80th Connecticut Open Championship
F
rank Bensel of Fairfield, Conn. entered the
final day trailing by one stroke and shot a
round of four under-par 66 to capture the
80th Connecticut Open Championship at Rolling Hills
Country Club. Bensel began the day just one stroke
back of amateur David Pastore (Greenwich, CT)
and tied for second with a pair of professionals in
Jason Caron of Stamford, Conn. and Adam Rainaud
of Black Hall Club. Playing in the penultimate group
with Caron, Bensel wasted no time making his move
up the leaderboard. He birdied the first two holes to
jump into a tie for the lead at five under-par with
Pastore.
As the day progressed, Bensel continued to
hold a share of the lead with Pastore, Caron and
Mike Ballo, Jr., the round one leader from Woodway
Country Club. After a pair of bogies on #5 and #11,
offset with a birdie on the par-4 8th hole, Bensel
stood on the 15th tee just one stroke back of the lead
held by Pastore at four under-par.
“Jason and I were going back and
forth all day, and there are so many great players out
here who at one point were in the lead or close to the
lead that it wasn’t until r