8th Senior Match Play Championship
2014 Champion Dave Szewczul
D
ave Szewczul of Tunxis Plantation Country
Club added to his impressive resume
by capturing the 8th Senior Match Play
Championship, presented by Johnson Brunetti, at
The Farms Country Club. Szewczul, the medalist
and overall number one seed, defeated Jon
Groveman of Connecticut Golf Club by a score of
2-Up.
The finals proved to be Szewczul’s toughest
test yet, with both Szewczul and Groveman playing
phenomenal golf and trading birdies and eagles
throughout the day. Standing in the middle of the
fairway on the par-5 12th, Szewczul’s lead was
one. After hitting a hybrid from 220 yards to a
mere twelve feet from the hole, and subsequently
sinking the birdie putt, it appeared momentum
was in his favor. However, Groveman would
rebound with a clutch par save on the par-3 13th
to pull back within one.
Both players had their chances for birdie on
the 14th, 15th and 16th holes, but Groveman saw
his best chance slip by on the 17th. Still down by
one, he hit his approach shot to ten feet from the
hole, but narrowly missed his birdie opportunity
to square the match. Needing a birdie on the last
after Szewczul calmly hit his approach shot to the
20
Connecticut State Golf Association
middle of the green, Groveman failed to hit the
green. When his chip came up just short of the
hole, Szewczul knocked in a three foot putt for the
victory and his fourth Senior Match Play title.
“It was really a great test of golf out there,
and I think the course was the real winner,” said
Szewczul in his Champion’s speech. “I really did
a good job of controlling the distance on my iron
shorts and staying below the hole, which really
made the difference for me. There’s no question
the course proved that it can provide a very
challenging test for the state’s top players, and
I’m just thankful have come out as the Champion.”
Szewczul has now won the Senior Match
Play four times (2010, 12, 13 and 14) in the eight
years since the inception of the event. In the one
hundred-fifteen year history of the CSGA, it is
only the sixth time that any player has won the
same CSGA amateur championship four or more
times. Szewczul now shares that distinct honor
with Richard Siderowf (Amateur 1955, 60, 65, 84
and 85), Fred Kask (Amateur 1970, 77, 80 and
87), Sam Petrone (Senior Amateur 1962, 68-70,
74 and 75), Bill Hermanson (Mid-Amateur 199093), and Jeff Hedden (Mid-Amateur 2002, 05, 06
and 09).