LINCOLN, R.I. – Twenty four teams have been whittled down to just eight after Day 1 of the New England PGA Pro-Pro Match Play Championship at Kirkbrae Country Club on Monday.
After Jeff Martin & Troy Pare, Mike Haas-Zanghi & Brenden Mitchell, Kirk Hanefeld & Greg Farland, and Thomas Tobey & John Hickson snatched the top four qualifying spots and a bye into Tuesday’s quarterfinals in the morning, the final four quarterfinal spots were solidified Monday afternoon.
John Paesani & Greg Yeomans reached the quarterfinal with a 3&1 victory over Christopher Hulme & Scott Hickey in the afternoon. Paesani birdied the ninth hole to go 1-up and carried the momentum into the back nine. The two will take on four-time defending champion Martin & Pare in the quarterfinals.
David Wilson & David Donnellan knocked off Bob Bruso & Alex Hoyos 2&1 to advance. With the match all square through 10 holes, Donnellan birdied the 11th and 12th to go 2UP, and held on for five more holes to advance to face Mitchell & Haas-Zanghi.
“That gave us a little bit of momentum, it gave us a little cushion,” Donnellan said of the back-to-back birdies. “We dodged a couple bullets coming in and we were lucky enough to pull it out.”
Brendon Ray & Jacob Leech went the distance with David Lane & Allan Menne before advancing with a 1-up victory. They were two down through three holes but battled all the way back and eventually took the lead in the match with a birdie on the 14th hole. They will face Hanefeld & Farland in a quarterfinal match on Tuesday morning.
The final match of the afternoon also needed all 18 holes to determine a winner, as Brian Owens & Robert Tramonti advanced after a 1-up victory over Todd Anzlovar & Tom Giffin. The pair will face Tobey & Hickson on Tuesday.
The New England PGA would like to thank Kirkbrae CC and PGA Professional Mike Bradshaw for hosting the three-day tournament along with partners Maui Jim, Precision Pro, ProQuip, Golf Max and the PGA Tour.