Seymour Three-Peats in Maine
15 Sep 2021 at 12:23 | Published by: PatPenguin
Top 6 - Sheridan, Tiberio, Seymour, Jones, Goodkowsky, Novicki
Boothbay, Maine – Continuing a hot streak that has already earned him three wins in the northeast United States this summer, Justin Seymour showed what he had for the third year in a row at Dolphin Mini Golf. In 10 rounds, Seymour never scored above a 37 and that consistency on a course where aces are out there but 3’s and 4’s can loom large on some holes, was enough to breakaway from the competition and hold onto a commanding lead through the final round.
The 28th year of the tournament saw 19 putters tee it up for two days on September 11 and 12, an increase over the previous couple of years’ fields. The tournament, which has gone through some format changes over the past few years, was back to a 10 round marathon with 8 on Saturday and 2 on Sunday. With several former winners in the field, it’s always tough to place a favorite on who will pace themselves the best, but Seymour would have been the betting favorite coming off victories in Maryland and Connecticut the previous two weekends.
It looked like it would be a challenge right out of the gate though, as round one saw the lowest scores of the day with 2016 champion Pat Sheridan shooting a 32 and Evan Goodkowsky scoring what would be a tournament-low 31. However, the scores would start to even out as the morning progressed and Seymour’s 37-35-33 was enough to put him on top of the field, a position he would then keep the rest of the tournament. By the end of round six his lead was up to four strokes over Sheridan and it would never shrink the rest of the way.
Thus, the battle was on for the rest of the paying spots. This year the tournament paid down to the 6th position and there was movement up and down the leaderboard. Sheridan would drop from 2nd down to 4th and then 6th by the time the tournament was over, while Caleb Jones and Josh Tiberio made their charge to the top. By the start of the last round, it was pretty certain they would finish two-three in some order and then there were three players – Sheridan, Goodkowsky and Mark “Highlighter” Novicki with a four-way tie for 4th. Behind them chomping at the bit were John O’Leary and Peter Burr but neither of them could sneak into the top six by the end. With a solid combo 34 and 35 in the final two rounds, Novicki would break the tie and grab 4th place with Goodkowsky settling in 5th.
Justin Seymour putting on hole 7 in the night rounds
Seymour would drop his round average by over a stroke from his 2020 win, finishing with a 35.5 average over the 10 rounds. The win captured him $500. He would also win the “first hole-in-one on Bobbin Buoys” prize, which is an annual tradition for the 15th hole given it’s the least aced hole on the course. Goodkowsky would grab an additional $100 as the only competitor to aces 18 during the annual hole-in-one competition after the tournament.
This event also doubles as a fundraiser for the Lee Stoddard Scholarship Fund. In addition to funds raised throughout the year at the course and the connected Ice Cream Hut, $1,250 (~1,058 EUR) was raised for the scholarship. The 2022 running of the event will be held the weekend of September 10-11, 2022 with similar expected buy-in and prize money.
Top 6
Justin Seymour – 355 ($500)
Caleb Jones – 365 ($250)
Josh Tiberio – 366 ($200)
Highlighter Novicki – 368 ($150)
Evan Goodkowsky – 370 ($100)
Pat Sheridan – 371 ($50)
