OXFORD – A Scott Seiler finished on top at the Bluestone Golf Club Men’s Member-Guest Tournament on Sunday. It wasn’t, however, the Scott Seiler that is used to winning Bluestone titles.
Scotty Seiler, son of multiple champion Scott Seiler, paired with Norwich resident Lee Skillin to reign as 2009 champions shooting an 11-under-par 59 to win the title by three strokes.
At 19 years old, it is believed that Scotty Seiler is the youngest member-guest champion at Bluestone in tournament history.
“My dad has won quite a few of these tournaments, but we played well today,” Scotty Seiler said. “We figured that our team or my dad’s would go low today.”
Seiler and Skillin were three off the pace of first-round leaders Bryan Smith and Justen Rickard, who finished in a tie for second with the elder Seiler and his partner.
On the difficult par-three 11th hole, Scotty Seiler and Skillin vaulted into a tie for first after a two-shot swing. Playing along with his dad, Scotty Seiler knocked in a nine-foot putt for birdie – courtesy of Skillin’s stellar tee shot – while Scott Seiler and Byroads bogeyed the hole.
Scotty Seiler nearly aced his wedge on the par-three 15th hole, the second birdie of five in a row en route to a 7-under-par 29 on the back nine.
“We knew we had a chance at the start of the day, and we were shooting for a 60,” Scotty Seiler said. “We were able to do one better than that.”
The winning duo survived a shaky end to their opening nine holes to stay in contention. Set up perfectly following a perfect tee shot on the par-five ninth, Skillin chunked his second shot, while Seiler pushed his approach out of bounds. The twosome scrambled for a par on what was presumably a birdie hole.
“That par felt like an eagle,” Skillin summed up.
In other flights, Rick Race teamed with Jerry Birdsall to win the first flight. Race and Birdsall finished in a tie with Tony Abbott and Bob Branham with two-round totals of 3-under-par. Branham and Abbott each misfired on their 10-foot birdies putts on the first playoff hole – the par-four 10th. Race ended the extra holes draining a five-footer.
Coming a shaky opening round, Keith Finch and Dennis Smith sizzled on day two shooting a 62 – the second lowest round on Sunday – to nip Nate Denz and Jaret Paul by one shot in the second flight.
In flight three, Joe Pastore and Keegan McCumiskey caught fire on the back nine shooting 5-under-par to fashion a 65 and a two-shot win.
Brian Willis and Brian Pickering cruised to the largest margin of victory in any flight shooting a second-day 67 to win the fourth flight by eight shots.
Scoring by Flight
(top-six plus ties)
Championship
Scotty Seiler- Lee Skillin 69-59-128
Scott Seiler-Byroads 68-63-131
Bryan Smith-Justen Rickard 66-65-131
Jason Golden-Joe Fuller 69-63-132
Todd Seiler-Rik Seiler 69-65-134
Gene Wood-Doug Caldwell 67-68-135
Drew Seiler-Tom Muserilli 69-66-135
First Flight
*Rick Race-Jerry Birdsall 71-66-137
Tony Abbott-Bob Branham 72-65-137
