Fairfield, Connecticut (August 16, 2021) – Jamie Sheltman has been knocking on the door of CSGA major championships for a couple of years. Today he was pounding with both fists.
With only one bogey on his scorecard Sheltman (Alling Memorial Golf Club) put together a stellar 5-under 67 on a perfect day for scoring at H. Smith Richardson Golf Course to open up a four shot lead heading into Tuesday’s final round.
“My tee ball was working really good. I think I only missed three fairways all day,” Sheltman said of what the key to his round was.
Sheltman began his day with three consecutive pars before finding his first birdie of the round on par-4 4th the first of three straight. On No. 5 Sheltman, last week’s Connecticut Mid-Amateur runner-up, rolled in an 18-footer, “to really get me going.”
3-under at the turn Sheltman added a birdie the par-4 10th to move to 4-under and then after his lone bogey of his round on the 14th he birdied the par-4 15th and par-5 18th to conclude his round. Sheltman now finds himself in a place he has never been before, leading a CSGA individual championship with one round remaining.
“It is a little unnerving with Dan [Murphy] on his home course, I know he will be chasing me down tomorrow but all I am thinking about doing is keeping it in play and get the shorter irons in my hands,” said Sheltman who is an ET Night Supervisor at Amtrack. “I’ll be looking forward to tomorrow.”
Tomorrow for Sheltman will come much quicker than for the rest of the field. Following his round on Monday he went home to grab a quick nap before his 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. overnight shift. Following his shift he will head home for breakfast before heading back to the course.
Nick Waddington (Manchester CC) played a strong back nine to post a 1-under 71 and he will begin the final round four shots off the pace. “It was a really good back nine. I got in a couple of tricky spots but I have to thank Mike Kennedy who caddied for me and he kept me in it and kept me playing smart. I got off to a rough start and then things started going well on No. 9.”
In the final round, Waddington will be looking to join his father Derek on the Connecticut Public Links trophy, “It would mean everything to have my name on the same trophy as my Dad. Of all the ones this is the one that I want because my Dad won it, I want to get my name on their too. I had a shot in 2017 but I made a bogey on the final hole to miss a playoff by one shot. It is one that I have always wanted to win.”
One stroke behind Waddington at 72 (and five behind Sheltman) are Dan Murphy (H. Smith Richardson) and a pair of players separated by nearly 40 years – Dartmouth rising sophomore Alexander Gu (Great River GC), and former Senior Player of the Year, Patrick McGuiness (Keney GC). Murphy and McGuiness will be joined in the 8:50 a.m. starting time by another H. Smith golfer, Joe Romanelli (73), with Gu and Waddington in the final group with Sheltman at 9:00 a.m.
About the Connecticut State Golf Association
The Connecticut Public Links 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.
