Dave Pastore, an amateur from eClub of Fairfield, shot a five-under par round of 66 to take a two-shot lead following the opening round of the 77th Connecticut Open Championship Monday at Brooklawn Country Club in Fairfield.
Pastore, a Greenwich native and 2009 Connecticut Public Links Champion, tees off today at 1:20 p.m. Evan Beirne of New Haven CC, who finished second last year, and Frank Bensel, the 2009 Connecticut Open champion, both shot 3-under 68s. Jack McConachie, the head pro at Pine Valley CC in Southington, and amateur Brian Murphy of Brooklawn CC both posted 69s.
Former Yale University golfer Tom McCarthy leads a group of three golfers tied for sixth place at 1-under 70. Jim Fitzpatrick from the Course at Yale leads a large group at even-par 71 that includes Shelton resident Jim St. Pierre.
Defending champion Kyle Gallo and 2003 winner Steve Sokol are both tied for 35th place after both opened with 3-over 74s.


77TH CONNECTICUT OPEN
(At Brooklawn CC)
First round
David Pastore (Eclub of Fairfield) 66
Evan Beirne (New Haven) 68
Frank Bensel (Danbury) 68
Brian Murphy (Brooklawn) 69
Jack McConachie (Pine Valley) 69
Tom McCarthy (Twin Hills) 70
Daniel Balin (Burning Tree) 70
Kyle Bilodeau (Hartford) 70
Jim Fitzpatrick (Yale) 71
Kevin Giancola (Canton) 71
Rudy Hermstadt (East Mountain) 71
Jim St.Pierre (Redding) 71
Dave Szewczul (Tunxis Plantation) 71
Reed Howard (Greenwich) 71
Andrew Broderick (Middlefield) 71
Brian Lamberti (Danbury) 71
Andy Mai (Eclub of New Haven) 71
Matt Torrance (Lake of Isles) 71
Nick Torrance (Lake of Isles) 71
Gerard Courville (Shorehaven) 71
Greg Horvath (Manchester) 71
Matt Dziubina (Race Brook) 72
Bobby Gage (Candlewood Valley) 72
Mickey Hawkes (Madison) 72
Jeff Hedden (Black Hall) 72
Kevin Josephson (Stanley) 72
Brian Hughes (River Valley) 72
Branden Chicorka (River Valley) 73
Fran Marrello (Canaan) 73
Cody Paladino (Wethersfield) 73
Jason Waters (Hop Meadow) 73
Jason Caron (Greenwich) 73
Monte Mullen (Farmington) 73
James Smith (Highfield) 73
Brian Ahern (Wampanoag) 74
Mike Ballo Jr. (Woodway) 74
Bernard D’Amato (Wheeler Park) 74
Ray Ford (Rolling Hills) 74
Kyle Gallo (Kensington) 74
Kevin Shea (New London) 74
Steve Sokol (Orange Hills) 74
Pieter Hartong (Stanwich) 74
Jason Thresher (Crestview) 74
Guy Antonacci (TPC River Highlands) 74
Robert Barnes (Yale) 74
Rahul Desai (Blue Fox Run) 74
Sam Bernstein (Yale) 74
Pat Kozelka (Connecticut National) 74
Tom DelRosso (Shuttle Meadow) 75
Andrew Gruss (Wee Burn) 75
Ryan Leahey (Orange Hills) 75
Kevin John Mahaffy (Pequabuck) 75
Jay Rice (Wee Burn) 75
Matt Smith (Quinnatisset) 75
Jack Ayers Clinton 75
John Murphy (Brooklawn) 75
Gerard Scheer Jr. (Aspetuck Valley) 75
David Dell (Simsbury) 75
Duncan Littlefield (New Canaan) 75
Ben Day (New Haven) 75
Nick Taylor (Heritage Village) 75