After day two of the 76th Connecticut Junior Amateur presented by Cobra Puma Golf and Golf on the Green, only eight players remain with a chance to have their name etched on the state’s most prestigious junior amateur trophy. The championship is being conducted July 10th - 13th on the par-71, 6,423 yard course at Watertown Golf Club in Watertown, Connecticut.
Meet the Quarterfinalists
Will Wilson
Home Club: Wee Burn Country Club (Darien)
High School Graduation Year: 2018 (Age 17)
Qualifying Score / Seed Number: 72 (+1) / #6 seed
One Quick Fact: After Thomas Durkin won the 14th and 15th holes to even their Round of 16 match, the pair entered the par-4 18th hole all square. With Durkin a mere ten feet for birdie and Wilson starring down a forty foot slider, Wilson calmly rolled in the birdie putt to win the match on the 18th hole. He is making his first appearance in the quarterfinals of the Junior Amateur Championship.
Charlie Graham
Home Club: Brooklawn Country Club (Fairfield)
High School Graduation Year: 2017 (Age 18)
Qualifying Score / Seed Number: 68 (-3) / #1 seed
One Quick Fact: Graham, the Nick Pahoulis Medalist, took care of business on day one by knocking off Brendan Fagan by a score of 4 and 3 in his morning match and Jack Maguire by a score of 2 and 1 in his afternoon match. Graham is looking to become the sixth medalist in the extensive history of the Junior Amateur to win both the stroke play qualifying and match play championship trophies in the same year. The feat was last accomplished by John VanDerLaan of Heritage Village Country Club in 2012.
Mac Mahoney
Home Club: Hartford Golf Club (Hartford)
High School Graduation Year: 2019 (Age 15)
Qualifying Score / Seed Number: 76 (+5) / #24 seed
One Quick Fact: At age fifteen, Mahoney is the youngest player remaining with a chance to capture the title. After cruising to victory over Arthur Ouimet in his morning match, Mahoney went down to the wire against James Bosworth, narrowly edging him on the 18th hole for the victory.
Andrew Franz
Home Club: Eclub of Connecticut
High School Graduation Year: 2017 (Age 18)
Qualifying Score / Seed Number: 71 (Even) / #4 seed
One Quick Fact: The 2016 Junior Amateur Champion, Franz has now won seven consecutive matches at Watertown Golf Club, including knocking off Ben James in his Round of 16 match, the highest ranked junior golfer in Connecticut. Should Franz repeat, he would become just the tenth player in the seventy-six year history of the championship to defend their title.
Jackson Fretty
Home Club: Greenwich Country Club (Greenwich)
High School Graduation Year: 2019 (Age 16)
Qualifying Score / Seed Number: 76 (+5) / #21 seed
One Quick Fact: Fretty has saved his best golf for the back nine at Watertown Golf Club. He won the final three holes to edge Mark Gertsen in his Round of 32 match, which included an eagle on the par-5 16th, and after being all square against Alexander Gu in his Round of 16 match, took control en-route to a 2 and 1 victory.
Billy Nail
Home Club: The Milbrook Club (Greenwich, Conn.)
High School Graduation Year: 2019 (Age 16)
Qualifying Score / Seed Number: 76 (+5) / #31 seed
One Quick Fact: Nail is making his first appearance in the quarterfinalists, needing all eighteen holes to edge #2 seed Finn Boynton in the morning match, and 19 holes to defeat Mani Capece in his afternoon match. Nail made clutch birdies on the 17th hole in both of his matches to en-route to his pair of victories.
Colin Cusa
Home Club: Longshore Golf Course (Westport)
High School Graduation Year: 2019 (Age 16)
Qualifying Score / Seed Number: 76 (+5) / #26 seed
One Quick Fact: In both of his matches, Cusa never lead on the back nine and was as many as three down to Cameron Hosack in his Round of 32 match. A birdie on the 16th in both of his matches was the difference, using the reachable par-5 to get back into the match.
Tommy Dallahan
Home Club: Hop Meadow Country Club (Simsbury)
High School Graduation Year: 2019 (Age 16)
Qualifying Score / Seed Number: 75 (+4) / #14 seed
One Quick Fact: In the seventy-six year history of the Junior Amateur, no player from Hop Meadow Country Club has ever won the Junior Amateur Championship. Dallahan trailed throughout much of his Round of 16 match, but was able to claw his way back, eventually making birdie on the 17th hole to take the lead and par on the 18th hole for the win.
About the Tournament: The Connecticut Junior Amateur Championship presented by Cobra Puma Golf and Golf on the Green is open to all Connecticut junior golfers who have not reached their nineteenth birthday by the start of the event. The challenging format tests the state's best junior golfers over a single round of stroke play to determine the low thirty-two match play qualifiers. Two rounds of match play each day culminate in an eighteen-hole final to crown the top junior player in Connecticut.