CALLICOON — As 128 players – 64 two-man teams – started arriving at the Villa Roma Country Club in Callicoon on Friday for the 40th Annual Sullivan County Dem­ocrat Two-Man Better Ball golf tourney, there was a feeling of anticipation in the air.

Many new faces were joining the tourney and the list of potential contenders for the ‘Democrat’ Championship Title had grown a little longer as young golfers from throughout the region decided to take a crack at winning one of the most competitive golf tournaments in the area.

But after three days of gruel­ing golf in near perfect conditions on a beautifully manicured par-71 layout, it was the veterans who had been in the fight before that rose to the top.

Could Ken Cohen and Mitchell Etess, who both played in the First Annual Sullivan County Democrat Golf Tourney in 1982, catch lightning in a bottle and defeat the young juggernauts – Sean Semenetz and Joe Winski?

After qualifying on Friday with pedestrian 73s, both Cohen and Etess and Semenetz and Winski found themselves as the 12th and 14th seeds respectively of the Championship flight.

Both teams had to claw through their matches on Saturday and Sunday with guts and stamina as they beat higher-seeded teams in each match they played.

But in the end, it would be Sean Semenetz and Joe Winski’s day to shine as they polished their legacy as the winningest team in Sullivan County Democrat Two-Man Better Ball Golf Tournament history with a convincing victory.

The dynamic duo beat past champions Ken Cohen and Mitchell Etess in Sunday’s final, winning in 11 holes to gain their seventh victory as a team.

But Cohen and Etess still had a lot to be proud of, beating three excellent teams to reach the finals.

Road to Sunday afternoon
On Sunday morning Semenetz and Winski defeated the team of Corey Van Keuren and John Paulson, 2 & 1, while Cohen and Etess got the better of the first seeds Tom Roseo and Austin Delbaggio, 5 & 3, to earn their respective spots in the champ­ionship match.

In the tourney finale, Semenetz and Winski jumped out to a two-hole lead over Cohen and Etess with pars on No. 1 and No. 2 and didn’t look back.

Birdies on four, six and eight by Semenetz and Winski made it hard for Cohen and Etess to get back in the match.

Semenetz and Winski led by seven holes after both teams made their way through the front nine. Pars by Semenetz and Winski on 10 and 11 secured another Democrat win by the young guns.

It was their seventh victory as a team, and Semenetz’s eighth overall. That brings him to within one championship win of Cohen, who has the record of most championships in Democrat history at nine.
While Cohen and Etess didn’t get the championship plaques they wanted, the senior team had a great weekend on the greens.

“It’s kind of amazing to be playing in the finals of a tournament I won 40 years ago,” said Etess. “Kenny did most of the work but it was really fun.”

Etess won the first two Sullivan County Democrat Golf Tourneys with his late brother Mark Etess. The two players were a strong team that knew the Big G Grossinger’s layout very well, as it was their home course.
“I think any time we play we have a chance. I used to expect to be in the finals but it’s tough when you’re 58 and 61 [years old respectively],”  Cohen said of him and Mitchell. “The draw was favorable for us by avoiding Sean until the finals. But he’s just too good. He’s been the best player in the field for years. To beat them we would have to play our career best, and him not so well. Today he played well and we didn’t and that’s why you saw the demolition that you did.”

Cohen, who has a couple of senior amateur tournaments coming up, said he was happy with the golf he played on Saturday. He has been friends with Mitchell for decades from their days growing up at Grossinger’s, which Mitchell’s family owned.

Cohen praised Semenetz, calling him one of the best mid-amateur golfers in the Northeast.
Semenetz was equally complimentary of Cohen.

“Kenny and I go way back,” he said. “He taught me a lot about the game of golf and I always appreciate playing with him.”

Being competitive is always a goal of players in the Democrat, but it’s also an event that brings friends together.

Both Cohen and Semenetz referenced how great the weekend is with their respective golf partners and being able to spend some time with them.

As for what has led to the success of the team of Sullivan West alums in the tourney, Semenetz said, “There’s a lot of history and we grew up here.”