Links: Match Play Results
After day three of the 113th Connecticut Amateur, only eight players remain with a chance to have their name etched on the state’s most prestigious amateur title. The championship is being conducted June 15th – 19th at Black Hall Club in Old Lyme, Conn.
For the eventual champion, Wednesday began the first of three 36-hole days, with players playing their Round of 32 match in the morning, followed by their Round of 16 match in the afternoon. After wet and rainy conditions plagued the stroke play portion of the tournament, the sun finally broke through, yielding a beautiful late spring day with temperatures in the low seventies and a light wind.
The Round of 32 matches produced some considerable upsets based on seeding, with both the #1 seed (John Flaherty, TPC River Highlands) and the #2 seed (Paul Pastore, Eclub of Fairfield County) falling in their respective matches. In fact, four of the top seven seeds failed to advance past the first round. The highest remaining seed is defending champion Zach Zaback, the #3 seed, who shot rounds of 69-73—142 in stroke play qualifying to grab the #3 seed.
Meet the Quarterfinalists
Patrick Hallisey, TPC River Highlands (#17 seed)
At just nineteen years of age, he is the second youngest remaining player in the field, but brings plenty of match play experience to his quarterfinal match. He was a finalist at the Connecticut Junior Amateur in 2012, losing to John VanDerLaan, and also advanced to the quarterfinals at the Junior Amateur in 2013. Last year, he recorded the biggest victory of his junior career, winning the AJGA Junior hosted by Morgan Hoffman in Paramus, New Jersey with rounds of 73-71-71–215. A rising sophomore at Boston College, Hallisey competed on their Division I collegiate golf team this past spring. He also recently advanced to U.S. Open Sectional Qualifying after shooting a round of even-par 72 at Crumpin-Fox Club in Local Qualifying.
Greg Reilly, CC of Darien (#9 seed)
A member of the 2015 Julius Boros Challenge Cup team, Greg Reilly enters the quarterfinals at the Connecticut Amateur for the first time since he was a semifinalist in 2011, losing to eventual champion Tommy McDonagh. He also advanced to the Round of 16 at the Amateur in 2013. Reilly needed no more than 16 holes to dispose of both of his opponents, defeating Kyle Roberts of Wethersfield CC in his Round of 32 match and knocking off Jay Hogan of Watertown Golf Club in his Round of 16 match, both by a score of 3 and 2.
Chris Wiatr, CC of Waterbury (#4 seed)
A recent graduate of the University of Connecticut, Wiatr is making his first appearance in the quarterfinals of the Connecticut Amateur. Also a member of the 2015 Julius Boros Challenge Cup team he is looking to avenge a near miss at the Russell C. Palmer Cup, where a three-putt on the final hole cost him a chance at a playoff. He advanced to the Round of 16 at last year’s Amateur, and was a medalist in both the 2009 and 2010 Connecticut Junior Amateur Championships. Wiatr never trailed in either match on day one and amassed a total of eight birdies between them.
C.J. Swift, Great River GC (#5 seed)
Swift is making his second appearance in the Connecticut Amateur quarterfinals, having also advanced to the Elite 8 in 2012 before losing to Geoff Vartelas (also a quarterfinalist) at Race Brook CC. He shot rounds of 75-70—145 in stroke play qualifying to grab the #5 seed, and knocked off Glen Boggini of Twin Hills CC and William Bernstein of the Course at Yale to advance. Swift’s biggest win of his amateur career thus far came at the 2012 New England Amateur Championship, where he shot rounds of 68-69-73-72
Geoff Vartelas, Lyman Orchards GC (#31 seed)
Vartelas nearly tasted victory at the Russell C. Palmer Cup earlier this spring, having held the lead after day one before rounds of three and four over-par dropped him into a seventh place finish. He was a semifinalist in the 2012 Connecticut Amateur, falling to eventual champion Matt Smith, and also advanced to the Round of 16 in the 2013 Amateur. He is a rising senior at Penn State University, where he competes on their Division I golf team.
Evan Grenus, TPC River Highlands (#26 seed)
Grenus, the 2014 Connecticut Junior Amateur Champion and youngest remaining player in the field, will no doubt be getting plenty of rest in preparation for his quarterfinal match against Vartelas. He played the most holes of any player, needing 44 holes to win his two Wednesday matches. In his Round of 32 match, he knocked off 1999 Amateur Champion Brian Ahern of Wampanoag CC on the 21st hole, making par on the difficult par-4 3rd hole. In his afternoon match, he battled John Roberts of Rockledge Golf Club, where it took 23 holes to claim the victory. A rising sophomore at Wofford College, Grenus hopes to be the first former Junior Amateur Champion to go on to win the Amateur since Kevin Gai of Indian Hill CC (1983 Junior Amateur and 1996 Amateur Champion).
Zach Zaback, TPC River Highlands (#3 seed)
There isn’t much doubt that Zaback entered this year’s Connecticut Amateur as one of the favorites to take home the title. The defending champion and reigning CSGA Player of the Year has already been off to a hot start in 2015, finishing just one stroke back at the Russell C. Palmer Cup, and even more impressive, missing qualifying for the 115th U.S. Open by just two shots at Old Oaks CC and Century CC. Zaback, a rising senior at the University of Connecticut, avoided a close call in his Round of 32 match, narrowly defeating Clark Robinson of Ellington Ridge 1-up on the 18th hole. He went on to defeat Mike Klosowski of Topstone GC 5 and 3 in his afternoon match. He will face Nick Torrance of Lake of Isles in the quarterfinals where he is looking to become the first back-to-back Amateur Champion since Will Strickler (2007-08 ).
Nick Torrance, Lake of Isles GC (#27 seed)
Torrance advanced to the Round of 16 in both the 2012 and 2014 Connecticut Amateur Championships, but is making his first appearance in the quarterfinals. Torrance recently completed his senior season at Jacksonville University, where he competed on their Division I golf team and ranked top-10 in rounds played in program history. Interestingly enough, his brother Matt was a semifinalist in the 2003 Connecticut Amateur.
The quarterfinal matches will be played on Thursday morning beginning at 8:00 a.m. and the Semifinal matches will follow Thursday afternoon. The championship will conclude on Friday with a 36-hole final. Live hole-by-hole scoring will be available for the quarterfinal and semifinal matches, and the final match will feature Live, Shot-By-Shot Coverage. For more information, visit CTAmateur.com.
About the Connecticut Amateur Championship
The Connecticut Amateur Championship is one of the nation’s oldest state amateur golf championships and is one of 18 championship tournaments conducted by the Connecticut State Golf Association. The challenging format tests the state's best amateur golfers over two rounds of stroke play to determine the low thirty-two match play qualifiers. Two rounds of match play each day culminate in a thirty-six hole final to crown the top amateur player in Connecticut.
