East Haddam—On the second day of 117th Connecticut Amateur Championship competitors and officials spent more time looking at weather radar on their phones than they did at distance measuring devices.
Cell after cell of rain pummeled Fox Hopyard from late morning through the afternoon, creating more than a five-hour rain delay and leaving the leaders, including Brian Zito of Black Hall Club, who shot 69 (-2) yesterday, with only a few holes completed when darkness—and more rain—fell.
Though Fox Hopyard drains well and there was no lightning, puddling on fairways and greens eventually kept players from the course from 1:00-6:20 p.m.
“We really only had to squeegee a single green, the third, after all that rain before we went out at the end of the day,” said Superintendent Wayne Lagasse. “It was the fairway puddling that was the challenge.”
Play will resume at 7:00 a.m. on Wednesday, with the completion of stroke-play qualifying in the morning the beginning of matches in the afternoon.
One player who was not complaining about the weather, though, was Ben Day of the Country Club of Waterbury, who followed an uncharacteristic 80 yesterday with a five-under 66 today, he low round of the championship. Day got the best of the morning weather and was minus four when the delay occurred. He played his final three holes, Nos. 7, 8 and 9 in one under to finish at plus four for the championship, T18. Day was almost the last of the morning wave to finish. The final period of play from 6:20 until almost 8:00 o’clock got that done. Day made 8 birdies, also had three in a row on the front nine, bouncing back from by a double-bogey on the par-5 15th.
Brian Zito of Black Hall Club got only three holes in after the delay ed the morning wave of players yesterday, shooting 69 (-2) with three birdies in his final six holes (on the front nine). His 34-35 was a shot better than two college players also in that wave who shot 70 (-1): Old Dominion junior Chris Ayers and Bryant University standout Nick Piersall, who made the round 16 in the 2018 Amateur.
Though the projected cut, as play ended on Tuesday, was six over par, it was expected to rise closer to last year’s cut line, which was ten over par.
Of those completing their second rounds, Richard Dowling, the 2017 Connecticut Amateur Champion was one over today and plus-four for the championship. Mathew Chorches of Hartford Golf Club and Randy Rizy of Timberlin were both plus five.