Seventy eight players teed off for the 32 available spots for the four flights. For the second year in a row, a one day event was used to select the eight players in each flight who would advance to match play and believe it or not, there was no need to a have a sudden death playoff to set the field.
Dennis Lynch led the field with a 2 under par round of 71 to capture the number one seed of the championship flight, Hugh Callahan shot even par 73 for the second spot, Russ Aue who shot 74 was third and to go along with Lynch’s first place finish, it begs the question: are the Suffolk County streets safe without them patrolling them? Our favorite fire fighter and defending Champ Dave Segot became the fourth seed with a two over par 75; Marc Coleman took the fifth, the rotund Ron Levinson 6th, Matt Corrigan got the 7th seed, and Joe Navarra took the 8th seed with a birdie on the 18th hole. The outcome of this year's qualifiers almost replicated last year's results.
Russ Demeri was the medalist in the A flight by shooting 79, which was done in a phenomenal manner, he shot 46 on the front and 33 on the back. Andy Anello, who took the second seed, also shot 79 but Russ took the honors on a match of cards. The third seed went to Long Ball Mike DeSantis who brought it home with an 80. Fourth place went to former Club Champion Sean McGowan who edged out Mike Franz in a tie breaker when they each shot an 82. Dom Tolipano Shot an 83 to make his way into match play staying sober all afternoon just in case he had to go into a playoff. Mike Altobello took the fifth seed and defending A flight champion Al Channin wound up with the last seed..
Ray Eklund who holds multiple B flight Championships broke a draught and finally made into match play through a qualifier when he shot 79 to take the number one seed. His arch rival and long time friend Bill Ruth was 2nd with an 81. Ralph Millo who overcame a disastrous back nine by taking a 9 on the 15th hole, still managed to shoot 39 on the back side and capture the third seed in a tie breaker at 82 with Mike Pomerico who got the fourth seed. Corey Schneider is the fifth seed and Man Up Ed Roeser shot 86 and got the 6th seed. Ed is the only player who choose to move up a flight and still make match play. Dan Richards and Mitch Cooperstock round out this flight.
Al Jinete shot an 85 to lead the way in the closely competitive C flight. This flight had the least separation of scores, as only four shots separated the eight players who made match play. Defending C flight championship Kevin Mullen got the 2nd seed by shooting 86. Denis Murphy also shot 86 which netted him the third seed. Seth Cummings became the fourth seed by shooting an 87 and Rick Keller, William "The Milkman" Huff and John Serpico took the 5th, 6th and 7th seeds respectively. Arthur Spitalnick , dubbed "Marty"by the fans during the U.S. Open, hung out all day on the bubble waiting, was finally rewarded with the 8th seed as no one else came close.
Unfortunately, one of the participating foursomes was disqualified because it did not follow the rules of the day.
|