BOYLSTON, Mass. – The New England PGA Section hosted the 2024 Pro-Pro Stroke Play Championship on Monday, July 15th at The Haven Country Club. What was originally scheduled to be a 36-hole Championship event was cut down to an 18-hole (1BB of 2 Gross) Stroke Play event following a lightning delay and a forbidding storm. 89 Professionals came out to compete in Pro-Pro teams and Rich Berberian, Jr., PGA (Vesper CC) and Matt Arvanitis, PGA (SNHU) were an unmatched duo as they claimed first place at 9-under, 63, through the 18 holes.
Tom Mackey, PGA (Ekwanok CC) and Pete Weatherby, PGA (Manchester CC) took home 2nd place, just one stroke behind the leaders at 8-under, 64. Zack Sweet, PGA (Cape Cod National) and Gregg Richbourg, PGA (Cape Cod National) rounded out the top three at 7-under, 65.
Berberian and Arvanitis teed off from the first hole at 7:40 a.m. They had a strong start with a birdie on the par-4 1st hole followed by an eagle on the par-5 2nd hole. Four more birdies on the front of the scorecard put the duo at an impressive 7-under at the turn. Birdies on the par-5 14th hole and par-3 17th hole sealed the victory as Arvanitis and Berberian finished at 9-under overall.
“The front nine is what we needed,” said Berberian. “We got to seven under and made a great eagle on number 2…we left a few out there on the back nine but other than that we played really well”.
Mackey and Weatherby also kicked the round off from the first tee. Four birdies and one bogey on the front put them at 3-under, 33 through nine. Four consecutive birdies on holes 10-13, followed by an eagle on the par-5 14th hole lifted them to a final 8-under, 64, for solo second place.
Sweet and Richbourg were the last team to tee off the first hole in the morning. They made the turn at 1-under and went on to birdie six of the final nine holes to finish at 7-under overall for third place.
All but two groups teed off for the second round before the horn blew for the first lightning delay at 2:30 p.m. The teams were able to return to the course at 3:30 before another alarm brought them in and the event was moved to an 18-hole final.
Thank you to the entire Haven Country Club staff for hosting the Pro-Pro Stroke Play Championship.
Thank you to our partners: Turtleson Apparel, Mizuno, Pinned Golf, Evolve Golf, and the PGA TOUR