Sean Bosdosh captures his 2nd Maryland Open Championship at Bulle Rock
Sean Bosdosh, a professional playing from Holly Hills Country Club, wrapped up the 95th Maryland Open during the opening nine holes of the final round at Bulle Rock Golf Club in Havre de Grace, July 13. The only thing that kept him from adding a bow ribbon was a pair of back-nine double-bogeys when the issue was no longer in doubt.
Bosdosh, 24, who also won in 2012 at Old South CC, ended with a 3-under-par 69-203 to finish with a record-tying mark of 13 under par after opening 69-65 on the 7,056-yard course that played to a par of 72. He started the day with a two-stroke lead on pro Connor Tendall, from Potomac, but after a five-birdie spree (while Tendall played the holes in 2 under) that included successive birds at Nos. 7-8-9, the gap was five,
Bosdosh later admitted to making a big mistake when he hit driver at the fraught-with-peril 529-yard 15th and the result was a “double,” However, Tendall could not take advantage, as he bogeyed 15 and doubled 16 en route to finishing 71-207. The margin of victory was the widest since the last time this event was at Bulle Rock. In 2002, Chip Sullivan won with 209 to 214 for Wayne DeFrancesco and they were the only ones to finish under par.
A day-long threat of rain materialized as the leaders were on the 18th hole and the rain and a loss of focus contributed to Bosdosh ending with another “double,” but, as he said, “I didn’t care. It wasn’t going to matter.”
The top two were followed by three others who were under par. Charlie Winegardner, a pro playing from Old South CC, and playing in the first group, returned an 8-under-par 64 for a 54-hole total of 213; Davis Lamb, from Columbia CC earned the Harry Pitt Trophy as the low amateur with 66-214, and amateur Mark Cusic, Breton Bay Y&CC, had 73-215. Winegardner’s round (35-29), which matched the tournament’s low for a final round, included an eagle-2 at the 387-yard 16th, where he drove the green and from the back to a front hole location, dropped a 50-foot putt. Lamb, 19, from Congressional CC, had three birdies on each side. He will be a freshman at Notre Dame in the fall.
Aside from Bosdosh, Winegardner, and Lamb, there were two others in the 60’s among the 42 players: Matt Sughrue, an amateur from Bethesda CC, with four back-nine birdies to conclude a 67-216, and Brad Miller, a pro from Timonium, who finished third overall with 68-208.
Notes: Bosdosh is the first pro to win the title since David Hutsell, a teaching pro at Woodholme CC, won in 2011 with a closing 65-207 at Maryland Golf & CC. . .The champion’s 203 total has been bettered only four times in tournament history — by pro Bob Boyd in 1990 at Bretton Woods, 197; Denny McCarthy an amateur from Argyle CC, 200 at the CC Maryland in 2013; Rick Schuller, a pro from Petersburg, Va., 201 at CC Maryland in 2013, and McCarthy, 202 at Manor CC in 2010. . .Next year’s championship will be held at Woodholme CC in suburban Baltimore, followed in 2018 by Fountain Head CC in Hagerstown, and in 2019 at Worthington Manor GC in Urbana.
Reported by John Stewart at Bulle Rock Golf Course
