Sloppy Stockbridge: Driscoll, Linn top rain-plagued Allied
Stockbridge, Mass (Aug. 14)—With just seven holes remaining in yesterday’s 36 hole Allied Championship at Stockbridge Golf Club, Williamstown’s Ed Budz stood at 1-under-par, two strokes clear of first round co-leader Randy Driscoll and four ahead of POY points leader Donnie Troy.
Soon after Budz striped his ball down the 12th fairway, Mother Nature interrupted his bid for a second Allied title-- permanently.
Torrential rain overwhelmed Stockbridge’s layout, which rests in a valley near the Housatonic River, forcing Superintendent Bruce Packard to close the course.
The aftermath?
First round co-leaders Randy Driscoll (STK) and Bob Linn (BHCC), who each carded masterful rounds of 1-under 70, were deemed the first co-champions in more than 20 years. They admirably attempted to split the tie in a playoff on the par-3 2nd hole, but decided against it once they saw the unplayable condition of the green.
“Neither one of us wanted to win under those circumstances,” said Linn, who offered Driscoll a congratulations and a pat on the back while rain poured down on their umbrellas.
“At that point it seemed like the best thing to do,” added Driscoll, a member of Stockbridge for the past three years.
Three hours earlier, a finish so anticlimactic seemed unthinkable. The morning leaderboard, paced by Driscoll and Linn, was ripe with compelling storylines.
Driscoll, a former Lee High baseball standout, was looking to claim the county’s top title on his home course, a trick also turned by another Stockbridge standout, Jim Salinetti in 1996.
Linn, who regularly commutes from Enfield, CT. to Berkshire Hills, was just 18 holes away from victory in his maiden Allied appearance.
Ed Budz and Tim Tunstall, second and third in the POY standings, lurked two behind after matching 72s. Ditto for 19-year-old Chris Marinaro, who wanted to complete his summer with a victory before he returned to St. Leos (Fla.) College on Tuesday.
Following a 4-over 75 in the morning, Donnie Troy needed a second round as hot as the air was humid.
Unfortunately, with rising temperatures, came rising scores. Tunstall made a double bogey early on and never recovered. Linn, the only competitor wearing pants, fell from 1-under to 4-over in a span of 11 holes.
“I haven’t played 36 holes in a long time,” admitted Linn. “It was starting to wear me down a little bit. We tried to stay in the shade as much as we could. When the sun came out, the temperature raised 15 degrees.”
Troy and Marinaro made the birdies needed to mount a charge, but mistakes from short range hurt their cause.
Budz, meanwhile, leapfrogged Linn and Driscoll courtesy of a 1-under 35 on the front that included a bogey on the par-4 9th hole. He then birdied the 10th to expand his lead to two over Driscoll and three over Marinaro.
Then the rains came.
“The guy that lost out the most was Ed Budz,” said Driscoll, who played the first 11 holes in the afternoon 2-over. “He looked like he was only going to get better as it went along. He was no question the better player in the afternoon.”
“I think my best was yet to come in the second round,” he quickly added. “Unfortunately, we’ll never know.”
With their split victory, Driscoll and Linn each earned 262.5 POY points. But they left Stockbridge with much more than that.
“I proved to myself that I can play with the best in the county,” said Driscoll, whose father, Bob, finished 15th with a 6-over 77. “I’ve been playing good for most of the summer. I’ve won a couple of club championships (two at Greenock), but nothing like this.”
Linn, meanwhile, is just happy to be playing in Berkshire County.
“For the golf course and the atmosphere, you people really love your golf up here,” said Linn. “The atmosphere for tournaments up here is fabulous. And the golf courses are impeccable.”
Unless Mother Nature interferes.