The Summer Classic Along the Shore Starts Monday at
Shennecossett Golf Course
The Connecticut Senior Open – A golf titleholders’ tournament
GROTON, Conn. (July 7, 2022) – For the 25th consecutive year, Shennecossett Golf Course will host the
Connecticut Senior Open. This summer classic along the shore gets underway Monday.
In July of 1998, Shennecossett celebrated its Centennial with the re-opening of its golf course thanks in
large to Pfizer who financed the renovation and swapped land with the Town of Groton.
Up until that year the Connecticut Senior Open which was started by Bill Fox in 1983, was contested as
an 18-hole stroke play event at various courses. The Connecticut Section PGA took over the operations,
making it 36-holes and staging it for the first time at Shennecossett, helping to celebrate the course’s
transformation and 100 years.
Since that very first year Shennecossett and the Connecticut Senior Open have been intertwined for a
quarter century serving as the unofficial summer classic along the shore.
Annually, amateurs and professionals, from near and far, descend upon the New London County town
bordering the Thames River and Long Island Sound, where this classic Donald Ross redesigned golf
course has stood the test of time and held its own for over 125 years.
The tournament never fails to attract a full field of 156 players who have reached the age of 50, most of
whom have had a career of collecting golf titles at clubs, state amateur events, and PGA Section
championships, far too many to list. Most of the players, 80 of them, are from Connecticut, and reside in
59 different towns, while 76 hale from 10 other states.
In all, there are 88 professionals and 68 amateurs entered this year and vying to claim the Bill Fox
Trophy and over $32,000 in prizes.
Defending Champion Charlie Blanchard from Warwick, Rhode Island, recorded rounds of 65 and 68 for a
9-under par 133 total and a two-shot margin of victory over runner up Kirk Hanefeld of Port St. Lucie,
Fla.
Blanchard will be among the nine former champions competing next week.
Among them are Jim Becker who is the only three-time Senior Open winner at Shennecossett, tying him
for the most titles with Don Hoenig and Charlie Moore, both who won their titles when the tournament
was an 18-hole event.
Becker’s titles came in 2012, 2015, and 2020.
Other returning champions are Bobby Gage (2018), John “Jumbo” Elliott (2017), Eric Egloff (2016), Jerry
Courville (2014, 2009), Kevin Foster (2013, 2004), Dave Szewczul (2010), and Jack McConachie (2001).
Foster and Szewczul are the only amateurs that have won championships at Shennecossett. Szewczul of
Farmington, Conn., has been low amateur or tied for low amateur seven times at this tournament.
Low amateur last year was Richard Stevens of Waterbury, Conn., who finished at 2-over par 144 and
placing in a tie for 14th overall.
The Town of Groton’s Eric Morrison and Todd Goodhue have both served as hosts for the Senior Open
for over 20 years. Morrison became the Golf Course Superintendent/Golf Course Manager in 2001.
Goodhue was named Shennecossett’s golf professional in 1998 and has been a fixture for all Senior
Opens held at the golf course.
Shennecossett will play as a 6,562-yard, par-71 course (36-35) for the tournament. First place
professional prize is $4,000. The 2022 tournament is sponsored by Mohegan Sun, the PGA TOUR’s Korn
Ferry Tour, and East Hartford Brewing, makers of Ten Penny Ale, the official beer of the Connecticut
Section PGA.
For so many titleholders playing next week, winning the Connecticut Senior Open would be another
significant notch on their list of victories.
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Past Champions at Shennecossett:
Photo credit: Shennecossett Golf Course