GREENFIELD — While there’s plenty of familiar faces left competing in the championship flight of the the 77th Invitational Four-Ball at the Country Club of Greenfield, some younger golfers are trying to make their mark and earn a spot in Sunday’s final round.
Connor Piecuch and Michael Bechard both graduated college this spring — Piecuch from Mercyhurst University and Bechard from Eckerd College — and earned the No. 6 seed in the championship flight after an impressive six-under first round.
Taking on No. 12 Kevin Bagge and Mike Lavalle in the Round of 16 match play, the young duo got hot on the back nine, earning birdies on No. 10, 12, 13 and 14 to pick up the win and moving on to the quarterfinals on Saturday.
“It’s less pressure because a lot of guys have been playing in this for a while,” Piecuch said. “I’m coming up here and seeing if we can make a little bit of noise. My partner is playing well; he’s a par steady guy. I know going out there that he’s going to be there for me.”
It shouldn’t come as a shock Piecuch and Bechard are playing well. Piecuch is the son of CCG pro Kevin Piecuch while Bechard’s dad, Mike Bechard, is the pro at Ludlow Country Club.
Both Piecuch and Bechard played golf at their colleges and are feeling confident heading into Saturday.
“We know we can play with these guys,” Bechard said. “We can make birdies when we have to and make shots when we have to make shots. We’re staying even-keeled throughout the whole round.”
For Piecuch, the success this week has come from having a good time out on the course and not putting too much pressure on themselves.
“At the end of school I took a little time off,” Piecuch said. “I had just been grinding and every time I was playing, it mattered. Now I’m coming out and having fun. Our whole thing was positive vibes only. That’s been our mindset so far and it’ll continue to be that. We have good banter out there. We have no pressure, it’s all fun.”
The duo will face off with No. 4 seed Chris Bourbeau and Justin Dion, who picked up a win over No. 13 Chris Varilly and Steve Jones on Friday.
Former Greenfield resident Ryan Cote, who just graduated from high school down in South Carolina and is attending Clemson in the fall, flew up to compete in the Four-Ball for the third time.
He’s competing with his friend from the Palmetto State, Chris Cervini, and the pair earned the No. 7 seed for match play where they got to face No. 10 seed and 2019 champs David Donoghue and Sam Wolanske.
A big round allowed Cote and Cervini to earn the victory and advance to the quarterfinals.
“I’m really excited,” Cote said. “I’ve been playing this event for years. Getting to show my buddy this experience has been awesome. We played good enough today to get it done.”
Standing in the way of a spot in the semifinals is Dennis and Cody Booska, the No. 2 seed. The Booskas picked up a win over Dave Kennedy and Nate Burdick, the No. 15 seed, on Friday.
Cote is looking forward to getting to play against some of the tournaments top competition.
“I’m excited to play the Booskas,” Cote said. “My family and I know them really well. It should be really fun.”
While it wasn’t the day Jacob Willis and Reece McLeod, the No. 6 seed, hoped to have on the course, they were able to get the job done and move onto the quarterfinals.
McLeod hit a 20 foot putt on No. 2 to get things going and the pair were able to hold on and get a win over Jeff Houle and Rick Wisell, the No. 11 seed.
“We didn’t play really well today,” Willis said. “It was back and forth and a really tight match. The guys we played with were awesome.”
The pair, who graduated from Nichols College in 2021 where they both played on the golf team, enjoy getting to come to Greenfield and compete in the Four-Ball.
“I love this tournament,” McLeod said. “We look forward to it. We’re working now so this is something to look forward to. Hopefully we can pull through tomorrow.”
Getting to the semifinals will require earning a win over 2021 runner-ups Andy Lesenski and Chris Austin, the No. 3 seed. Lesenski and Austin came up with a win over Jason Goodhind and Mark Waskiewicz, the No. 14 seed, on Friday.
“They’re really good,” Willis said. “The guys we’re playing tomorrow are some of the top competition here. We have it in us to get it done.”
The best match of the day came in the 8-9 matchup between Clint McCloud and Justin McCloud and Jamie Crocker and Jason Kelton.
Crocker and Kelton were one-up going into 16 when McCloud sank an eagle to take the lead. Crocker made a par putt on 17 to keep things alive before Kelton birdied 18 to tie things up and force a playoff.
Both pairs parred No. 1 before Kelton sank a birdie on No. 2 to win the round and move on to the quarterfinals.
“It was absolutely awesome having everyone come watch,” Crocker said. “Everyone was done playing. It was great.”
The prize for winning comes via a matchup with the top seed and two-time defending champions Paul DeNofrio and Matt Grayson, who beat Jeff Robidoux and Joe Groth, the No. 16 seed, on Friday.
“It’s a long shot but it’s what you play for,” Kelton said. “We have a shot against the top guys and that’s all you can ask for.”
Willis and McLeod open the day against Lesenski and Austin at 7 a.m. on Saturday. The winner moves on to face the victor of Cody and Dennis Booska and Cote and Cervini, who tee off at 7:08 a.m. The semifinal match between the winners gets underway at 1:52 p.m.
On the other side of the bracket, Piecuch and Bechard take on Bourbeau and Dion at 7:16 a.m. Grayson and Denofrio tee off against Crocker and Kelton at 7:24 a.m. The two winners will then get underway at 2 p.m.
The finals is set for 1:08 p.m. on Sunday.