May 16: Rich Congdon

Yes, winning an Allied championship is special. It's a county title and although I have been close in the Allied father/son and mixed scotch, and have had a couple of top tens in the individual, this years' four-ball is my first Allied win. Andy wasn't aware of my milestone until I mentioned it on the ride home and he welcomed me to the circle of Allied winners.

Going into the tournament we had reasonable expectations of winning, as we both have been playing fairly well.  Our strategy was to have Andy tee off first on each hole, as he is the better player, and for both of us to be aggressive on every hole except no. 14 where we each laid up rather than risk the possibility of a bogey on a short hole. That bogey, however, came on no. 15, a par 3, which is a difficult green to hit.  We were both long.

The pivotal hole was the no. 6 (our 15), where Andy made eagle. I birdied no. 8 (our 17) to get to six under and it held up.

Andy and I grew up at Wyantenuck playing a lot of golf with our father and in a strong junior program. We have had zillions of matches and although I am eleven months older I have managed to win only a few. There was no doubt that with his determination Andy would become one of the county’s best competitors and his numerous titles prove he can take his game to any course. That's not easy to do and he is always a threat at tournament time, especially when he could "putt the eyes out of a snake."

In 1979 my wife and I joined Stockbridge where we each managed to win a few club championships battling with some other county legends. The 54 hole tournament grind around that course truly is gut wrenching and yet satisfying.

We rejoined Wyantenuck in 1999 when our son, Curtis, was working in the pro shop and developing some pretty good skills of his own, and I got back at it against Andy with some after work Beer Matches.

As far as my schedule for this summer I'll probably play the Stockbridge and Wyantenuck Classics’ as I always do and I like the challenge of the Berkshire Hills three day Singles championship. My only goal is to stay out of my own way and maybe have a good day at the right time. Wish me luck.