Old Lyme – The second day of the 113th Connecticut Amateur Championship turned into golf's version of a limbo contest.

Playing in ideal conditions a day after enduring a soaking rain, golfers tried to see how low they could go at Black Hall Club on Tuesday.

"It's perfect scoring conditions right now," said Bill Hermanson, Black Hall member, after his morning round. "It couldn't get any better than this."

John Flaherty of TPC River Highlands raised the competitive bar with a sizzling 5-under 66 and finished with a two-round total of 140 (74-66) to earn medalist honors and the top seed in match play, which begins Wednesday.

Twenty-one of the 32 qualifiers for match play bettered their scores from the first round.

"The weather definitely saved a lot of shots today," Flaherty said. "(Monday afternoon), it was just rainy and windy all day. It was tough to get anything going. I still hit the ball all right (Monday) but I putted so bad.

"... Today, I hit the ball well and made a lot of putts. With the soft conditions, you could just go right at pins and it was staying right there."

Flaherty, who'll be a senior at UConn this fall, and his three of college golf teammates last season – Zach Zaback, Chris Wiatr and Michael Masso – remain in the running for championship. Zaback, the first-round leader, shot a 142 (69-73) to tie Paul Pastore (72-70) for second and received the third seed. Wiatr was fourth at 143 (73-70) and Masso, who plays out of Lake of Isles in North Stonington, tied for eighth at 147 (78-69) and ended up the 11th seed.

By the time Zaback, the defending champion, teed off in the afternoon, Flaherty already was in the clubhouse after setting an impressive pace, recording eight birdies.

Flaherty started off by shooting even par on the back nine, bogeying 17 and 18. Then he settled into a groove. On the front nine, he birdied four of the first five holes on the way to posting a 5-under 30. His 18-hole total came up one stroke shy of tying Black Hall assistant pro Adam Rainaud's course record in competition.

"After three-putting 18, a lot of putts started to drop," Flaherty said. "It definitely gives me some good confidence. I've been playing well lately, so we'll see how it ends up."

This is Flaherty's fourth Connecticut Amateur. He's finished higher each time, going from reaching the round of 16 in match play, to the quarterfinals and then semifinals last year at Lake of Isles.

A three-time all-state selection for Glastonbury High School, Flaherty has enjoyed success during his young career. As a high school senior, he won the individual title at the Wildcat Invitational and Division I state tournament medalist honors. He was crowned the Connecticut Junior Amateur champion in 2011 and lost in a playoff in the Russell C. Palmer Cup earlier this spring.

Now one of his main roadblocks to his first Connecticut Amateur title is one of his best friends in Zaback, who's from Farmington.

"We've known each other since we were 12," Flaherty said. "We played soccer together and then we played golf together and now we live together."

Flaherty's round of 32 match play opponent is a familiar one. He faces Phil Perry of Black Hall in a rematch of last year's quarterfinals. He scored a hard-fought 1-up win.

Perry needed a remarkable day just to qualify for match play. He rebounded from an 81 on Monday to shoot an even par 71 for a 152, putting him in an eight-way tie for the final spot.

On the first playoff hole, Perry produced the only birdie to stay alive and receive the No. 32 seed.

Hermanson also reached the playoff before falling just short. He got off to a bumpy start on Tuesday with four bogeys and just one birdie in his first nine holes and then settled down, shooting a 75 for a two-round total of 152.

"It's disappointing," Hermanson said. "I just didn't play very well. I made a lot of bogeys from spots where I shouldn't have made bogey from. I just made some mistakes."

Hermanson has played well this spring, recently winning the Connecticut Senior Match play tournament and combining with good friend Dave Szewczul to capture the state's Two-Man Team Championship at Black Hall last month.

"This is a different field," Hermanson said. "This is college kids. Most of these kids are young enough to be my grandson, almost.

"I made it (to match play) a whole bunch of years in a row back in my day. But, as I'm getting older, it's tough because you're playing against college kids. All these kids do is play golf every day. So it's a little tougher to compete with them. I have to play well to compete with them."

Two other Lake of Isles golfers qualified for match play. Steve Chevalier had a terrific second round, firing a 2-under 69 to finish at 150 and receive the No. 25 seed. Nick Torrance fired a 151 (78-73) to make the cut. He's the 27th seed.

g.keefe@theday.com

Twitter: @GavinKeefe