Headline: First-time Professional Greg Reilly Posts Stellar Final Round to Win 2016 Cape Cod Open Title By One Stroke at Hyannis GC
For Immediate Release: June 2, 2016
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| Greg Reilly captured the Cape Cod Open title at Olde Barnstable Fairgrounds and Hyannis GC. |
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Norton, MA — Boasting a field of top amateur and professionals, the 2016 Cape Cod Open was held last week at Olde Barnstable GC and Hyannis GC and a new champion was crowned.
Greg Reilly (CC of Darien - CT) - a former Eckerd College standout was playing as a professional in the event for the first time - carded a final-round score of 7-under-par 64 at Hyannis Golf Club to capture the 2016 title.
He finished just one stroke ahead of Bay State native Michael Carbone (Brewster, MA) and two shots better than six-time Massachusetts Open Champion Geoff Sisk (Marshfield CC).
Although a pro-dominated event, the top four amateur finishers in the event receive points as part of the Richard D. Haskell MGA Player of the Year System.
Amateurs receiving points this year were: Ryan Tombs (Manchester CC); Jared Pane (Olde Barnstable Frgd), Jordan Burke (Needham GC); and Thomas Cook (Dennis Pines GC).
CLICK HERE for final results or see below for a story about the final round, courtesty of longtime golf writer Geoff Converse and the Cape Cod Times.
Cape Cod Times
Posted June 2, 2016
By Geoff Converse
HYANNIS – When Mike Carbone of Brewster finished the final hole of Thursday’s 25th annual Cape Cod Open, it appeared that the 35-year old had finally captured the one championship he desired the most.
But then a funny thing happened on the way to the winner’s circle.
First-year pro Greg Reilly of New Canaan, Connecticut came out of nowhere and posted a final-round, 7-under-par 64 at Hyannis Golf Club to finish at 7-under 206 and rain on Carbone’s victory dance, and once again send the Cape Cod pro into a runner-up role by one shot.
Carbone went out in the afternoon round with defending champion and five-time CCO winner Geoff Sisk. It looked as if the two veterans of many New England tournaments were going to be battling in a shot-for-shot match for the title.
As the two shot-makers went back and forth, swapping what most everyone thought was the tournament lead, Reilly was quietly creeping up the leaderboard.
After he opened the final round with three pars, Reilly proceeded to rip off five birdies on the next seven holes.
“I thought I needed to shoot a 61 or a 62 to have any chance of winning,” the 24-year-old said. “I had no idea I was in contention.”
The morning round at Hyannis GC was the first time the pro, playing out of the Country Club of Darien, had seen the 6,300-yard layout. It had him stymied for most of the round.
“It’s a tight layout so I found myself guiding the ball instead of swinging the club," Reilly said. “I was fortunate that the pins were the same this afternoon. I drove the ball well in the second round and made just enough putts.”
The victory was the first as a professional for Reilly, whose previous biggest win was as an amateur in the Courville Memorial in Connecticut. Yesterday's triumph earned him the graduate of Eckerd College in Florida the Frank McKay Trophy, an exemption into the Massachusetts. Open and 6,000.
As for Carbone, it was déjà vu.
The same thing happened to the Dennis Pines player in 2011 when that year’s winner, another relative unknown, Mark Stevens of New Hampshire, shot a final-round 65 to deny Carbone a win by a single shot.
“I was out practicing on the putting green in case there was a playoff,” Carbone said of yesterday's frustrating setback. “It sounds strange, but I half expected someone to come out and tell me that I lost. It’s getting to be that kind of finish for me at this tournament.
“When you want to win something as badly as I want to win the Cape Cod Open, and to have this happen again, it’s incredibly disappointing,” Carbone added. “At this moment, I don’t care about winning the other area tournaments. This is the one I have always wanted. This is the fourth time I’ve been the runner-up. But I’m planning on coming back as long as they’ll have me. I didn’t lose the tournament, he (Reilly) won it with a great final round.
“I just hope somewhere in the future my name goes down as a winner of the Cape Cod Open,” said Carbone.
Carbone ended the tournament at 6-under-par 207 while Sisk was tied for third at 208 with Nick Antonelli of North Andover and last year’s runner-up to Sisk in a three-hole playoff, Jesse Larson of Rutland, Vermont.
If there was any consolation for Carbone, it was winning his sixth Gary Philbrick Trophy given to the low score by a Cape Cod pro.
“I’m happy to finish where I did,” Sisk said of his third-place finish. “I had a great stretch (three straight holes on Nos. 3, 4 and 5), and then I would have no idea where the ball was going. I needed to play better golf if I had any hope of winning.”
The low amateur was Ryan Tombs of Manchester, N.H., nephew of former LPGA Tour player Tina Tombs. The 21-year-old senior at Bryant College shot 2-over-par 215, one shot better than Olde Barnstable Fairgrounds member Jared Pane. Tombs was awarded the Guy Tedesco Bowl for his win.
“I didn’t get in until the last minute, but I’m certainly glad I did,” Tombs said. “I had a really good round this morning, but I stumbled coming in. I ended up shooting 1-under, but this afternoon I was up and down all day. I had five birdies, six pars, six bogies and a double.”
Pane pinned the blame on finishing one back of Tombs on his inconsistent putting.
“I hit the ball really well,” Pane said. “But I had a stretch where I three-putted five straight holes. You can’t do that and expect to win anything.”
