Apparently, Connecticut received some early-morning thunderstorms, which forced the postponement of the second round of the 47th Connecticut Women's Amateur Wednesday at Ridgewood CC in Danbury.

The tournament has been reduced from 54 to 36 holes and will conclude on Thursday, according to the Connecticut Women's Golf Association website.

I say "apparently" because I am on vacation in North Carolina where the weather has been hot, but beautiful and without thunderstorms as of yet today. But they are in the forecast.

Race Brook CC head pro Paul Barnsley was playing Wampanoag CC for the first time, but it didn't matter.

His 3-under-par 141 for two rounds was good enough to win the 16th Connecticut PGA Professional
Championship Tuesday and earn a spot in the 46th PGA Professional National Championship June 23-26, 2013, at Sunriver Resort in Sunriver, Ore.

 Fran Marrello earned the other spot, tying for second at 142, then winning a sudden death playoff over Mark Farrell.

Barnsley and Marrello must finish in the top 20 next June in order to advance to the PGA Championship in August of 2013 at Oak Hill CC.

Connecticut won its eighth New England Junior golf championship in the past 11 years - this one by a record 29 shots over defending champion Massachusetts at Taconic Golf Club in Williamstown, Mass.


The two area players on the victorious team, Brian Carlson of Madison and Eric Dietrich of Cheshire, were the two medalists in Tuesday's final round both shooting 3-under-par 69. Carlson, who will be a junior at Hand High School, tied teammate Ed Hill (Watertown GC) with 2-over 215 for three rounds, then beat Hill in a sudden-death playoff.

Check out the complete list of individual scoring from the tournament.

Connecticut led by 16 strokes after the opening 36 holes on Monday. Six of the Nutmeggers finished in the top 10 for individual scoring and the team finished at 3-over par 1068. Vermont finished third, while Maine, New Hampshire and Rhode Island followed in fourth, fifth and sixth place.

Connecticut will try to defend its title in 2013 at a state course to be determined.

MacKenzie Hawkes of Madison recorded her third win on the Junior Golf Tour this season, the John D. Wardlaw Memorial Junior Tournament at Indian Hill Country Club in Newington, with a 5-over-par 78, good enough to beat Elizabeth Adrian of Glastonbury by 7.

Mia Landegren shot a 32 on the back nine of her home course, Ridgewood Country Club in Danbury, to take a 4-shot lead after the opening round of the 47th Connecticut State Women's Amateur.
Danielle Lamy of Race Brook CC and Elizabeth DiVincentis of Durham are among five golfers tied for second place at 76. Lisa Fern-Boros of Shelton is tied for 12th place after shooting 82.

How have area golf courses responded to the downturn in the industry?

How have the job requirements of head golf professionals changed?

This and other questions are answered by a number of area people involved in the golf industry. The story ran in Sunday's NH Register, but if you missed your copy, you can check out here the state of the game.

By Joe Morelli, Register Staff
jmorelli@nhregister.com / Twitter: @nhrJoeMorelli

Nick Pahoulis is planning on making the trip to Williamstown, Mass., this week for the New England Junior golf championship.

As the vice president of competitions and team captain for the junior team, Pahoulis has been a fixture at the juniors for the past decade.

But Pahoulis, 67, suffered a stroke near the end of April. He still struggles to walk and maintain his balance and his vision is impaired. Still, it’s important for him to be at Taconic GC to see if Connecticut can win its eighth title in the last 11 years.

“I’ll give the team a pep talk,” Pahoulis said.


To find out which seven players are on the team, including two from the New Haven area, please click here