Ben Hunter of Sterling Farms Country Club captured the 26th Connecticut Mid-Amateur Championship at Fairview Farm Golf Course in impressive fashion, shooting a final round 68 to win by three strokes over Philip Perry of Black Hall Club.
Conducted by the Connecticut State Golf Association, the Connecticut Mid-Amateur Championship was a 54-hole stroke play competition contested at the Fairview Farm Golf Course in Harwinton, Conn. on Tuesday and Wednesday, August 20th and 21st. The championship is open to bona fide members of a CSGA club who are twenty five years of age and over by the start of the tournament.
Hunter, who led the tournament after Round One following a round of 69, trailed Raymond Floyd, Jr. and Seth Jainchill by one heading into the third round. The tournament tests players over three rounds of stroke play, with round one contested on Tuesday and rounds two and three contested on Wednesday.
Playing in the last group, Hunter started off his final round with a birdie on the second hole, jumping him into a six-way tie for the lead at four under par. He would go on to birdie Holes #3, 4 5 and 8 to make the turn in five under-par 31, and in just a little over an hour, Hunter suddenly had the lead by six.
“It was definitely one of the best putting rounds of my life,” said Hunter. “I feel like I hit the ball the worst of the three rounds this afternoon, but I made so many great putts for birdies.”
Although he would make a few bogey’s on the back nine, he balanced it with three more birdies for an incredible final round 68. In three rounds, Hunter recorded a total of eighteen birdies, the most by any competitor in the field. The win is his first CSGA Championship, having moved to Connecticut just three years ago.
“It’s definitely the biggest win of my career. I won a few City Championships in my hometown of Davis, California growing up, but this…this is really special,” said Hunter.
Among his chasers was Philip Perry of Black Hall Club, who shot the lowest round of the tournament in the final round, firing a six under-par 66 to finish runner-up. Perry, the 2008 Russell C. Palmer Cup Champion, played near perfect golf by recording five birdies and an eagle to post a four under-par clubhouse total early this afternoon. Hunter’s bogies on Holes #10 and #11, coupled with a double-bogey seven on the 16th helped make things interesting for Perry. Needing just two pars coming in to secure the victory, Hunter drained a thirty foot putt on the 17th which all but sealed the victory.
Finishing in a tie for third place was Brent Dietz of Cedar Knob Golf Club and Michael Thompson of Glastonbury Hills Country Club, both of whom shot tournament total of three under-par. Rounding out the top five was Tom Brett of Tallwood Country Club, and last year’s runner-up Dave Szewczul of Tunxis Plantation Country Club.
