WOODSTOCK, N.Y. — Patrick Schwartze became the second winner of the Woodstock Open from the historic Saint Andrew’s Golf Club in the past six years when he joined his boss Greg Bisconti in the winner’s circle by canning a 24-foot birdie putt on the second playoff hole to survive a four-man playoff in the rain-delayed tournament on Monday, July 27, at the Woodstock Golf Club.
Bisconti, the head pro at the oldest golf club in America, won the event in 2020 with a 6-under-par 64.
Schwartze said he was proud to represent the Saint Andrew’s Golf Club in Hastings-on-Hudson (founded in 1888) and to take home the top prize of $3,175 in the 91st Woodstock Open, which is recognized as the longest-running golf tournament open to both amateurs and professionals on the same course in the United States. The Woodstock tourney first took place in 1932.
“One of the things when I walk into work at Saint Andrew’s every day is I see one of Greg Bisconti’s pictures in one of the hitting bays at our learning center,” Schwartze said. “It kind of gave me motivation to say, ‘You know what? Let’s get this thing done.’ I’ve been playing in this tournament probably eight or 10 times. So it’s great that I was able to do it.”
Schwartze said he first became aware of the Woodstock Golf Club when he played high school matches at the nine-hole club as a member of Poughkeepsie’s Spackenkill High golf team.
“So I know the golf course really well,” he said. “I only hit two drivers all day on the par-5. I just tried to hit the fairway, hit it on the green and try to make putts throughout the day. I didn’t freak out when I made a bogey. I made two bogeys in the 20 holes I played. I was the last man standing, thankfully.”
Schwartze played four years of collegiate golf at Division II St. Thomas Aquinas College in Rockland County.
“I developed my game there,” he said. “In high school, I wasn’t great. Look where I am now.”
Schwartze was one of four players to shoot 3-under-par 67 in the afternoon wave to qualify for the first playoff at the Woodstock Open since Chris Sanger won the title in 2014 as a Red Hook Golf Club assistant pro by defeating former Woodstock Golf Club head pro Judd Noto and Andrew DeForest in 2014.
Also deadlocked at 67 were Hotel Dylan owner and general manager Daryl Jack, three-time Woodstock Open winner Scott Berliner of the Glens Falls Country Club and Windham Country Club head pro Jesse Muller.
Scott Berliner of the Glen Falls Country Club makes a shot at the Woodstock Open on Monday, July 27, 2026, at the Woodstock Golf Club in Woodstock, N.Y. (Will Barron Photo)
The playoff started on the par-4 first hole and Jack and Muller were eliminated right off the bat. Jack made a bogey after dumping his approach shot into a greenside bunker and Muller three-putted. Schwartze and Berliner both made pars to keep their title hopes alive after missing birdie tries.
On the next playoff hole at the par-3 ninth hole, both men hit the green with their tee shots from 192 yards. Berliner was the first to putt and he gave it a good roll, but missed and went about three feet past the hole. Schwartze calmly rolled in the putt for the win.
Wiltwyck Golf Club’s Bill Collins, who tied for low amateur honors at Woodstock Open, hits a shot on Monday, July 27, 2026, at the Woodstock Golf Club in Woodstock, N.Y. (Will Barron Photo)
“It might have been the best putt I hit all day,” said Schwartze, whose wife, Anna, is also a golf professional and is the director of junior golf at the Westchester Country Club in Rye. “It was right in the middle of the hole.”
Schwartze, who pulled his clubs in a push cart over the relatively flat Woodstock Golf Club layout, said he got it to 3-under on his round when he birdied the par-4 10th hole. In fact, he birdied that hole twice at the picturesque layout.
“Then I kind of stayed in my own lane so to speak and didn’t really worry what everybody else was doing,” he said.
Schwartze missed the green right with his tee shot on his 18th and last hole before the playoff and faced a difficult pitch shot to the pin that was tucked on the right side of the putting surface.
“I short-sided myself and hit an unbelievable flop shot up there to four feet and wiggled that home for a par,” Schwartze said. “I actually thought I was going to lose by one because I thought 66 was the number today, but luckily it wasn’t.”
Schwartze’s victory comes 13 months after identical twin boys Luca and Finley were born to the golfing couple, who reside in Mahopac in Putnam County.
No one could break 70 among the morning tee times with tricky pin placements and firm greens leading to unusually high scores at what has traditionally been a birdie shootout. But the dozen groups that began teeing off at 12:50 p.m. benefited from a heavy rain that shut the tournament down for about an hour early in the afternoon. The soft greens were much more receptive to approach shots after the downpour.
Sanger returned to the Woodstock Open for the first time after taking a job as the head pro at the Red Hook Golf Club after an eight-year stint at the Woodstock Golf Club. The reigning Northeastern New York PGA Section Player of the Year entered the tournament as one of the favorites.
But after making a birdie on the second hole, he blocked back-to-back tee shots to the right on the par-4 third hole and both were about a foot out-of-bounds. He got up and down for a triple bogey on the hole, recovering to shoot an even-par 35 on the front with back-to-back birdies on the fourth and fifth holes.
Three three-putts on the back nine led to a 1-over 36 and a final round of 71 in Sanger’s unsuccessful bid to win his second Woodstock Open and first as the head pro at the Red Hook club.
Jack, whose Hotel Dylan was the sponsor for the Woodstock Open, tied for low senior honors with Berliner.
Wiltwyck Golf Club’s Bill Collins tied with Michael Sporton of Hudson Hills Golf Course in Westchester County, for low amateur as both carded 1-over 71s.
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Scores in the 91st annual Woodstock Open at the par-70 Woodstock Golf Club on Monday, July 27. a-denotes amateur
Patrick Schwartze 33-34-67 (won in playoff)
Scott Berliner 33-34-67
Jesse Muller 35-32-67
Daryl Jack 35-32-67
Dave Fusco 36-33-69
John Stoltz 37-32-69
Joe Bostic 37-33-70
Glen Walden 35-35-70
Ian Wilson 35-35-70
Lucas Cohen 35-35-70
Michael Shine 34-37-71
Bill Collins (a) 34-37-71
Bill Van Orman 38-33-71
Devlin Walsh 35-36-71
Michael Sporton (a) 36-35-71
Chris Sanger 35-36-71
Nick Dilio 37-34-71
Terence Hatch 37-35-72
Juan Weissenberg 38-34-72
Jake Hommel 38-34-72
Brian Williams (a) 33-39-72
Stevie Garofolo (a) 38-35-73
Connor Brown 40-33-73
Jesse Steele 39-34-73
Andrew Daily 38-35-73
Matt Dobyns 37-36-73
Jim McCann 39-34-73
Andrew DeForest 37-36-73
Gabe Carr Harris 38-36-74
James Cornell (a) 37-37-74
Bobby Heins 38-36-74
Zach Staub 38-36-74
Vince Benedetto 37-37-74
Ted Heins 37-38-75
Adam Paddock (a) 38-37-75
Trevor Alexander 35-40-75
Andy Occhi (a) 37-38-75
Jeff Schaller 39-36-75
Spencer Baum 39-38-77
Brandon Kraft (a) 40-37-77
Pat Anglin 36-42-78
Tony DeStefano 40-38-78
Jay Greenbaum (a) 39-40-79
Andrew Gervutavich 39-40-79
Larry Furey 39-40-79
Dave Schmidt 38-41-79
William Hoyt (a) 41-39-80
Drew Youmans (a) 41-39-80
Justin Hearley 44-36-80
Mike Brabham (a) 43-37-80
Phil Feinberg (a) 40-41-81
Andrew Hyatt 41-40-81
Kris Kozlek 43-38-81
Avery Short 43-39-82
Mel Baum 45-38-83
Jarid Khan (a) 43-40-83
Sam Iopace (a) 41-44-85
Ivar Zivris 45-41-86
David Miller 48-46-94
Dal Daily WD
Harvey Bostic Jr. WD
Skip Marini WD
Scott Battiste WD
Nick Teodosio WD
Thomas Strandemo WD
Justin Durchin WD
Chris Chiarappa (a) WD
Brady Short (a) WD
Terence Hughes WD
Chris Drose WD
Robert Spellman (a) WD
Donald Jarvits WD