CALLICOON – What will be in store this year as 128 golfers hit the links at the Villa Roma Country Club for the 45th Annual Sullivan County Democrat Two-Man Better Ball Golf Tournament?

The Democrat, sponsored by Delaware Engineering, tees off at 8 a.m. this morning as 64 teams qualify to see who will be competing for the title of ‘Democrat Champion.’

The top 16 teams qualify for the Championship Flight while the other 48 teams will compete in six lower flights.

“We are excited to see what this year brings,” Sullivan County Democrat Publisher Fred Stabbert III said. “The calibre of golfer is getting better each and every year, and there are some new names who might make a run for the title.”

Last year, ‘The Democrat’ had two Semenetz’s in the finals – brothers Sean and Gregg Jr. – on opposite sides.

Sean, playing with his long-time partner, Joe Winski, were able to win a tough match against Gregg Jr. and Jared Kubenik, a veteran team who won the title in 2017.

Since 2001, a Semenetz family member has been in the final match 17 of the 25 years. 

Father Gregg Sr. and partner Billy Phillips started things off in 2001 with back-to-back wins, and Gregg Jr. and Sean took over from there.

Overall, the Semenetzes have 13 titles, with Sean leading all golfers with 10 individual victories.

But no one is backing down, especially the 11 other past champions who are in the field, trying to reclaim their title.

Who’s Coming

Of course, last year’s finalists, Gregg Semenetz Jr. and Jared Kubenik, will be teeing it up again, and Kubenik has been playing a lot of golf at the Villa.

There will be fourteen past champions in this year’s Democrat Golf Tourney, who have won a remarkable 48 titles among them. 

Fallsburg players Michael Decker and Michael Scuderi have been in the championship match three of the last four years and ‘The Democrat’ seems to bring out the best in both of their games.

The Democrat OGs – Mitchell Etess and Ken Cohen – will be teeing it up this weekend, trying to repeat their 2021 finals’ appearance.

Etess won the first two Democrat Tournaments ever in ‘82 and ‘83 with his brother Mark. Cohen is the only Democrat player to win in every decade of the tournament – ‘80s, ‘90s, ‘00s, ‘10s and ‘20s – and has 9 titles to his credit.

“They know the course, love competition and can win any match,” Stabbert said. “It’s incredible that two players with this much experience can still compete  and I would not be surprised if they make another championship run.”

Another veteran team is the Dr. Peter Rymer and Barry Winter duo.

Winter has been to the finals six times, winning four, and Rymer is a past winner, too.

Two-time winners Gregg Semenetz Sr. will again be teaming up with Billy Phillips in a duo which has a lot of confidence on the Villa Roma Course.

Liberty is well represented by Kort Wheeler and Walter Herzog, who won it all in 2015 and have been knocking at the door several times in the past couple of years.

Two college golfers, Koltin Pickell (Utica) and Gavin Clarke (Hofstra) will be making their Democrat debut as a team and could be very competitive.

Long-time Democrat player Joe Meyer should also be in the mix for a title run with his new partner, Scott Abkarian, a newcomer to ‘The Democrat.’

Another Meyer family team, John and son Jordan, have also been having a great year on the links, winning several local tourneys. They like to make birdies and the Villa Roma layout agrees with their game.

And speaking of winning, Fallsburg Supervisor Nathan Steingart and his long-time partner, Wayne Pirnos, recently won the Fallsburg Senior Tournament. They both are playing well and had a very good 2025 Democrat showing.

Corey Van Keuren and John Paulsen are also a solid team who could compete for a title.

New This Year

The Democrat Golf Tourney is adding three new wrinkles this year.

“It seems every year ‘The Democrat’ gets a little better,” Stabbert said. “Three of our players called me with ideas about making it a better tourney, and we were all in.”

The first one –a Champions Dinner – was held last night at the Rockland House.

Hosted by last year’s Democrat Champions – Sean Semenetz and Joe Winski – the night included nearly 15 past champions going all the way back to 1982.

“It was a remarkable idea and I’m so happy our champions keep coming back and embracing this event,” Stabbert said. “It’s a real tribute to the two men who started it all – CoachPaul Zintel and my dad, Fred Jr.”

An other idea came from a veteran player who thought it would be appropriate to honor several very important players by naming flights after them.

The new flights will be named for:

• Mark Etess

• Charlie Johnston

• Marvin Newberg

• Paul Zintel

• Marty Passante, and

• Fred Stabbert Jr.

Full coverage of both the Champions Dinner and Flight renaming ceremony will appear in next week’s Democrats.

Also new this year is a Closest to the Pin Challenge, sponsored by Collin Tallman of Tallman Construction.

“Collin asked me if he could get involved with the tourney and he came up with this great idea,” Stabbert said. “Closest to the pin on hole No. 9 on Friday will win a cash prize from Collin.”

Democrat

All-Time Records

Most Victories (as a Team)

9 - Sean Semenetz/Joe Winski

4 - Ken Cohen/Barry Winter

Most Victories (Individual)

10 - Sean Semenetz 

9 - Ken Cohen

8 - Joe Winski 

4 - Barry Winter

3 - Mitchell Etess

3 - Josh Goldstein

Consecutive Victories 

(as a team)

Mark Etess/

Mitchell Etess (1982-83)

Gregg Semenetz Sr. and 

Bill Phillips (2001-2002)

Sean Semenetz/

Joe Winski (2006-2007 • 

2010-2011 • 2020-2022)

Josh Goldstein/

Mike Culclasure (2008-2009)

Michael Decker/

Michael Scuderi (2023-2024)

Most Times in Finals 

(Individual)

15 - Ken Cohen

12 - Sean Semenetz

  9 - Jack Jordan

  9 - Joe Winski

  6 - Kort Wheeler

     - David Solomon

     - Gregg Semenetz Sr.

     - Bill Phillips

     - Barry Winter

  4 - Mitchell Etess

Most Consecutive Finals

3 - Sean Semenetz (2020-22)

Joe Winski (2020-22)

Jack Jordan (1987-89)

     Ben and Maxx Kleiner    (2005-2007)

Ken Cohen (2012-14)

Michael Scuderi (2022-24)

Michael Decker(2022-24)

Lowest Qualifying Scores

(at Villa Roma)

61 - David Powers and 

       Jake Hommel (2019)

63 - Peter Rymer and 

        David Philossoph (1997)

(at Grossinger’s)

65 - Ken Cohen/

         Jack Jordan (1987)

Oldest Champion

56 - Arthur Goldstein (2013)

Youngest Champion

Sean Semenetz (2003)

Family Teams in Finals

1982, 1983 - Mark and 

Mitchell Etess (brothers)

1984 - Walt and Ed Markowski (brothers)

1999 - Gregg Semenetz Sr. and 

Gregg Semenetz, Jr. (father-son)

2013 - Arthur/Josh Goldstein 

          (father-son)

2014 - Bill and Rich Elliott 

           (father-son)

Playoff History

1987 - Cohen-Jordan def. 

Markowski-Howe, 19 holes

1998 - Stock-Murtagh def. 

DuBois-Elliott, 19 holes

2001 - Semenetz-Phillips def. Solomon-Jordan, 21 holes

2009 - Goldstein-Culclasure def. Wheeler-Schmidt, 20 holes

2011 - Semenetz-Winski def. Semenetz-Phillips, 19 holes

2013 - Goldstein-Goldstein def. 

Cohen-Billard, 23 holes

2024 - Decker-Scuderi def. 

Dykstra-Mathis, 19 holes

Sullivan County Democrat History

ChampionsRunner-up

1982 Mark Etess / Mitchell Etess Bob Simons / Doc Mullins

1983Mark Etess / Mitchell EtessTom Drobysh /Glenn Sonnenschein

1984 Ken Cohen / Jimmy Grossinger Jack Jordan / Rich Farquhar

1985 Walt Markowski / Ed Markowski Mitchell Etess / Jerry McDonald

1986 Tom Drobysh / Don Winters Robert Friedman / Charlie Levine

1987 Ken Cohen / Jack Jordan Walt Markowski / Tom Howe

1988 David Solomon / Jack Jordan Tony Arielly / Ricky Morgan

1989 Terry Wolcott / Charles Johnston David Solomon / Jack Jordan

1990 Rad Yaun / Michael Schmidt Ken Cohen / Charlie Levine

1991 Walt Markowski / Tom Howe Charlie Levine / George Rodriguez

1992 Ken Cohen / Barry Winter Eric Williams / Bill Phillips

1993 Kort Wheeler / Robert Friedman David Solomon / Jack Jordan

1994 Ken Cohen / Mitchell Etess Kort Wheeler / Robert Freidman

1995 Walter Herzog / Gerry Garber Ken Cohen / Barry Winter

1996 Dave Philossoph / Peter Rymer David Solomon / Jack Jordan

1997 Ken Cohen / Barry Winter Craig Gordon / Paul Davis

1998 Paul Stock Jr. / Pat Murtagh Chris DuBois / Bill Elliott

1999 Ken Cohen / Barry Winter Gregg Semenetz Sr./Gregg Semenetz Jr.

2000 Chris DuBois / Bill Elliott Craig Gordon / Jeff Gordon

2001 Gregg Semenetz Sr. / Bill Phillips David Solomon / Jack Jordan

2002Gregg Semenetz Sr. / Bill PhillipsDavid Solomon / Jack Jordan

2003 Sean Semenetz / Nick Yaun Michael Goldstein / Pete Gelman

2004 Ken Cohen / Charles Johnston Gregg Semenetz Sr. / Bill Phillips

2005 Ken Cohen / Barry Winter Ben Kleiner / Maxx Kleiner

2006 Sean Semenetz / Joe Winski Ben Kleiner / Maxx Kleiner

2007 Sean Semenetz / Joe Winski Ben Kleiner / Maxx Kleiner

2008Josh Goldstein / Mike CulclasureAlex Etter / A.J. Lee

2009 Josh Goldstein / Mike Culclasure Rich Schmidt / Kort Wheeler

2010 Sean Semenetz / Joe Winski Ken Cohen / Barry Winter

2011 Sean Semenetz / Joe Winski Gregg Semenetz Sr. / Bill Phillips

2012 Ken Cohen / Drew Billard Gregg Semenetz Sr. / Bill Phillips

2013 Josh Goldstein / Arthur Goldstein Ken Cohen / Drew Billard

2014 Rich Elliott / Bill Elliott Ken Cohen / Sean Semenetz

2015 Kort Wheeler / Walter Herzog Drew Billard / Ty DuPuis

2016    Drew Billard/ Ty DuPuis            David Powers/Jake Hommel

2017 Gregg Semenetz Jr./Jared Kubenik    Sean Semenetz/M. Munoz

2018 Sean Semenetz/Joe Winski Walter Herzog/Kort Wheeler

2019 Jake Hommell/David Powers Jared Kubenik/Gregg Semenetz Jr.

2020 Sean Semenetz/Joe Winski Walter Herzog/Kort Wheeler

2021 Sean Semenetz/Joe Winski Ken Cohen/Mitchell Etess

2022 Sean Semenetz/Joe Winski Michael Decker/Michael Scuderi

2023 Michael Decker/Michael Scuderi Mike Cardo/Blake Kilcoin

2024 Michael Decker/Michael Scuderi Sam Dykstra/Eric Mathis

2025 Sean Semenetz/Joe Winski Jared Kubenik/Gregg Semenetz Jr.