The fall season still offers compelling golf, and the 26th annual Franklin Cup is set for next weekend at Crumpin-Fox Club.
The annual Ryder Cup-style tournament pits CFC against the Country Club of Greenfield, in an alternating-site weekend full of match play golf. A year ago, CCG cruised to a 17-7 victory in Greenfield, and now the event shifts to Bernardston where Crumpin-Fox aims to reclaim the trophy for the first time since 2023.
Home course advantage has played a big part in the Franklin Cup, and CFC has fared well in Bernardston to the tune of a 9-2-1 all-time record.
CCG leads the all-time series 15-9-1, including wins in four of the last five tournaments.
Andy Lesenski will once again serve as captain for CCG, and it’ll be his 12th overall appearance in the Franklin Cup (ninth as a member of Team CCG). Lesenski, the reigning club champion at CCG, has amassed a 21-9-1 record as a Cup competitor, including a 2-1 mark last year.
Lesenski has a mix of veterans and youngsters at his disposal this time around. Stalwarts like Dave Kennedy (26th appearance), Nate Burdick (22nd), Jason Kelton (11th), Wil Conant (11th) and Chris Bourbeau (9th) will look to use their experience to help CCG lift the trophy on the road.
Mike Archer (3rd appearance), Justin McCloud (3rd), Brady Booska (2nd) and Anthony Laurenitis (2nd) all have some Franklin Cup experience, and they’ll be joined by a pair of rookies in Matt Bardsley and Alex Towne. Archer and Booska both went 3-0 in last year’s event.
Franklin Cup veteran Mark Waskiewicz will make his 13th appearance for CFC, and he’s penciled in as team captain for the hosts.
Waskiewicz was 2-0-1 last year for the Foxes, putting his all-time record at a sterling 25-8-3.
CFC also boasts vets Keith Burch (16th appearance, 24-14-4 record), Dave Donoghue (12th) and Chris Stoddard (10th), though the home club has four rookies on its squad who will make their Franklin Cup debuts next weekend. Burch won all three of his matches in the 2023 event, the last time it was contested at CFC.
Ryan Cetto, Andrew Phile, Nate Walker and Torsten Nelson are all new to the event, while CFC welcomes back a handful of players with some experience in Jeff Houle (3rd appearance), John Marchefka (2nd), Seth Rosenbloom (2nd) and Alex White (3rd).
The event kicks off Saturday morning with Four-Ball matches before afternoon Foursomes (or alternate shot) matches close out Day 1. Sunday singles matches will pit all 12 players against each other to close out the weekend, with 24 points up for grabs altogether.