WALPOLE, Mass. – Two foursomes – Rochester CC and Nonesuch River – shot five-under 66 at Walpole Country Club on Monday to tie for the New England PGA Pro-Senior Invitational title.
A pair of twos helped the Rochester CC foursome, led by Brett Smestad, PGA, shoot 66. The group birdied two of the four par-3s, with deuces on the third and 17th holes. The birdie on the 17th capped a run of three birdies in a four-hole stretch to give the foursome six birdies for the day, offset by just one hiccup.
The Nonesuch River team turned in a similar scorecard to match Rochester CC’s 66. The foursome birdied the same par-3s and carded six birdies with just one bogey.
Four teams shot 3-under 68 in the gross competition on Monday to tie for third, including the foursome from host Walpole CC led by Tom Giffin, PGA. Belmont CC, led by John Fields, PGA, Bass Rocks GC (Todd Scarafoni, PGA) and Nabnasset Lake CC (Dan Gillis, PGA) also shot 68.
Nonesuch River claimed the net competition with a net 14-under 57. A net eagle on the opening hole sparked a blazing start, as the foursome was 8-under through eight holes, before cooling off, relatively, by playing the final 10 holes 6-under. Cyprian Keyes, led by Rick Durocher, followed a net-30 on the front with a net-29 on the back to post 12-under 59 to finish second. The group had an eagle on each side, including one on the par-5 12th that was surrounded by three birdies in each direction for an 8-under par seven-hole stretch.
Scarafoni and Gillis each shot 2-over 73 to tie atop the individual pro leaderboard. Scarafoni made 14 pars and added a birdie on the par-5 15th, and was one-over on each side. Gillis, meanwhile, birdied the first and fifth holes to get to 2-under, and scattered four bogeys over his final 13 holes to shoot 73.
Walpole CC was a fantastic host of one of the year’s most popular tournaments, thanks to the work of host PGA Professional Tom Giffin and the entire Walpole CC staff. The NEPGA would also like to thank partners Mohegan Sun and Lincoln. The Lincoln Motor Co. raffled off a $500 pro shop gift card to one lucky winner, and decorated the first tee with two 2019 Lincoln Nautilus’.