POTSDAM — Anthony Viskovich got his bad luck out of the way early Saturday morning.
Viskovich, who golfs for the River Course in Louisville, had a flat tire on his way to the Potsdam Town & Country Club for the final day of the Northern New York Golf Association Six-Man Championship.
He was about 15 minutes from the course when it happened and was able to get a ride to the event, which Potsdam won for the first time since 1980.
Heading into the day three strokes off the lead, Viskovich shot a par-72 and edged Potsdam’s Tyler Berkman by one stroke for the individual title.
It was the third individual title for Viskovich, a former Le Moyne College golfer who won in Tupper Lake in 2018, and won in a playoff against Watertown’s Joe Tufo the last time the event was held in Potsdam in 2013.
“It’s kind of coming full circle a little bit,” Viskovich said. “The playoff and stuff like that, how nervous I was in that playoff. I was nervous (Saturday) coming down the stretch, even though I didn’t know where I was. I knew I was probably going to be close. I handled my emotions well.”
Viskovich played the back nine first, picking up a birdie on hole No. 11 and bogeying the 15th. He made par on every hole the rest of the day to finish with 149 strokes over two days.
He led last year’s event at the River Course after one day, only to lose to Chris Felix of Canton’s Partridge Run golf course, and who was the last golfer to finish. Saturday it was Viskovich who was the last golfer to finish.
“Today I was the last person, so I thought about that all day,” Viskovich said. “I tried to keep the ball in front of me. Tried to make pars. Yesterday I had a couple of three-putts that were frustrating. I like this place.” Berkman, only age 16, also parred every hole on the front nine, but had trouble on the back nine. He double-bogeyed 10 and 11, but answered with a birdie on 12. He bogeyed 15 and finished with three pars.
“It was tough,” Tyler Berkman said of waiting for all the scores to come in. “It was pretty nerve-wracking. I was trying to relax but I wasn’t sure. It’s shots I gave up that I would like to have back, but I played well and I had a good weekend for sure. It’s not first place, but I’ll come back strong next year for sure.”
Berkman and his father, Rick, who coaches the SUNY Potsdam men’s lacrosse team, led Potsdam to the title. Tyler Berkman shot a two-day score of 150 while Rick Berkman shot 153. Junior Ian VanWagner also shot 153. Chris Taylor shot 155, Tom Smith 157 and Jim Williams 160 for a team total of 926 strokes.
“It’s exciting,” Rick Berkman said. “I’m proud of our team today. I think we played well. I’m really proud of Ian for winning the junior title and I thought Ty had a great tournament, just lost by a stroke. I’m really happy for our captain (Gasper Sekelj), he did a great job organizing the team, getting the course set up. It was a great tournament.
“I think the difference in our team right now is just our young golfers. Our top six played well. My round was all right. Just like (Friday) I had a couple hiccups. I was proud of the way I played this weekend. I had a fun time and I really enjoyed it.”
Malone, which held a three-shot lead after the first day, shot 22 strokes more than Potsdam on Saturday to finish in second with 945 strokes. Ben Honahan led Malone with a two-day total of 152 strokes.
The River Course finished third with 948 strokes, led by Viskovich.
Partridge Run was fourth with 951 strokes, led by SUNY Canton golfer Adam Szlamczynski at 152 strokes.
■ NOTES: VanWagner won the junior title with a two-day score of 153. Potsdam’s Jim Williams won the super-senior division with a 160 and Carlowden’s Todd Slate won the senior division at 150. ... Former Clarkson men’s hockey player Gasper Sekelj was the tournament director. ... The Six-Man will be played at St. Lawrence University’s course in 2023.
Go to https://bit.ly/3JCufsd for video coverage and interviews of Day 1 of the NNYGA Six-Man Tournament.
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