Tournament Links: Final Results | Photo Gallery
May 4th, 2015 – Ninety six of the state’s top amateur golfers teamed up to compete in the annual Two Man Team Championship at Black Hall Club, and Bill Hermanson and Dave Szewczul teamed up for rounds of 66-72–138 to capture the title in a playoff over Brent Dietz of Cedar Knob GC and Rob Violet of Tower Ridge CC.
The Two Man Team Championship is held each year at Black Hall Club in honor of Bill Hermanson, 2012 inductee into the Connecticut Golf Hall of Fame and winner of nine CSGA major championships. The tournament tests the state’s best amateur teams in a grueling, 36-hole team stroke competition. The teams play a Four-Ball (better ball of partners) format in the morning round, and Foursomes (selected drive alternate shot) format in the afternoon round.
Black Hall Club in Old Lyme, Connecticut, plays at 6,656 yards and a par of 71, and demands accuracy off the tee and precise iron shots to a set of well-guarded and undulating green complexes. Warm temperatures and light wind greeted the players in the morning, yielding a total of nine team scores under par. The teams of Brent Dietz and Rob Violet, and Dave Szewczul and Bill Hermanson both fired rounds of five under-par 67 to grab a share lead after the first round.
The afternoon Foursomes requires players to play in an alternate shot format, widely regarded as the harder of the two formats for the players. With the winds starting to pick up in the afternoon, this year proved to be no different, as none of the forty eight teams managed to break par, including the pair of co-leaders. Starting on the ninth hole, Dietz and Violet strung together three birdies in their first eight holes to jump into the lead at seven under-par for the tournament. However, the difficult front nine proved to be a challenge for the duo, as they bogies holes 2, 3, 7 and 8 on their way in, recording a round of one over-par 72 for the afternoon. They found themselves tied again with Szewczul and Hermanson, who began their round on the first hole and birdied the difficult par-3 17th on their way in to shoot 72 and grab a share of the clubhouse lead at four under-par 138.
The playoff to decide the champion was a continuation of the afternoon foursomes selected drive format. Both Dietz and Violet found trouble on the par-4 10th, Dietz, the 2014 Public Links Champion, made a ten foot sliding putt for par to keep his team aliveafter Szewczul and Hermanson made par. But after Dietz and Violet found trouble again at the par-5 11th, it was Szewczul and Hermanson who emerged victorious with a par on the second playoff hole.
This year marked the first time that Szewczul and Hermanson teamed up to win the Two Man Team Championship, and adds to their already remarkable list of accomplishments. Individually, their resumes are beyond impressive, as both are past CSGA Players of the Year and members of the Connecticut Golf Hall of Fame. Longtime friends, the pair annually plays together in both the Two Man Team Championship and the Four-Ball Championship, a tournament which they’ve won on several occasions, most recently in 2006. But this year marked the first time that the two captured the Two Man Team Championship, and it is perhaps their most rewarding win together given that the tournament is named in honor of Hermanson.
Finishing in a tie for third were the teams of Bret Lawrence of Crestbrook Park GC and Rudy Hermstadt of Watertown GC, who shot rounds of 71-71—142, and Richard Wilczewski and Josh Cameron, both of Shennecossett GC, who shot rounds of 69-73—142. The CSGA returns to Black Hall Club in just over a month when it hosts the 113th Connecticut Amateur Championship in conjunction with the celebration of the club’s 50th anniversary.
The CSGA championship season continues on Thursday, May 7th with the 44th playing of the Julius Boros Challenge Cup. This annual gathering brings together the Connecticut Section PGA’s top professionals against the CSGA’s top amateurs. Tee times begin at 12:30pm off the 1st and 10th tees, and live scoring and results will be available at csgalinks.org.
About the Connecticut State Golf Association
The Two Man Team Championship is one of 18 championship tournaments 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 50 Championships, Qualifiers and One-Day Tournaments throughout the year. For more information, visit our website at csgalinks.org.
