West Hartford, Connecticut (June 15, 2021) – For the second consecutive year Brad Tilley has won the R.M. Grant Medalist award. Over the course of 36-holes at Hartford Golf Club Brad Tilley birdied 11-times and bogeyed just once on his way to consecutive 5-under 65s that put him at 10-under and two shots ahead of defending champion Chris Fosdick (-8).
Tilley wasn’t able to finish his first round on Monday and returned to the course for the 7:30 a.m. restart with three holes remaining in his first round. Already 5-under Tilley parred his way to the house to complete his round.
“You just have to be patient and rely on your experience [playing through suspensions],” said Tilley who lives an hour from Hartford GC. “Obviously I was hoping that we were going to finish yesterday with the start I got off to birdieing the first three holes and playing steady but the weather is the weather and you just have to deal with it.”
Roughly 30 minutes after completing his first round Tilley was back on the course for his second round and he quickly picked up right where he left off with a birdie on the opening hole. He carded another birdie on the 4th, and then two more on Nos. 9 and 10 to reach 9-under.
“I just played solid and let the birdies come when they came,” Tilley said. “I just tried to stay patient and take the birdies where they came.”
Tilley rolled in his fifth birdie of the round on the 15th hole before dropping his only shot of the qualifying rounds on the 16th. One hole later Tilley got the stroke back with a birdie on the par-3 17th to return to 10-under. He would remain there following a par on the closing par-4 signing for a second consecutive 5-under 65.
“It is nice to get through and to be in match play but honestly what happened the last two days doesn’t matter,” said Tilley who will be the top seed for a second straight year. “I’d rather be playing well going into match play and I feel like I’m playing great with what happened over the last 36-holes and I will just try to keep it up.”
Fosdick (Wallingford CC) completed his 4-under 66 first round on Monday and entered the day as the overnight co-leader. However, by the time he teed off in the second round he found himself six shots off the pace set by Tilley. When the week started Fosdick had a goal of 10-under during qualifying and early in his round it looked like he might get there. He birdied three of his first five holes to bolt to 7-under. Birdies on 10 and 11 brought Fosdick to within one shot at 9-under but two bogeys and only one birdie during the final six holes left the Virginia sophomore two shots off the pace.
“I feel pretty comfortable, I am hitting the ball farther than ever before,” Fosdick said. “Some putts I didn’t hit as confidently as I should have but overall I am happy with how I played. It was the most disappointed I have been after shooting 8-under for two rounds just because I was really trying to shoot that 10-under. That was the goal today and after Tilley did it earlier it was even more the goal. But I will take 8-under for 36-holes pretty much anytime.”
Last year Fosdick defeated Tilley in the semifinals as the 21-seed, this year he will enter match play as the second seed.
So far one of the surprises of the tournament is the play of Walker Lohrey (Tumble Brook CC). The 26-year-old playing in his second Connecticut Amateur put together rounds of 68-70 to finish 2-under and earn the three-seed.
“I struck the ball really well, my course management was really good and I was really focused on keeping the ball below the hole,” Lohrey said.
Across the two days Lohrey played steady golf birdieing five times while bogeying four. “It is definitely nice playing the way that I am but your mindset completely changes in match play,” Lohrey who missed the cut at the amateur last year said. “I can be a lot more aggressive with my tee shots and you have to play your opponent and not the course and you really have to change your mindset.”
The day concluded with a 6-for-5 playoff. Matt Fuller (Great Neck CC) advanced with a birdie, Eric Bleile (EClub of Connecticut) and Rick Hayes (Silver Spring CC) moved on with pars while Jack Bosworth (EClub of Connecticut) and Kyle Roberts (TPC River Highlands) advanced with bogeys. Jacob Lindsay (Shuttle Meadow CC) was eliminated on the first extra hole.
Play at the 119th Connecticut Amateur will continue Wednesday morning at 7:30 a.m. with the start of match play. In the morning the field will compete in the Round of 32 with the Round of 16 to follow in the afternoon. The tournament will continue with the Quarterfinals and Semifinals on Thursday and the 36-hole Championship match on Friday.
