit a lot of fairways, hit a lot of greens, and the putter was working somewhat,” said Szewczul. “I really would have had to mess up to finish worse than I did.”
Szewczul, the winner of the last two and ten overall Dick Siderowf Senior Player of the Year awards, would find himself as low as 3-under for his round after holing out from the bunker on the 13th. Back-to-back bogeys on 14 and 15 would make things interesting as the leader started back towards the clubhouse.
As the afternoon rolled around, low numbers were starting to get turned in at a higher rate with Arthur Haddad (Richter Park GC) carding an even-par 69. Soon after was when we saw Ruzzo post the first number in the red with a 1-under 68 to establish himself as the leader with Szewczul’s round still pending. While many players dread the anticipation of a playoff on the horizon, Ruzzo, the 2015 and 2016 winner of the Connecticut Super Senior, was not fazed by the situation.
“The wait doesn’t affect me too much, I have played enough golf, I made sure I warmed up and talked with the boys and stayed fairly loose.”
Contrary to Ruzzo, your eventual champ in Szewczul has lingering concerns with the holding pattern that can come with a playoff.
“With the back and hip surgeries that I have had the wait becomes tough for me. I just kept walking around and hit a few balls to stay active,” said Szewczul who finished at 1-under 68.
With all scores finally posted just before 5 o’clock, the expected would become reality as it would be Ruzzo and Szewczul to battle it out in a playoff. The format would be to play holes 1 and 18 in a continuous loop until one was to win a hole.
Both Ruzzo and Szewczul would pull drives down the left side of No. 1 to start the playoff. Ruzzo would find himself in a slightly more difficult situation dealing with tall grass that created a challenging approach shot that would end up finding the left side rough adjacent to the green.
Szewczul would have better luck with his tee shot that ran up just in front of the left side fairway bunker. Szewczul was then able to play it to the center of the green and two-putt for par to become the 25th Super Senior Champion. In the three years that Szewczul has been eligible for the Super Senior he has stood on the podium in all three years with a third-place finish in 2019 and a title in the 2020 running.
“To be able to still compete at this stage is a lot of fun,” Szewczul said. “You still have those competitive juices like everyone else does. Winning is not easy and it just makes it that much more gratifying when you do.”
About the Connecticut State Golf Association
The Super Senior Championship is one of 19 championships conducted by the Connecticut State Golf Association. The CSGA functions as an extension of the USGA and provides stewardship for amateur golf in Connecticut. Founded in 1899, it is the country’s oldest state golf association and conducts over 60 Championships, Qualifiers, and One Day Tournaments throughout the year.
