Much in the way the United States dominated on home soil at Whistling Straits last weekend to reclaim the Ryder Cup, the area’s own version of the event, the Franklin Cup, has been well defended on familiar turf.
The Franklin Cup returns this weekend for its 22nd edition, and this year’s event will be hosted by Crumpin-Fox Club in Bernardston. Saturday Four-Ball and Foursome (alternate shot) action will be followed by Sunday singles matches, and visiting Country Club of Greenfield will look to repeat as winners after a 17-7 victory when the event was played in Greenfield a year ago.
CCG leads the all-time series with a 12-8-1 record, the lone tie coming in 2013 when Greenfield managed to retain the Cup on enemy turf. Since then, CFC has held serve at home, winning the 2015 edition (16-8) as well as 2017 (14-10) and 2019 (12½-11½).
It’s an event that has featured some of the best amateur golfers in Franklin County, and this year’s teams boast no shortage of talent and experience. Let’s take a closer look:
Club champion Michael Mertes was slated to be the team captain but couldn’t participate, leaving new skipper Keith Burch in charge of a squad looking to rebound from last year’s lopsided defeat. Playing at home should help, and the Foxes have a plethora of veterans at their disposal to send out and push the envelope.
Experienced golfers should be in the thick of things for CFC. Tom Bergeron has the second-most points in club history in this event after posting a career 17-14-6 mark, while Burch has amassed the third-most points for the host club and sits with an impressive 16-11-3 all-time record.
Mark Waskiewicz has the best winning percentage on the CFC team, sporting a 15-7-2 lifetime record including a 6-2 mark in Four-Ball matches. Dave Donoghue is 4-3-2 as a CFC member and also went 5-7 during a stint playing for CCG. Justin Dion (9-9-2), Chris Stoddard (5-7-3), Brett Barnes (5-4) and Cam Merrigan (1-4-1) are other CFC team members with Franklin Cup experience, while a trio of rookies in Nick Stern, John Parsons, Tim Crowley and Seth Rosen will look to make solid first impressions when they tackle the course this weekend.
Andy Lesenski returns to the captain’s seat for his second consecutive year after guiding CCG to the convincing 2020 title.
Lesenski, who repeated as club champion this summer, enters with a sterling 8-2 record in the Franklin Cup as a CCG member. All told, he’s 14-5 in the competition after competing for a few years with Crumpin-Fox, and he was a perfect 3-0 in last year’s competition.
There are many familiar names and faces representing CCG, including the highest-scoring player to ever compete in the Franklin Cup. That would be Dave Kennedy, who enters this weekend with a 31-19-7 all-time mark, amassing the most points in event history.
Right behind is teammate KC Finley, who has perhaps the most impressive match play record in the event at 32-13-2. Finley was also 3-0 in last year’s competition, and he’s dominated during Sunday singles matches with a 13-4-1 all-time mark.
Nate Burdick has recorded the third-most points all time for CCG (29-19-3), and he’s once again on this year’s roster looking to utilize his veteran expertise.
Jason Kelton (9-8-1), Chris Bourbeau (7-6-2) and Wil Conant (6-9-3) are other Franklin Cup vets on the club, while Jake Willis has never lost a Cup match on the strength of a 6-0-3 all-time record. Willis was 3-0 a year ago, as well.
Scott Cote (1-8-1), Ryan Cote (1-2) and Jamie Crocker (3-2-1) keep the veteran theme rolling for CCG, while lone rookie Chris Robbins subs into the lineup for Gunnar Moore, who has to skip the weekend due to an ankle injury.