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As a past champion, Frank Bensel, of course, loves to compete in the Connecticut Open.But because the 77th championship was to be played at one of his favorite courses, the A. W. Tillinghast-designed Brooklawn Country Club, the field was in trouble. Wednesday, Bensel carded a 2-under-par 69 to win his second title with a 54-hole score of 8-under 205. Tom McCarthy (66—207) and Daniel Balin (68—207) tied for second. Dave Szewczul was fourth (70—208).Bensel, the 2009 champion from Danbury, said working a few years ago an assistant pro at another Tillinghast-designed course, Winged Foot (N.Y.) GC, made playing Brooklawn CC a joy."Lots of similarities," he said of the two courses.


You really have to position the ball in the fairway and position it on the greens … I really enjoy it."Especially Wednesday, when he earned the $10,000 first-prize check.After birdieing the first hole, Bensel, who entered the final round with a two-shot advantage over Jack McConachie and Szewczul, made a deft chip for birdie at the par-4 fourth.McConachie (Pine Valley CC-Southington) made bogey from almost the same spot in front of the green. After he three-putted for bogey at the par-3 fifth, he didn't post a serious challen

ge to Bensel. McConachie finished fifth with a 72 (—210).McCarthy, of Tolland, vaulted up the leaderboard with seven one-putts and 11 putts overall on the front nin


e. He birdied Nos. 3, 5, 6 and 8. His lone bogey was at No. 4. He was 4-under and just four strokes behind Bensel at the turn.McCarthy, who earned $750 in merchandise credit at Brooklawn CC for being the low amateur, then made birdies at 11, 12 and 13. He finished 6-under, two shots behind Bensel. McCarthy's 66 was the lowest score in the final round.Switching from a cross-handed grip to a conventional one last week was a key for him. "The first couple of days [at the Connecticut Open], I was close, but not quite," said McCarthy, a recent Yale graduate.Then Wednesday, every putt he hit seemed to roll in. He wanted one more birdie to post an 8-under 205 score.That never happened. He left a 20-footer just off the edge for birdie at 17. A drive into a fairway bunker on the final hole left him with a fried-egg lie. He could only hack out a wedge and then hit an iron to the green. He missed a 20-footer for par and made bogey. Balin, playing in the next to the last group with Szewczul, also got to 7-under with four birdies in his first 13 holes. But a bogey at the par-3 15th dropped him back."On the back nine, I kind of knew I had to make some birdies," said Balin, the 2010 Met PGA Player of the Year from Greenwich who earned $5,000 as the second low pro. " … I just missed birdie putts on 17 and 18. That kind of spoiled the day a little."Szewczul (Tunxis Plantation GC) was seeking his first Connecticut Open championship on the same course where he won the 1978 state amateur. Birdies at 12 and 13 Wednesday put him two shots behind Bensel.But Szewczul just missed birdie putts of 15 feet at 15 and 12 at the next hole. A bogey at 18 came after he pushed his approach shot into a green-side bunker. "All in all a great tournament, I can't complain," he said.

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