Scenna, Totland Win At Tournament Of Club Champions

Derrick Scenna of Deal fired a 1-under-par 71 and Nicole Totland of Hollywood recorded the second hole-in-one of her young career, and both were crowned winners at the NJSGA Tournament of Club Champions on Wednesday, October 1, at Plainfield Country Club in Edison.

The fields included 54 men and 23 women vying for separate championships

Scenna, a six-time club champion at Deal, set a course record of 64 at Deal in June and Wednesday improved upon his fourth-place finish at the 2008 TOCC at Hackensack.

Scenna’s 71 was three shots better than runner-up Dan Chernofsky of Hyatt Hills and four shots clear of both Jack Skirkanich of Rumson and Troy Vannucci of Little Mill.

Totland, following in the footsteps of her sister Taylor, this summer’s Women’s Amateur champion and the 2012 TOCC champion, carded an 8-over-par 81. Katie Renoff of Trump National in Bedminster and Fran Gacos of Copper Hill both shot 84 followed by Maura Ballard of Raritan Valley with an 85.

MEN'S SCORING WOMEN'S SCORING PHOTO GALLERY

“I’ve played here five times and today got off to a good start with birdies on my first two holes,“ said Scenna, 44, a native of Massachusetts who owns a title insurance company in Wall, where he resides.

“I made some early putts and that built my confidence. I’ve played in five or six State Opens and five State Amateurs, and made the cut several times in the Mid-Amateur.

“But I’m very happy to win my first state event. I played even par on my front nine, but one under on the back thanks to birdies on the 15th and 16th holes. It’s just a great course. I always look forward to playing here,” said Scenna, who was a member of the golf team at Fairfield University.

Totland is a junior at Red Bank Catholic. She aced the par-3, 121-yard 11th hole with a choke down 8-iron.

“I hit it pure. I couldn’t have hit it better. It kept drawing in,” said Totland, whose other ace came at age 11 at Trump National in Colts Neck.

“It kept rolling left to right, and I saw it out of the corner of my eye. When my mother screamed, I knew it was in.”

This spring, Totland won the Shore Conference Tournament and was named Shore Conference Player of the Year.

Her sister, Taylor, a sophomore at Furman, on Sept 23 won the Lady Paladins Invitational at Furman’s home course with a three-round total of 209, the best 54-hole score in tournament history. Furman is now ranked 13th nationally.

“It means a lot to me to win this, something my sister won. I would love to follow in her footsteps, although I want to follow my own path,” Nicole stated.

“It means the world to me to win here. It’s an honor to be playing here where all the pros play in The Barclays. It’s so challenging. I really loved the fairways, the layout. Everything comes together here. Every hole was different and I enjoyed that.”

Participant Ned Steiner of Mountain Ridge won another club championship this year, an amazing 48 years after he won his first club championship at the West Caldwell course.