23 Sep 2020 at 13:24 | Published by: PatPenguin | Views: 25969 | News search

Pro Division Winners - Koerner in Orange  (Photo by The Putting Penguin)

Canton, Connecticut - It was expected to be a tight race in the professional division at the 4th Matterhorn International Pro-Am, but no one would have predicted a four-way tie at the top going into the final round. That is what set the stage for an interesting finish on a sunny near-autumn afternoon at Matterhorn Mini Golf in Northeast Connecticut.

The morning started off chilly with temperatures just a tick over 40F (4C) as players arrived for check-in and weren’t much higher at the 9am start with the sun just clearing the trees. The table was set for the 25 amateur participants to complete the 3 rounds of their tournament and the 12 professional participants to get their first 3 of 5 rounds under their belts. The cold might have impacted these hearty New England minigolfers though as both divisions saw their worst average scores for the day happen in the first round. However, as the sun heated up the course, the scores followed suit.

The tension started right off the bat as the morning rounds saw 2 strokes separate 1st place from 7th place. Up on top was perennial contender, and youngest of the pros, Jonah Hurley sitting with a 122 tied with Holey Moley contestant Randy Rice. Jonah would retain sitting at the top spot after lunch and the 4th round, scoring a 40 for a combined 162. He would now be joined by 2017 winner Mark “Highlighter” Novicki, the reigning two-time champ Justin Seymour and perennial contender and frequent league night winner Dylan Koerner. Rice slipped to one shot behind where he was tied with long-time New England putter Josh Tiberio. Pat Sheridan trailed just one shot further back and was still in contention for the top prize.

With the groups going out in reverse order, it was equivalent to an 18-hole playoff for the top spot. Not only did the top four have to contend with themselves but they knew almost the whole group in front of them were a threat to take their spots. Hurley looked to put the pressure on early, acing two of the first five holes putting him two strokes up on the pack. However, disaster would strike right after with a 3 and 4 on consecutive holes. Novicki and Koerner would play the front 9 about as clean as possible on this course, carding 19s to Hurley’s 20 and Seymour’s 22, giving them the one-shot advantage now. Novicki would hit a bad stretch of holes from 11 through 14 until netting an ace on 15 to claw some back. Koerner, on the other hand, played clean until picking up a 3 on 15 but he would get that quickly back with an ace on 17. While Novcki and Seymour slipped, Hurley quietly worked his way back into contention, finishing up with a 3 on the notoriously tricky 18th and carding a 40 for the final round. This left Koerner needing only a 4 on the final hole to seal the win. He played a safe layup and took the four for his first individual tournament win. Jonah would end up with a crack at the aces title, firing 8 over the 5 rounds to tie Al Voytek. Al would end up taking the title in the playoff however, sinking an ace on his first try on hole 15.

When asked when the possibility of first getting the win creeped in, Koerner replied, “The two-shot lead over Jonah heading into 15 is where it hit me. That's why I took a 3 there. I knew it was possible to win it then and I let it get to me, but I just told myself after that not to make any more stupid mistakes and that I had been here before so I knew the feeling of being there. I'm just glad I held on.”

The competition was just as tight in the amateur division as well. With no reseeding, it’s a race through three rounds to see who can end up on top. At the end there was a tie for the top spot with Chris Mamrosh and Mark Fallon both scoring a 127 in the morning. It was then up to a sudden-death playoff to decide the winner. It was over quick on the first hole when Fallon just missed the second putt and Mamrosh sent his home for the win. The amateurs down to eight place won a variety of prizes.

Tournament organizer Pat Sheridan had this to say about the day, “We couldn’t have asked for a better weather day in September. Although our pro numbers weren’t huge, we had the most amateurs we’ve ever seen and everyone had a great tournament. Congrats to Chris and Dylan on their respective wins. Thank you to Autumn, Dave and Shari at Matterhorn for allowing us to have the tournament and for helping throughout the day.”

A 2021 edition of the tournament will be played in September. Details to be released in early 2021.

Top 6 Pro

Dylan Koerner – 201 ($500)
Jonah Hurley – 202 ($250)
Highlighter – 203 ($150)
Justin Seymour – 204 ($100)
Pat Sheridan – 205 ($50)
Randy Rice – 206 ($50) (1 hole playoff)

Top 8 Amateur

Chris Mamrosh – 127 (1 hole playoff)
Mark Fallon – 127
Glenda Ryning – 129
Randy Yale – 131
Ron Mamrosh – 131
Jacob Yale – 132
Jay Latimer – 132
Heather Garvin - 132

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