37th Farmington Tournament Highlighted by New Winner
22 Aug 2018 at 14:03 | Published by: PatPenguin | Views: 22205 | News search
L to R: Justin Seymour, Dylan Koerner, Al Voytek, Mark Novicki (Photo by The Putting Penguin)
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Farmington, Connecticut, USA – The 37th running of this local tournament looked like it was going to be a blow out after day one, but turned into a tough nail biter at the end of the second day. Three rounds were played, two on Saturday August 18th and one on Sunday August 19th, with the field of 23 being split into an upper and lower tier after the Saturday rounds.
On day one, Mark “The Highlighter” Novicki held a 5 shot lead over the field after being the only person in the field to shoot two sub-40 rounds on the obstacle style course. With three of 2017’s top five being unable to play in the 2018 tournament, the field was compressed significantly and trailing behind Novicki were 9 players within 5 strokes of each other.
Rain overnight dampened the course and set the stage for some final round dramatics. Novicki was joined by Al Voytek and Justin Seymour in the final threesome. After a rough front nine where all 3 were in the 20’s, cracks were starting to show in the lead. Tim Guilford Jr, who was 9 strokes back at the beginning of the round shot a 15 to Novicki’s 24 on the front nine, closing the gap. Guilford Jr. would slip on the back nine, giving up the strokes with a 26 but it was Dylan Koerner, 7 strokes out to start the day, who would make the run in the third round. His 39 tied him with Novicki who shot a 46 and managed to stave off the rest of the field.
This resulted in an 18 hole playoff between Koerner and Novicki. Novicki would jump to a quick two stroke lead after 3 holes, only to see that swing to being down by one once they got through the 6th as Novicki would have his ball return to the tee on the tough plateau hole. He would drop another shot by the time they got to the turn. The well at the 10th hole would show a turn of fortune however, as Koerner took a 5 to Novicki’s 2, swinging the lead back into the Highlighter’s favor. He would then extend that by one more on the 11th only to again see it get washed away by taking a 4 to Koerner’s 2 on the 13th. The final swing would happen via a tough decision on the three ways hole 16. Koerner played his tee shot safe up the left path while Novicki braved the narrow center path and almost got rewarded for this efforts with an ace. He would end up with a better deuce putt which he drained and Koerner skidded past the hole for a 3. That move would turn out to be the match winner as Novicki deuced the last two holes, finishing a round where neither putter earned an ace. With the pitted concrete edging, this course can throw some curveballs even with the best of putts. Skill will get you to the top of the leaderboard but a bit of luck will help you win the tournament.
The Highlighter has now won the two biggest tournaments in Connecticut over the past 12 months, and looks to defend his title at the Matterhorn International Pro-Am in September. This was his first win at the Farmington Miniature Golf tournament.
On winning and his final playoff round, Novicki had this to say: “Never give up. You can be 5, 6, or even 7 strokes down or up and nothing is guaranteed. After being up 7 over what I thought a guaranteed safe lead, 3 holes unfortunately hit me for now what was a 2 stroke deficit, but with the well hole approaching {in the final round} I knew it was time to make a move. Luckily I was able to play clean enough to regain the lead {in my group} and hold it until the end of the round when I found out there was a tie.
“Going into the playoff I felt good. We both got and lost a small 2 stroke lead. Pretty much neck and neck until we got to hole 16 where after Dylan gave himself a long chance a deuce and I decided that I had to go for it. Going through the middle probably wasn’t the right move to make but with only 2 holes left in being one was a guaranteed 2 and possible ace on 18 I had to go for it. Luckily I made it they but wasn’t given the best 2nd shot. I sank the shot and unfortunately Dylan didn’t. Feeling confident that all I had to do what 2 out for the win. After us both deucing the 17th hole, we both made it through the church with equality long 2nd putts. Lucky me I felt pretty good and when I sank the putt thought to myself I can finally relax its over.”
Richard Stratton would shoot a final round 43, and an overall 144, to win the lower tier by one stroke over Mandy Ranslow. Lindsay Robbins and Christopher Klug tied for their place with a 153.
Full final results can be found on The Putting Penguin’s Facebook page, along with the live video of the playoff round.
Top 5 Upper Tier Results
1st - Mark “The Highlighter” Novicki: 39-37-46 (122) (42 in playoff)
2nd - Dylan Koerner: 42-41-39 (122) (44 in playoff)
3rd - Justin Seymour: 39-42-42 (123) (won 9 hole playoff)
4th - Al Voytek: 41-40-42 (123)
5th - Ted Young: 43-43-39 (125)
» Farmington Miniature Golf
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