Derrick Scenna wins 62nd Pre-Senior Championship
September 1, 2020 - When Derrick Scenna of Deal found out he’d be paired for the final round of the NJSGA 62nd Pre-Senior Championship at the Maplewood Country Club with old friend Gregg Angelillo of Baltusrol, he couldn’t have been more pleased.
Scenna and Angelillo go back some 30 years as golf buddies, dating back to their college days when Scenna competed for Fairfield University and Angelillo for Central Connecticut State.
Heading into the final 18 holes of the 36-hole Pre-Senior, both players were one stroke out of first place at even-par 71, trailing only Daniel Tripp of Black Oak, who shot 70 on Monday. When Tripp couldn’t play due on Tuesday to personal reasons, it left Scenna, Angelillo and KJ Kim of NJSGA eClub - North in a three-way tie for first place.
“All I knew was that I was playing with Gregg, and that was a great pairing for me. It was a nice casual round and we were rooting for one another,” said Scenna, whose two-under-par 69 - the low round of the event - carried him to the Pre-Senior Championship at 71-69-140, winning by three shots over 2018 champion Angelillo (71-72-143). Kim was third at 71-73-144. Jim Dufficy of Hominy Hill and Mark Stankewicz of Neshanic Valley tied for fourth at 146.
“I didn’t make any mistakes. I drove it well again today,” said Scenna, a six-time club champion at Deal and the winner of the 2014 NJSGA Tournament of Club Champions. “I had a good plan. I hit each approach shot to where I wanted to place it.”
Scenna’s scorecard had no blemishes, while he fashioned a pair of birdies. The first came at the short par-4 third hole, when his pitch shot from 40 yards ended six feet from the cup. The second birdie punctuated the victory. His eight iron from 152 yards on the par-4 17th hole rolled to within a foot of the hole for a kick-in birdie.
“I haven’t played here in over 20 years. There were some really hard pin placements out there. I felt I could go at a lot of flags and when I didn’t, it left me with a 30-to-35-footer and I managed to two-putt all of them,” said Scenna, 50, the current president of Deal Golf and Country Club. He did register par saves on the par-4 12th hole and the par-5 15th hole, each time chipping close.
He said he had extra incentive with his 15-year-old son Patrick, a Spring Lake Golf Club caddie, on the bag.
“This was Patrick’s first time caddying for me in a tournament and he did great with his feel for the greens. He’d look at my line and say yes or no. We agreed on each of them. I should listen to him more often,” kidded Scenna, a resident of Wall Township who is the co-owner of a title insurance company.
“Winning this has meaning for me. I’m 50 years old and still competing at a championship level,” said Scenna, who qualified for the U.S. Four-Ball Championship this year with Rob Luethold of Deal, only to have his first USGA appearance wiped out.
“It’s great to win this with my son on the bag. I was able to show him his old man can still play a little golf. “
