14 Sep 2022 at 13:32 | Published by: PatPenguin | Views: 44067 | News search

Boothbay, Maine - It wasn’t inevitable that Justin Seymour was going to win his 4th Lee Stoddard Dolphin Open, but coming out in the first round and shooting a tournament low 31 was a great way to start on that path.

The tournament was a smaller field than some years with only 14 putters hitting the greens for the 10 round tournament on September 10th and 11th. However, the field consisted of 3 former winners, along with other close competitors, who were gunning to stop Seymour’s impressive streak. The weather was a perfect New England early September day with few clouds in the sky on Saturday and a light bit of overcast on Sunday morning. The course, however, was less than perfect for many of the players throughout the day. The quirks of a 30+ year old course would come out to bite players occasionally throughout the tournament or find ways to stymie them through nearly all ten rounds.


Justin Seymour on Hole 6

Although he has a hot start, it wasn’t going to be smooth sailing for Seymour. After the morning rounds he was tied with perennial contender Mark “Highlighter” Novicki with great scores of 103. Todd Viau, coming in all the way from Michigan, sat 6 behind them and was followed by a close pack lead by past winner Randy Rice. The chase was on in the afternoon but Seymour would start to show signs of pulling away after the pizza lunch. With a 34.3 average through 6 rounds, he opened up a 5 stroke lead over Novicki, with past winner Pat Sheridan sliding into the third spot another 4 strokes back. Randy Rice still remained within striking distance but it looked like at best it might be a three horse race going into the night rounds.

Commonly referred to as the best rounds of the weekend by the players, the setting was perfect to cap the day. With the sun setting, the lights coming on and the air a perfect temperature for putting, the participants went about their task of chasing. Not much ground was gained on Seymour, however, as he remained up 5 strokes at the end of the evening, now on Sheridan. The race now seemed on for 2nd place, with just two strokes separating Sheridan and Novicki, and a battle for 4th place with three competitors sitting at 293.


Evening descending on the course

A good night’s sleep proved fruitful for Novicki who leapfrogged Sheridan in the 9th round and would ultimately hold onto 2nd place by one stroke as Seymour pulled further away to win by 14 after the ten rounds. Sheridan would hold off a late charge by Viau to keep 3rd and Katrina Dunsmore, owner of the adjacent Ice Cream Hut, would take the final paying spot of 5th. Seymour received a medal, a custom hat and $500 for his win. Novicki would earn an extra $100 for getting the first hole-in-one on Hole 15 (Bobbin’ Buoys), a special award given each year for the least aceable hole on the course.

This year the tournament was one of nine that is part of the 2022 American Minigolf Alliance (AMA) schedule. The 30th edition of the tournament will be held September 9 & 10, 2023 and will be a 10 round tournament.

Top 5
1st: Justin Seymour - 346 ($500)
2nd: Mark “Highlighter” Novicki - 360 ($200)
3rd: Pat Sheridan - 361 ($150)
4th: Todd Viau - 365 ($100)
5th: Katrina Dunsmore - 370 ($50)

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