Patience is definitely a virtue in any golf tournament. Golfers know mistakes will come – it’s a matter of limiting them and taking advantage of the good shots.

Mike Ballo Jr. (pictured, above) said patience will be the key if he ends up winning his first Connecticut Open tournament. He leads the 80th edition of the event after a 2-under-par 68 has him one ahead of three golfers following the opening round Monday at Rolling Hills Country Club.

“If the weather stays like this, it will be a tough golf course,” Ballo Jr. said. “It’s a testament to patience and controlling your emotions. You can’t not make some mistakes. If you can control how far you are hitting it, you can give yourself some uphill putts. Otherwise, it is a total defensive battle.”

Jason Caron, John Flaherty and Brian Gaffney are all tied for second place at 1-under 69.

80th Connecticut Open
(at Rolling Hills CC)
First round
Mike Ballo Jr. (Woodway CC), 68; Jason Caron (Stamford), 69; John Flaherty (TPC River Highlands), 69; Frank Bensel (Norwalk), 70; Zach Zaback (TPC River Highlands), 70; Kyle Gallo (Tallwood CC), 71; Peter Ballo (Woodway CC), 71; Dave Pastore (Oak Hills Park GC), 71; Paul Pastore (EClub of Fairfield County), 71; Ken Green (Ridgewood CC), 71; Jeff Evanier (EClub of New Haven), 71; Max Theodorakis (Ridgewood CC), 71; Evan Grenus (TPC River Highlands), 71; Jason Clark (CC of Farmington), 72; Bobby Gage (Candlewood Valley CC), 72; Glen Boggini (Twin Hills CC), 72; Sam Bernstein (Course at Yale), 72; Kevin Giancola (Canton), 72; Fran Marello (Plymouth), 72.
Other area golfers
Tom Gleeton (Cheshire), 73; Nathan Pereira (New Haven CC), 73; Eric Dietrich (Cheshire), 73; William Street (New Haven CC), 74; Chet Hrostek (Oxford Greens GC), 75; Brian Carlson (Clinton CC), 75; Evan Beirne (New Haven CC), 75; Tim Buczak (Madison CC), 75; Pat Lynch (Laurel View CC), 76; Mike Martin (New Haven), 76; Ben Conroy (Lyman Orchards GC), 77; Jeff DelRosso (Cheshire), 79; George Komoroski (Grassy Hill CC), 80; Jim Hanlon (Farms CC), 80; Jim St. Pierre (Shelton), 81; Rasmey Kong (Course at Yale), 81; Zach Sommers (Oxford Greens GC), 82; Dave Zeid (New Haven CC), 83; Camile Collier (Course at Yale), 84