31 Aug 2020 at 13:40 | Published by: PatPenguin | Views: 10453 | News search

Farmington, Connecticut - The 39th Annual Pat Guglielmo Memorial Farmington Miniature Golf Tournament was held on August 22, 2020. For the first time in the tournament’s history it was reduced from a two-day, three round tournament, down to a one-day, two round tournament. While this has been a change that was discussed for a few years, which the organizers hoped would help boost attendance, the current pandemic situation helped drive it to fruition. The field was similar in size to the previous year although the top tier was missing a couple of regular past winners and local USPMGA pros. The course is a classic “obstacle” type with windmills, wells, barns and lighthouses to compete with and the pitted concrete edging makes shooting in the high 30s an excellent score.


Farmington Minigolf Tournament Participants

With the tournament being only two rounds, the name of the game was going to be consistency and who can remain hot through the 36 holes. It looked like it might be a barn burner after the first round with past winner John O’Leary posting a 37, with James Levere right behind with a 39 and past winner Al Voytek scoring a 40. Right behind them was a pack of players in the low 40s, which is always within striking distance on this course. The tide of the scores seemed to turn in the second round though. Perhaps it was the changing conditions of the course as the weather warmed up, or feelings of pressure or comfort but for many of the competitors their scores swapped positions in round 2. John and Al would shoot high in the second round and James would slip the least with a 44, position him for a run at first place. However, the prior year champion Pat Sheridan found a window of opportunity after hitting a 43 in the first round and posted a 39, the only under-40 score of the second round. This gave him just the advantage he needed to slip into the top place and defend his title, making him only the 2nd back-to-back champion in the tournament’s history. The win netted Sheridan $100.

“I knew I just had to keep my head down in the second round and grind out a good score,” said Sheridan. “I figured my first round score was enough to keep me in the money if I posted a sub-40 round two. I’m happy I made a decision to play a safer shot on 16 in the last round instead of being aggressive and going for the ace. That could have turned out bad and cost me a stroke or two, which would have made all the difference. I also want to thank Farmington Miniature Golf for continuing to hold their tournament this year as we all need a chance to get out and play with everything going on.”



Pat Sheridan - 1st place

Similar to prior years, the tournament was split into two tiers for winners, although this is normally done after the first day so that the second day of competition sees the tiers playing against each other. With it just being one-day this year, it was announced that the “cut” line would be after tenth place, meaning those in the middle of the pack had to wait and see which side of the line they fell on. This year it ended up being a three-way tie for the lower tier top spot, with all three competitors putting a 99. Henry Eagan, the only competitor in the field under 13, would end up with the win on the tie-breaker, which was best scorecard starting with hole 1, round 1. Henry, who had played the two rounds in the group with Sheridan, started his tournament with an ace, which ended up making all the difference.

A portion of the fees collected for this tournament, as well as the money earned from free game chances, go to support The Jimmy Fund and Connecticut Children’s Hospital.

Top 3 Upper Division

Pat Sheridan – 82
James Levere – 83
Doug Wipfler - 86

Top 3 Lower Division

Henry Eagan – 99
Glenda Ryning – 99
Jean Robbins - 99

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