Jonathan Renza, 24, of Cortlandt Manor, NY, captured his second consecutive Brooklyn Open Golf Championship on Monday at Marine Park Golf Course.
Renza, a former four-year player at Rutgers University who now plays various mini tours, carded a 3-over par 75 during severe windy conditions on the 6,923-yard Robert Trent Jones public course. He won by one stroke over Gabriel Lee, 32, and by 2 strokes over Tom Sutter, 60. A field of 17 professionals and 89 amateurs competed in the event.
“The windy conditions made it tough for everyone,” Renza said, who banked $1,280 for his victory. “You had to trust your shot a little more. The tough pin placements inflated the scores.
“This is a great Robert Trent Jones course and the speed of the greens and wind made it very difficult.”
Lee, of Little Neck, NY and the runner-up in the inaugural Brooklyn Open Championship in 2013, was a victim of the wind on two four-putt greens.
Renza said he was happier posting Monday’s 75 with three-club winds whipping through the course than his winning 5-under 67 last year. He made the turn at 2-under 33 before birding the par 5 10th. He suffered a double-bogey 6 on the par-4 11th and finished with four consecutive bogeys.
Michael Auerbach, a 33-year-old attorney from Williamsburg, was low amateur with a 79.
“This was a success,” Michael Giordano, the Marine Park operator, said. “This tournament is becoming a bit of a tradition and we are very pleased with that. The course from tee to green is in the best condition ever and we have course superintendent Jonathan Price to thank for that. The greens were running an 11 on the Stimpmeter and we had strong winds today. That made it challenging.”
Marine Park Golf Course is an 18-hole, par-72 daily fee course open year-round in southern Brooklyn. It was designed in 1964 by Robert Trent Jones, Sr. and boasts panoramic water views, top quality greens and fairways, a manicured driving range, and prevailing winds off Jamaica Bay.