Golfers swinging for Hop Brook championship

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Hop BrookNAUGATUCK — The Hop Brook Golf Course Club Championship is off and running.

Pairings for the first round were announced Monday. The first round concludes on Sunday.

Sixty-five golfers, a new tournament record, attempted to qualify for the championship flight for this year’s event, including six former champions of the event, Hop Brook Golf Pro Bob Clark said. Glenn Petelle, a former club champion, was the low qualifier with a score of 74.

Defending champion Ray Martino automatically qualified for the number one seed.

Going into the final day of qualifying this past Sunday, it was looking as if an 82 might squeeze into the championship flight, according to Clark. However, with three scores posted of under 80, the 82s were knocked out of contention, which led to Tom Kaminski’s 81 as the last man standing for the championship flight.

Along with the championship flight, four other flights or divisions are in also in play.

Clark said although the road to a consecutive championship will be tough, Martino has been playing very good golf this year. He has made it through local CSGA qualifiers for both the Connecticut Amateur and the Connecticut Open, Clark said. Match play for all flights will continue until the finals on Aug. 4.