PLYMOUTH – It was a bit of redemption of Edd Jenkins, while Norwich High School senior-to-be, Casey Marson, showed nerves of steel in defending her Chenango County Amateur women’s title, Saturday afternoon at Canasawacta Country Club.
Jenkins was the runner-up at last year’s amateur losing in a playoff to Eric Walling. One year later, Jenkins and Walling were again dueling down the stretch. Jenkins built a three-shot lead over the first 18 holes finishing with a one-over-par 72. Walling, alone in second, was the lone person trailing to make a run at Jenkins, and nearly succeeded in the comeback.
“The second 18 holes, I really wasn’t watching what (Eric) was doing,” Jenkins said. “I was trying to shoot another 72.”
Jenkins bogeyed four holes on the front nine without making a birdie as Walling closed the deficit to just one shot. A Jenkins bogey on 10 combined with a Walling birdie briefly gave Walling the lead.
Walling maintained the lead until he bogeyed 14 and hit his tee shot out of bounds on 15. Walling’s eventual triple bogey after the OB ball gave Jenkins the necessary cushion in an eventual two-shot victory. “My chipping and putting were both really good,” Jenkins said, who at 66 years old doubled up as the senior scratch champion. “Winning both titles made this kind of nice. I have never been a long hitter, so I spend more time practing my short game. It paid off.”
Finishing third behind Walling – four shots shy of Jenkins – was Steve Upton.
Marson’s goals this year were to not only defend her title, but also shoot a better score than last year (79). She finished four shots clear of her winning score last year carding a 75, and she needed every one of those shots in edging Greene’s Karen Dickerson by one stroke.
Sitting at one-over-par through 13 holes and holding a comfortable lead, Marson encountered some bumps on her road to the title. She bogeyed 14 and 15, and after taking a stroke penalty on 16, double-bogeyed the short par-four as her four-shot lead dwindled to one.
“I wasn’t playing that bad, I just had some unlucky kicks on those holes and lost a stroke here and there,” Marson said.
Marson regrouped with birdie on the downhill par-four 17th to open a two-shot lead on Dickerson heading to 18.
“I kind of mishit my drive, and Mrs Dickerson’s drive was fine,” Marson said of the final hole.
Trouble ensued when Marson hit her second shot into one of the grassy mounds protecting the 18th hole, while Dickerson stuck her approach into prime birdie range. Marson scrambled with her chip hitting it to within five feet for par.
Adding to the drama, Dickerson indeed drained her birdie putt closing the deficit to one, but more importantly, forced Marson to make a five-footer for the title.
“It was a nerve-wracking putt and I knew it was important,” Marson said. “But I wasn’t as nervous as I thought I would be. I was making putts like that all day, and I was telling myself that this putt was just like the other ones. It was okay if I missed and we went to a playoff, but I had the same putt yesterday and knew where it was going to break. I loosened my grip and put a good stroke on it.”
Marson’s four-over-par 75 was two shots off her career-low at C.C.C., but it was her lowest competitive round at the course.
Elsewhere, John Walton claimed the men’s handicap championship. Playing to an eight handicap, Walton fired a 74 for a net 5-under-par 66 to edge Dennis Mirabito and Sal Testani by one stroke. In the junior 13-and-under division, Brenon Maynard, playing the gold tees on the back nine, shot a 2-over-par 37 to top Ryan Johnson by two shots and defending champion Marcus Dickerson of Greene by four.
Men’s Scratch (top six finishers, 36 holes)
Edd Jenkins 72-77-149
Eric Walling 75-76-151
Steve Upton 78-75-153
Bill Intres 81-78-159
