Trio Crowned Champs at The Farrell
GREENWICH, Conn. (October 2, 2022) – The Farrell has its three inaugural champions following the final two rounds of matches on Sunday, with Brad Tilley of Sleepy Hollow, Catherine McEvoy of Innis Arden and Ed Gibstein of Glen Head winning their respective Men’s Mid-Amateur, Women’s Mid-Amateur and Senior division titles at The Stanwich Club.
Related: Final Brackets | Photos
Even with gusty conditions throughout the championship day, the victors kept their games as impressive as they had been all week, with Tilley’s performance standing out thanks to a bogey-free day over 29 holes of play.
The now four-time champion this season—Mittlemark Invitational, Westchester Open, Met Amateur and Farrell—defeated Matt Lowe of Bethpage by a 4-and-3 margin in the morning before taking down Darin Goldstein of Deepdale, 6-and-4.
“I pride myself in being a good wind player, but I hit it great all day today and obviously made the putts that mattered,” said Tilley, who put the exclamation point on his victory by draining a nearly 50-foot putt for eagle on the par-5 14th. The eagle moved him to an incredible 6-under through the 14 holes and pushed his tally for the day to 10-under.
“In match play you have to make a lot of key putts and I was really solid inside of 10 feet all week and then started making some outside of 10 feet as the matches progressed,” said Tilley on his keys for the week.
Meanwhile, Friday’s co-medalist McEvoy continued her way through the stellar women’s bracket, defeating 2019 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur champion Ina Kim-Schaad of Deepdale, 3 and 1, before clinching the title with a 3-and-2 victory over Chaithra Katamneni of Midland Country Club (Mich.).
“I made a few bogeys to start, but was able to get a few holes back toward the end of the front nine, so I felt really good going to the back nine,” said the Greenwich, Conn., native and Michigan State graduate. “We were going back-and-forth at some points, but I knew with the conditions and the wind that making pars were going to be good enough, so that was just my goal.”
McEvoy fell into a two-hole deficit early, but consecutive wins on Nos. 7-9 quickly flipped the match in her favor. Katamneni quickly returned the match to tied with a birdie on the par-4 10th, but McEvoy closed the door down the stretch by winning Nos. 12, 14 and 15, thanks to continued strong putting.
“I putted very well this weekend and I would say putting is one of my strengths,” she remarked. “The greens were quite fast, so I just tried to play it safe sometimes in areas you couldn’t be as aggressive, but I definitely made some good key putts out there.”
While Gibstein’s run to the title started by squeaking into the bracket from a 4-for-3 playoff, he tuned his game as the event progressed. He even swapped out his driver for the final day of competition.
“I drove the ball adequately yesterday and I actually switched drivers today and drove the ball substantially better than I did Friday or yesterday and I think that certainly helped,” he reported.
Gibstein defeated Stanwich’s Kurtis Babczenko, 5 and 3, in the morning before edging Pat Pierson of New York Country Club, 2 up, in the back-and-forth title match.
Only six holes were tied over the 18-hole match. While Gibstein carried a 1-up lead into the final nine, Pierson won Nos. 11-12 regain the lead. Gibstein quickly bounced back though, winning Nos. 13, 15 and 16 to grab a two-hole lead. A Pierson birdie pushed the match to 18, but a deft touch on a chip from below the right of the 18th green earned Gibstein the win after Pierson’s par look spun around the cup.
For all three winners, the honor of claiming The Farrell in its first-ever playing made the victory that much sweeter.
“I’m really pleased to win,” said Gibstein. “It’s the inaugural, so your name is in that very first line, which is a cool thing. I think the fields are going to get stronger and stronger. To win the tournament is very exciting for me and very special.”
“It’s an absolute honor to be able to win this in the first year in honor of Mr. Farrell,” said McEvoy. “Stanwich Club and the MGA coming together to put this event together was fantastic.”
“To be the first champion is a huge honor,” said Tilley. “I’m really proud and honored to have done it.”
The Farrell family has long been synonymous with golf in the Met Area. Billy was one of five children and grew up in in New Jersey; his father Johnny, the 1928 U.S. Open champion, was the Head Professional at Baltusrol Golf Club. While competing on tour, where he played in eight U.S. Opens and seven PGA Championships, Billy also worked as an assistant at Baltusrol. Billy and his wife Alvera had seven children; for 20 years, his son Bobby served as the Director of Golf at Tamarack Country Club in Greenwich, Conn. The Farrells were named Golf Family of the Year in 1966 by the Metropolitan Golf Writers Association.
Stanwich hosted the U.S. Mid-Amateur in 2002 and is especially known for its fast, true greens. In the years since, the Club has welcomed the Palmer Cup and Wyndham Cup. It stands among 19 Met Area clubs that have hosted all three MGA majors—the Ike, Amateur and Open—hosting the Met Open in 1972 and 1996, the Ike in 1989 and the Met Amateur in 2004 and 2013.