Troy bags Wyantenuck Classic, POY

Wyantenuck Classic Archives

August 25—Pittsfield’s Donnie Troy concluded his summer in much the same way it began—with a win at Wyantenuck.

Three months after teaming with Chris Marinaro to win the Allied Four-Ball, Troy prevailed in South County yet again, firing a 2-under-par 68 to win the Wyantenuck Classic by five shots on Aug. 25.

His victory, worth 105 points, also earned him the first annual Berkshire County player of the year award. His 512.5 point total eclipsed runner-up Ed Budz, his season long rival, by more than 133 points.

During the dinner awards ceremony, Troy accepted his trophy, a 17-inch replica of Ben Hogan, in front of a gallery of roughly 80 that included his father, Don, and mother, Lori.

“It means a lot,” said Troy, who played his last three tournaments a total of 4-under to leapfrog Budz. “It’s awesome. But I feel like Ed Budz deserves something, too. It was good competition playing against him. He was definitely the name I was looking for on the leaderboard. He pushed me to go out there and practice harder.”

Fittingly, Troy’s final competitive round of the season mirrored the resiliency he displayed all summer. Sloppy bogeys on the fourth and seventh holes were offset by comeback birdies at the fifth and eighth.

Even par through 11 holes, he then stiffed a wedge to two-feet for birdie on the 12th and hit a delicate pitch to three-feet for birdie on the par-5 13th.   

Five routine pars later, Troy captured his second career victory, two years after earning low honors in a Callaway Junior World qualifier.

“I really finished off my round,” said Troy. “I was 2-under (through 13). I figured that would be pretty good. I started hitting to the center of greens and taking my pars.”

Andy Congdon, a Wyantenuck member, shot a 3-over-par 73 and finished second out of a 103-man field, his second bridesmaid showing in five days following his performance with Steve Soule in last weekend’s Little Brown Jug at Wahconah.

“I wasn’t going to catch Donnie,” said Congdon, who struggled with a balky putter. “If you get one (putt) to go in, they all start to fall. I could have shot lower, but that only would have forced Donnie to go even lower.”

Wyantenuck Classic
Great Barrington, Mass.
August 25, 2005