Bill Hermanson has always been a student of golf history. ‘I have a collection of about 400 golf books,’ he said. ‘They’re not instructional books, they’re autobiographies and books on the history of the game. Living in the northeast, I couldn’t play golf in the winter, so I read about it.’
No history book about the first 100-plus years of Connecticut golf could fail to have a chapter about Bill Hermanson. Not only has he won eight individual state-wide championships and nearly three dozen best ball tournaments throughout the northeast — mostly in tandem with fellow Hall of Famer and closest friend Dave Szewczul — but he has com- ported himself on and off the course with a remarkable degree of dignity, sportsmanship and good humor for longer than a quarter century.
Winning five CT Mid-Amateur championships from 1990 to 1994 and again in 2001, the CT Amateur title in 1991, the CT Amateur Stroke Play in 1983, and the CT Tournament of Champions in 2006 just begins to tell the story of his playing accomplishments.
He was Player of the Year in 1991 and runnerup twice in 1981 and ’82. He finished sec- ond in the Amateur twice in 1981 and ’99, reached the semi-finals in 1982 and was a quarterfinalist three times, most recently in 2010. He was runnerup in the Mid-Amateur three times, and played in the U.S. Mid-Amateur twice in 2006 and ’08.
His record in four-ball matches with Szewczul is impressive as well. The two have won more than 35, including the CT Four Ball twice, the CT Two-Man Team twice, and just last year the CT Senior Four Ball. He also won the state Mixed Team title in 1997 with Nicole Faniola, future wife of three-time Player of the Year Jeff Hedden.
Also extraordinary is Hermanson’s longevity as a CSGA team member. He has played on 24 Julius Boros Challenge Cup squads, 21 Tri-State teams and three USGA State Team Match squads. He served as CSGA team captain in 2003-04.
For icing on this partial list of highlights, Hermanson won the Connecticut schoolboy champion as a student at Old Saybrook High in 1973, and won the club championship at Black Hall Club a staggering 23 times beginning in 1978.
In his first season playing senior tournaments, Hermanson, 55, posted a 72 and held the first-round lead in the CT Senior Amateur before slipping to a tie for seventh.
‘My goal now is just to go out and try to be competitive,’ he said. ‘It’s tough because I get almost no time to prepare.’
That’s because of his vagabond business life in the ‘silver bullet,’ his customized golf shop/van. He is a manufacturer’s rep selling golf clothing and equipment to golf clubs in a region that reaches from Connecticut to the Canadian border.
Hermanson said he first realized he could play with the state’s best players when he lost to Jerry Courville, Jr. on the 36th hole in the Amateur final in 1981. Ten years later he overcame 11 birdies by Joe Dennis in the final round to win the Amateur 1 up on the 36th green.
Hermanson and his wife Mary Lou live in East Lyme and have a son Eric.
