DeCarlo/Wisniewski Take Home 2025 SDGA Best-Ball Championship

RESULTS

Connor Wisniewski and Doug DeCarlo battled rain and less than ideal conditions for almost all of their 36 holes over the weekend, but that didn’t stop them from combining to shoot a 68 (-4) on the first day of the 2025 SDGA Best-Ball Championship before besting that score by six strokes on day two en route to winning the first championship of the 2025 Syracuse District season. 

Wisniewski and DeCarlo, who are both members of Drumlins CC, were one of four teams to break par at Radisson Greens GC on Saturday to open play while navigating downpours of rain on a course that had already taken on a significant amount of water on Friday. Just one team had played better that day, Andrew Brunozzi (Lakeshore Y&CC) and Johnny Gruninger (Bellevue CC), combining to shoot 67 (-5) to take a one-stroke lead into the second day. 

Jackson Saroney, another Drumlins CC member, and Anthony Maglisco (Pompey Club) sat in solo third after a first-round 69 (-3), setting up a three-horse race heading into the final 18 holes. 

SDGA President Bob Kawa (left) and SDGA Board Member Ken Bodley (right) volunteering at the SDGA Best-Ball

Playing the second round at Shenendoah GC, Wisniewski and DeCarlo rolled in four birdies on the front, including two just before they made the turn on holes 8 and 9, to get to eight-under and overtake first place. 

Saroney and Maglisco had also put up four red numbers, improving to seven-under as they approached the tenth tee box. Brunozzi and Gruninger, on the other hand, shot even-par on their front-nine and watched a one-stroke lead turn into a three-stroke deficit.

The final nine holes quickly became a back-and-forth affair between Wisniewski/DeCarlo and Brunozzi/Gruninger. DeCarlo birdied hole 10, then Saroney answered with his own on hole 11. Wisniewski pushed back with a birdie on hole 12 before Saroney had another answer on hole 13. The teams were still separated by one stroke with five holes to play.

They each parred holes 14 and 15. Then came a very gettable par-4 16th hole; dogleg left measuring at 270 yards. DeCarlo eagled while Brunozzi/Gruninger could only muster a par, giving the Drumlins CC duo a three-stroke lead with two to play. 

DeCarlo, after converting consecutive birdies on 17 and 18 a day earlier, did the same on Sunday to all but seal victory. He and his teammate finished at 14-under overall, putting up a sizzling 62 on Sunday to clear Saroney and Maglisco, who also finished their final two holes with birdies, by three strokes. 

Sunday provided much better scoring conditions despite ongoing rain as 20 teams broke par; 13 of those scores being in the 60s. 

Brunozzi and Gruninger finished in third place at eight-under. Brad Monroe (Onondaga G&CC) and Kevin VandenBerg (Beaver Meadows GC) put together an incredible backdoor fourth-place finish at seven-under. After a disappointing 76 on day one, the duo went nuclear on Sunday with a tournament-low round of 61 (-11); which started with a bogey on the first hole. At six-under, Christopher Quilty (Tuscarora GC) and Steve Arlukiewicz (Beaver Meadows GC) round out the top five.