Bobby Williams accepts a congratulatory handshake from Brett Wilson as Craig Steckowych extends his hand and Williams' teammate Jim Cilley strolls into view. (Check back tomorrow for more photos.)
KEANE-LAKE SUNAPEE A WINNING MATCH
NEW LONDON – Cast adrift with the closing of Hanover Country Club, the Tommy Keane Invitational found safe harbor this year at Lake Sunapee Country Club.
To listen to many in the field of 64 teams who competed in the three-day event it could do worse than put down permanent roots at the par-70, 6,704-yard Donald Ross layout. And it probably didn’t hurt the chances of it happening that one of its favorite sons played on the winning team.
Four-time Sunapee club champion Bobby Williams joined up with Jim Cilley to help the qualifying round medalists capture the 45th renewal of the Keane with a 2-and-1 victory over three-time champion Craig Steckowych and teammate Brett Wilson who qualified second with a 64.
The last team in the field, Williams and Cilley closed out the match on 17 with a Cilley eagle to cap an up-and-down back nine.
“It was a little rocky,” the long-hitting Williams said with a laugh of the final round. “But we were making good putts for pars, which sometimes is what you have to do when you aren’t necessarily hitting it close or doing anything spectacular. We scraped away with pars but also had some birdies.”
Down a hole at the turn after a sloppy seventh hole they conceded without pulling out their putters, Williams and Cilley dodged a bullet that would have sent them two down when Williams made a critical up-and-down from behind the green on 12. They then drew even when the Lake Sunapee half of the team drained a bomb on 13. But after winning 14 to go one up they gave the hole right back when Cilley missed a short one on 15.
He made up for it with a long putt to win 16 that he had no intention of missing.
“I was just mad after 15,” he said. “That was just a poor stroke and my thought process after that was, ‘It’s not going to happen again.’ ”
It didn’t, with help from an old friend.
“I didn’t putt well yesterday and Bobby made everything, so I went back to my old reliable putter I’ve used in every tournament I’ve ever won,” Cilley explained. “It’s a center-shafted Cameron I bought for $35 on eBay in like 2007. It’s funny. I went back to it on the putting green last night before I left and it was, ‘Yup, it feels better.’ I went to it today and putted great.”
One up after winning 16, Williams and Cilley joined the other two by striping their tee balls on the 500-yard, par-5 17th. But while Williams and Cilley were both on the green in two, Steckowych was in a bunker well below the elevated putting surface and Wilson’s ball rolled over the first cut before stopping against the longer grass behind the green.
After Steckowych came out of the trap to three feet, it was Wilson opting for a wedge that came out hot and was headed well off the green before plunking into the flagstick and stopping within easy birdie range.
While Wilson said he got lucky that a shot he hoped to come off his club differently nailed the pin to give him a chance, Cilley wasn’t surprised.
“Knowing Brett, I always think it’s going in,” he said. “He always does something to get it to that point. I wasn’t even watching it. I was looking at my line and the flag, and I saw it slam into it. I was like, ‘Aw, come on.’ ”
Williams was standing over a putt to win but instead it was Cilley grabbing his trusty Scotty Cameron to finish the job.
“The putt I had was a fairly easy one,” he said. “I had it this morning to close out the match. Bobby said, ‘You or me?’ I said, ‘No, I want this one.’ ”
When his putt found the bottom of the cup the 2011 New Hampshire amateur winner and his homestanding teammate had what Cilley feels is a significant addition to a solid golf resumé.
“I’ve had some success in New Hampshire amateur events, although not much in the last decade,” he said. "I won the Four Ball with somebody else in 2010, the Mid-Am in 2008 and the New Hampshire Am, so I had a little stretch. I feel like I’ve played real well sometimes since then but I just couldn’t get a win.
“This was a stacked field with Nick MacDonald, Pat Pelletier, the two guys we played in the semifinals and Brett and Steck in the finals. It was as good as winning anything you can win in New Hampshire golf in just as strong a field.”
Wilson gave the winners credit for coming from behind in a somewhat uneven back nine.
“It’s hard to expect that after 36 holes in the heat in two days you are going to have your best golf and we ran out of gas,” he said. “It was evident they did, too, but they made shots when they needed to, and that made the difference.”
Steckowych, who won the Keane in 1997, ’98 and ’99, enjoyed his return to a tournament he isn't sure he played in more than once since his last victory, a lengthy absence he blamed on the grind of playing in and traveling to the New England Am in far-flung parts of the region the week before.
“It’s somewhere between 18 and 21 years since I last played in (the Keane),” he said. “It was a little disappointing this afternoon but for the most part we played well all week. We bogeyed 14 and 16 and prior to that we had met just one bogey all week, qualifying matches and everything.
“It’s a great event and I’d like to keep playing it in the future if there are no conflicts. It’s almost more about the camaraderie than the winning.”
That kind of appreciation for the Tommy Keane is music to the ears of tournament organizer Scott Peters.
“Sunday afternoon after the TK is always the same,” he said. “Everybody is exhausted but with smiles on their faces. This year was very unique in a lot of ways, not just the change of venue but the challenges of the pandemic. There were a lot of balls in the air and I think for the most part we caught them, but there’s obviously things we will take a look at and try to smooth out.
“It was the first time Sunapee had done it and they did an unbelievable job. Craig (Gardner, head pro) and Aaron (Kinglsey, first assistant) and their staff did and wonderful job. I think Sunapee was a great fit for another spectacular Tommy Keane weekend and we look forward to coming back.”
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