Tom McCarthy has had a pretty good summer on the links since graduating from Yale.

Will he turn pro or stay an amateur? Read about McCarthy here and what he thinks of his future plans.

John Paesani, the head pro at Norwich Golf Course, missed the cut at the U.S. Senior Open, being hed this week at Inverness Club in

Paesani shot 74-79-153 to miss the cut by nine strokes.

Frank Bensel posted a 3-under-par 69 to win the 77th Connecticut Open championship by two shots over Tom McCarthy and Dan Balin.
It is the second time Bensel, 43, has won the Open, also doing so in 2009 at Hartford GC. He birdied the first and fourth holes, then made 10 straight pars. He never lost sole possession of the lead.
Bensel is a Danbury resident and an assistant pro at the Century Club in Purchase, N.Y.

McCarthy, the former Yale University standout, made seven birdies, including three straight at holes 11 thru 13, to get to 7-under for the tournament and one behind Bensel. He had to get up and down on the next three holes to salvage pars, almost made another birdie at 17, then had an unfortunate occurrence at 18.

His drive on the par-4 finishing hole plugged in the fairway bunker on the right side. He could only use sand wedge to get it back to the fairway. He failed to get up and down from there, settling for bogey. But it was a great run for McCarthy after finishing sixth last week at the New England Amateur.

Balin, an assistant pro at Burning Tree CC in Greenwich, also got it to 7-under, but bogeyed the 15th hole coming in. He qualified to play for the PGA Championship in two weeks in Atlanta Aug. 11-14. You will be hearing about this player in the future at Met events.

Dave Szewczul and Jack McConachie, who were both tied for second coming into the final round, finished fourth and fifth respectively.

The Connecticut Open stays in Fairfield County for 2012, going to Wee Burn CC in Darien.

For the NH Register's story on the second round of the Connecticut Open, click here

77TH CONNECTICUT OPEN
(At Brooklawn CC)
Second round
Frank Bensel (Danbury), 68-68-136
a-Dave Szewczul (Tunxis Plantation CC), 71-67-138
Jack McConachie (Pine Valley CC), 69-69-138
Dan Balin (Burning Tree CC), 70-69-139
Jason Caron (Greenwich) 73-67-140
a-Brian Murphy (Brooklawn CC), 69-71-140
Matt Dziubina (Race Brook CC), 72-69-141
Jerry Courville Jr. (Shorehaven GC), 71-70-141
Brian Lamberti (Danbury), 71-70-141
a-Tom McCarthy (Twin Hills CC), 70-71-141
Evan Beirne (New Haven CC), 68-73-141
a-Brian Ahern (Wampanoag CC), 74-68-142
a-Jason Thresher (Crestview CC), 74-68-142
Bobby Gage (Candlewood Valley CC), 72-70-142
Jim St. Pierre (Redding CC), 71-71-142
Matt Torrance (Lake of Isles GC), 71-71-142
a-Dave Pastore (E-club of Fairfield), 66-76-142
Andrew Gruss (Wee Burn CC), 75-68-143
Kyle Gallo (Kensington), 74-69-143
Steve Sokol (Orange Hills CC), 74-69-143
a-Kevin Josephson (Stanley GC), 72-71-143
Jim Fitzpatrick (Course at Yale), 71-72-143
Kyle Bilodeau (Hartford GC), 70-73-143
Pat Kozelka (Connecticut National GC), 74-70-144
a-Branden Chicorka (River Valley CC), 73-71-144
a-Ryan Leahey (Orange Hills CC), 75-70-145
Mike Ballo Jr. (Woodway CC), 74-71-145
a-Sam Bernstein (Course at Yale), 74-71-145
Guy Antonacci (TPC River Highlands), 74-71-145
a-Monte Mullen (CC of Farmington), 73-72-145
a-Nick Torrance (Lake of Isles), 71-74-145
Kevin Giancola (Golf Quest), 71-74-145
Reed Howard (Greenwich), 71-74-145
Brent Paladino (New Haven CC), 78-68-146
John Deigan (Fairfield), 77-69-146
Ray Ford (Rolling Hills CC), 74-72-146
a-Jeff Hedden (Black Hall Club), 72-74-146
Andrew Broderick (Middlefield), 71-75-146
Ian Marshall (Watertown GC), 76-71-147
a-Matt Smith (Quinnatisset CC), 75-72-147
a-Ben Day (New Haven CC), 75-72-147
a-Robert Barnes (Course at Yale), 74-73-147
Fran Marrello (Canaan CC), 73-74-147
a-Brian Hughes (River Valley CC), 72-75-147
a-Rudy Hermstadt (East Mountain GC), 71-76-147.
a-denotes amateur

As second-round play winds down after a 30-minute weather delay, Bensel will take a two-shot lead into the final round of the 77th Connecticut Open at Brooklawn Country Club.

Dave Szewczul and Jack McConachie both are in second place at 4-under 138. Dan Balin is fourth at 3-under 139.

First-round leader Dave Pastore skied to a 76 and is at even-par 142, tied with defending champion Kyle Gallo among others.

The cut will likely come at 5-over-147, leaving the low 40 golfers and ties to battle it out for the title Wednesday.

Frank Bensel of Danbury shot his second straight 3-under 68 to stand at 6-under 136, good enough to be the leader in the second round of the Connecticut Open.

Bensel, the 2009 champion, missed last year's event.

Despite tornado warnings in the northern part of the state, weather still very calm here in Fairfield at Brooklawn Country Club as we try to finish the round. Only eight groups left to finish.

2009 Connecticut Open champion Frank Bensel made the turn at 6-under in the second round of the Connecticut Open.
Longtime Pine Valley CC pro Jack McConachie finished at 4-under 138 through two rounds, two shots clear of Jason Caron.

Dave Pastore from Greenwich just teed off in the second round of the Connecticut Open at Brooklawn Country Club. He shot 5-under-par 66 in the opening round.

Longtime Pine Valley CC head pro Jack McConachie is at 2-under for the tournament halfway through his second round.

Evan Beirne of New Haven CC, Matt Dziubina of Race Brook CC and former Yale University golfer Tom McCarthy all stand at 1-under 141 through two runds, the leaders in the clubhouse.

Cut looks to be coming at 5-over 147. Check back later for more updates and follow me on twitter @jmorelli44.

Lisa Fern-Boros of the Highland Club in Shelton shot a women’s course record of 4-under-par 68 at Simsbury Farms GC to win the Tournament of Champions by five shots.
Danielle Lamy of Race Brook CC finished second with a 73 while Jen Holland (Lyman Orchards GC) and Donna Harris (Farmington Woods GC) tied for third at 75. Nicole Coffey (Pequabuck GC) and Linda Lyons (Timberlin GC) tied for fifth at 77.

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

David Pastore from the e-club of Fairfield (no true home course) shot a 5-under-par 66 to take a 2-shot lead at the 77th Connecticut Open being played at Brooklawn Country Club in Fairfield.

Frank Bensel, the 2009 champion, shot a 3-under 68 and is currently in second place. Amateur Brian Murphy from the host club is at 2-under.

Defending champion Kyle Gallo and 2003 winner Steve Sokol both shot 74.

Berlin's Kyle Gallo going for his fifth Connecticut Open title beginning Monday at Brooklawn Country Club in Fairfield.

But Gallo, the defending champion, has his sights set much higher than winning this tournament. To see his story, click here.

Check back here and follow me on twitter @jmorelli44 for updates on the Connecticut Open this week.