July 25 - 27, 2016 ~ Woodway Country Club
A
fter opening with a round
of four over-par 75, Adam
Rainaud of Black Hall Club
was more concerned about
making the cut than capturing his first state
open title. Even after opening his second
round even-par through nine holes, the idea
of winning the Connecticut Open seemed
nearly impossible for the two time defending
Connecticut PGA Player of the Year. A
closing 31 on his back nine for a 66 put him
safely inside the cut line, but there was still
plenty of work to be done. Teeing off for his
final round forty minutes before the leaders,
and with a plethora of top players standing
between him and the lead, capturing the
82nd Connecticut Open seemed nearly out
of reach.
Rainaud began his final round at
one under-par for the tournament, a full
six strokes behind overnight leader Cody
Paladino of Wethersfield Country Club, who
held a two stroke lead over Corey Birch of
Silver Spring Country Club. Rainaud played
with Paladino the first two rounds and was
witness to his nearly flawless golf, so he knew
he would need something special to even
have a chance to catch the leader.
“Starting the day, I thought I needed
to get to seven or eight under-par to have a
chance, so the entire round I was thinking
‘Don’t slow down until you get to seven
[under]’,” said Rainaud. “After I birdied the
sixth hole to get to four under-par for the
tournament, at that point I knew I was right
in the mix.”
His front nine of three birdies
and no bogies put him at four under-par,
but with Paladino making an early birdie,
Rainaud still trailed by four heading into his
back nine.
"When I got to the 16th tee, I
saw Cody was in the lead at six under, so I
thought I still needed to make maybe one
more birdie,” said Rainaud. “I hit a couple of
good shots and made birdie on #16, and then
made two good pars coming in."
While Rainaud made birdie on
the 16th to go to seven under-par for the
championship, Paladino found his share
of struggles on the back nine. Even after a
birdie on the 11th hole brought him back to
six under-par, a trio of bogies on holes 12-14
dropped him back to three under-par. With
all of the players in the last three groups over
par in their final round, in just over an hour,
a clear champion had emerged, and Rainaud
had sealed his first Connecticut Open title.
10 / CONNECTICUT STATE GOLF ASSOCIATION / 2016 ANNUAL
After an opening round of 75 and
an even-par front nine to start his second
round, Rainaud played eleven under par in
his final twenty-seven holes, making eleven
birdies and no bogies. He shot a 31 on his
final nine in the second round for a blistering
66 that boosted him into contention, and
his final round 65 tied the course record at
Woodway Country Club.
“The difference in the last two
rounds was definitely my putting,” said
Rainaud. “I hit sixteen greens the first two
rounds and seventeen greens today, but I
had a few three-putts in the first round and
didn’t make any birdie putts. I hit a lot of
close wedge shots yesterday and today and
just made a few more putts.”
The Connecticut Open title is an
addition to an already impressive resume. In
his young career, the two-time Connecticut
Section PGA Player of the Year has already
won the PGA Match Play Championship
(2015,
2016),
Connecticut
PGA
Championship (2014, 2016), Connecticut
Section
Professional
Championship
(2014, 2015), Spring Stroke Play (2014,
2016) and Connecticut PGA Match Play
Championship (2014).
“I’ve been working in Old Lyme