CSGA Publications: 2015 Connecticut Open Media Preview | Page 7

Connecticut to win a USGA championship, winning the U.S. Mid-Amateur championship in 1995 and advancing to the
final match in the Mid-Amateur an amazing four times (1995, 1996, 1999, and 2002).
Kyle Gallo will begin the Connecticut Open Championship looking to become the first player in the eighty-one year
history of the tournament to win five titles. Gallo last won the Open in 2010 at the Country Club of Fairfield, tying the
54-hole scoring record of 200 (-10), and has also recorded four runner-up finishes. In addition to his four Connecticut
Open titles, Gallo has won the Massachusetts Open Championship (2011), Cape Cod Open (2009 and 2014) and the
Maine Open (1999).
The last amateur to win the Connecticut Open was Jeff Hedden of Black Hall Club, who won at Round Hill Club
in a playoff over four-time champion Kyle Gallo. Bill Hermanson, also of Black Hall Club, hopes to break the
drought at this year’s Open, and is among the favorites. Not only did Hermanson capture the 9th Senior Match Play
Championship earlier this year by knocking off perennial favorite Dave Szewczul, but he also won the Connecticut
Amateur at Patterson in 1991.
The list of accomplishments for Dave Szewczul of Tunxis Plantation Country Club are plentiful, and among them
includes winning the CSGA Senior Player of the Year title a record six times (2009-14). But at age 62, the 2010 inductee
into the Connecticut Golf Hall of Fame showed he can still compete with players of all ages by qualifying for the 115th
U.S. Amateur Championship at Shuttle