Rain no obstacle to Open

The Bob DeStefano Open’s namesake (right) congratulates winners Gary Blados and Jenny Suh wi.

Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds. Instead of the postal workers, I felt this line was descriptive of the 68 supporters of the Bob DeStefano Open that played in some of the worst weather to make this event a success.


In an open tournament, anyone can play and as usual we had a few golf pros and many single digit handicappers on board. It all didn’t seem to faze Gary Blados, who after taking a year off from the club came back to prove that he can still play this game. In these conditions, the talented Blados took first place low gross with a 72.


In second place with 73s were Rick Southwick and David Stewart. It was nice to see Rick, who grew up at our club and is not only a seven-time champion but also a course record holder with his 62 back in 1991. Sixty-six year old David Stewart is a past River Bend Country Club champion and this was the 19th year in a row that he has taken the flight from Virginia to play in the BDO.


All alone in fourth place was David Gosiewski, the longtime golf professional from Noyac Golf Club who played in his first BDO in 1977 and won it. That was the first of Dave’s many tournament victories. Scott Bergson is a club champion at the prestigious Congressional Country Club and he finished in fifth place with a 75.


Seventy-two-year-old Bill “Big Cat” Southwick, longtime member of Gardiner’s Bay, came up from Tennessee just to take the low net prize with his 79 for 70. Southwick raised two of the best players to ever come out of GBCC and was always a top contender himself. He was a three-time winner of our Senior Championship while he was a member. Tied with him with a 70 was Bob DeStefano Jr. Bob is not helping his aging father with golf lessons — as a member of GBCC he did not hit a ball all year until Saturday. Bob amazed me when he arrived on the first tee and without even a practice swing laced a drive 260 yards down the middle of the first fairway. 


Gardiner’s Bay’s Kevin Brooks took third place with a 71, defeating Matt Mobius (also 71) in a match of cards. Fifth low net went to Bob Feinstein who shot 76 for 72. Feinstein is also a longtime member of the club, past club champion and the most loyal supporter of this tournament. Bob has always made this tournament a priority in his life.


Jenny Suh, a golf professional on the Futures Tour shot 71 and took first place in the ladies division. This is the second victory in this event by the former Curtis Cup player. After winning her first professional tournament here in 2007 she went on to win the Maryland State Open the next week. Gardiner’s Bay’s Amy Vozeolas took second spot in the gross division with a 91. Sue Loughlan from the Brentwood Golf Club took third place with a 99.


Jane Babinski fired a net 71 to wrap up the first- place prize for the net division. Rainy weather doesn’t seem to stop her since she also won this event in 2007 on a cold and rainy day. New member Valerie Donati took second place with a 74 net, having proven that she is not afraid of rain. When I spoke to these ladies about this they said “it is only water.” Cheri Gosiewski from Noyac Golf Club took third-place money with a 77 and our own Williette Piccozzi wrapped up the fourth position with a net 79.


I would just like to thank all of you for supporting the 48th BDO under these horrible conditions. For those of you who dropped out I want you to know that I fully understand and I might have done the same. See you next year for possibly the final BDO.