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ROCKY HILL, Conn. – The Connecticut Section PGA and Connecticut State Golf Association Team Captains Dennis Coscina and Bob Ruby met and released their respective team lineups for the Julius Boros Challenge Cup, being played Thursday, May 1st at New Haven Country Club in Hamden, Connecticut.
This year marks the 43rd anniversary of the matches, which first began in 1972 at Tumble Brook Country Club. The matches are an annual gathering of the state’s top amateur and professional golfers, which showcases Connecticut PGA Section Professionals against amateurs from the Connecticut State Golf Association in a match play format. The Challenge Cup was founded in memory of Julius Boros, a bona-fide Connecticut resident and World Golf Hall of Fame inductee. Boros is perhaps the most successful player in the history of Connecticut golf, having won eighteen times on the PGA Tour including two United States Open Championships and a PGA Championship. The Connecticut Section PGA won the inaugural matches by a score of 33 ½ to 20 ½.
Each team consists of fourteen players, who earned their way onto their respective teams through their accomplishments in the previous season. Each player will play an Individual Match Play competition worth three points, and will also participate in a Four Ball Match worth three points. A total of sixty-three points are available in the Matches, with the Connecticut Section PGA needing 31 ½ points to retain possession of the Cup, and the CSGA needing 32 points to regain possession of the Cup. Last year, the Connecticut Section PGA Professionals captured the Challenge Cup for the second consecutive year by a margin of 35.5 points to 27.5 points.
Captain Dennis Coscina is a Challenge Cup veteran, having perhaps the most impressive playing record in Connecticut Section PGA history. Coscina won a total of eight Connecticut PGA Championships and six Section Player of the Year titles, and played in a total of fourteen Challenge Cup Matches. This will be the fourth year that Coscina has captained the Connecticut PGA squad, and his team will enter this year’s event having won the past two years.
“Our team is really excited and motivated this year, and every year it feels like our team is stronger and stronger,” said Captain Coscina. “The Challenge Cup is a great opportunity to gather the two premiere golf organizations in Connecticut for an event that is rich in tradition and camaraderie. Having played in the first twelve Challenge Cup’s, it is my favorite tournament of the season, and I am truly thrilled to have the opportunity to captain our team again this year as we look to retain the Cup for the third consecutive year.”
By contrast, this will be only the second year that Captain Bob Ruby will lead the CSGA team. Ruby’s competitive record spans nearly five decades and includes a runner-up finish in the 1965 Connecticut Junior Amateur and a semifinalist finish in the 2001 Connecticut Amateur Championship. Dr. Ruby is widely regarded as an expert on the Rules of Golf, having worked as a Rules Official at twenty USGA Championships and accomplishing the rare feat of a perfect score on the USGA Rules Test.
“I am truly honored to have been selected to Captain the CSGA team for the second consecutive year, and I am really thrilled with the team and matchups we have selected,” said Captain Ruby. “All of our players come in having earned their way onto the team, and each player carries a long list of accomplishments in CSGA and national amateur tournaments. We are really looking forward to what promises to be a truly a special day for the players, family and spectators.”
2014 will mark the thirty-ninth time that New Haven Country Club has hosted the Challenge Cup, having played host to the Matches all but four years. Founded in 1898, New Haven Country Club was first designed by Robert D. Pryde, with the present layout completed by Willie Park, Jr. in 1922. In addition to hosting the Challenge Cup, the club has a rich history of hosting the state’s top amateur and professional events. New Haven Country Club has hosted a total of sixteen Connecticut Amateur Championships, seven Connecticut Open Championships and one Connecticut PGA Championship, and will also host the Connecticut PGA’s Match Play Championship later this season. The course will be set up at approximately 6,686 yards for the Challenge Cup and will play to a par of 34-36—70.
The Challenge Cup Matches will begin with an Opening Ceremony on the 1st tee at 12:15pm, followed by matches on both the 1st & 10th from 12:30pm to 1:00pm. Spectators are welcome and encouraged to attend.
The Matches
|
Match |
Connecticut Section PGA |
|
Connecticut State Golf Association |
|
1 – 12:30pm |
Dave Dell, Springfield CC* Bob Kay, Tumble Brook CC* |
Vs. |
Bill Hermanson, Black Hall Club* Dave Szewczul, Tunxis Plantation CC* |
|
2 – 12:30pm |
Kyle Bilodeau, Ellington Ridge CC Fran Marrello, Quaboag CC |
Vs. |
Kevin Josephson, CC of Farmington Benjamin Day, New Haven CC |
|
3 – 12:40pm |
Paul Barnsley, Race Brook CC** Joseph Mongillo, Dick’s Sporting Goods |
Vs. |
Ben Hunter, Sterling Farms GC Brent Dietz, Cedar Knob GC |
|
4 – 12:40pm |
Ian Marshall, Watertown GC Kevin Shea, Great Neck CC |
Vs. |
Paul Schaeffer, Rockledge GC Michael Thompson, Glastonbury Hills CC** |
|
5 – 12:50pm |
Frank Leja, River Hollow Golf Center Ed Slattery, Candlewood Valley CC** |
Vs. |
Branden Chicorka, EClub River Valley Bret Lawrence, Crestbrook Park GC |
|
6 – 12:50pm |
Tony Kelley, Wyckoff CC William Downes, Hampden CC |
Vs. |
John VanDerLaan, Heritage Village CC** Brian Carlson, Clinton CC |
|
7 – 1:00pm |
William Street, New Haven CC William Wallis, New Haven CC |
Vs. |
Phil Perry, Black Hall Club Glen Boggini, Ellington Ridge CC |
* Seniors
** Captains’ picks
About the Associations
The Connecticut Section PGA is one of 41 sections chartered that together comprise the Professional Golfers’ Association of America (PGA of America). There are a total of 364 golf professionals affiliated with the section (287 PGA Members, 67 Registered Apprentices and 10 Pre-Apprentices).
Founded in 1899, the Connecticut State Golf Association is the country’s oldest state golf association and provides stewardship for amateur golf in Connecticut. The CSGA functions as an extension of the USGA and is dedicated to providing golfers a full range of services for the good of the game and golf in Connecticut. The CSGA is comprised of over 42,000 members and 183 member clubs, providing and administering handicaps for all of its members throughout the state.
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For more information, visit the Connecticut PGA website at ctpga.com or the CSGA website at csgalinks.org
