A veteran Country Club of Greenfield roster has its sights set on retaining the Franklin Cup this weekend, as the 18th annual event is set to tee off at Crumpin-Fox Club in Bernardston on Saturday.
The annual Ryder Cup-style match-play event pits host CFC against CCG in a two-day tournament that opens Saturday morning with four-ball matches, followed by foursomes (alternate shot) in the afternoon. It will wrap up Sunday morning with 12 singles matches. The Country Club needs to win only 12 of the 24 available points to retain the Cup, while CFC must earn at least 12½ to win.
CCG holds a 10-6-1 all-time record in the Cup, including a dramatic come-from-behind victory on Sunday at last year’s event. The Country Club trailed 7½-4½ entering singles play but won 8½ out of a possible 12 points to pull off a 13-11 win.
CCG’s roster is led by captain Dave Kennedy, who has been on the roster for all 17 previous Cups. Kennedy has the third-most points in the event all time, as he’s posted a 22-17-6 career record.
“We’ve developed some nice friendships throughout the years, but certainly when you’re playing, you want to win for your club and for yourself,” said Kennedy of the rivalry between the two clubs.
Kennedy, the runner-up at this summer’s club championship, headlines a roster full of experience for the Country Club. With club champion Cody Booska unavailable at school in Florida, Kennedy takes over the captain duties.
The 12-golfer team features six players with double-digit years playing in the event, including 15-year vet Tom Bergeron, who comes over to play for CCG for the first time after 14 years as a Crumpin-Fox Club competitor. Bergeron is 17-14-6 all-time in the event.
Other veterans on the CCG roster include KC Finley (16th year), Nate Burdick (15th), Mike Johnson (14th), Don Foberg (12th) and Brodie Conant (9th).
Finley, who returns after a one-year absence, has the most wins of any golfer in the history of the event (26), while Foberg has the top winning percentage for CCG in tournament history thanks to a sterling 20-8-1 mark (.707). Conant, a captain’s pick, is fresh off winning his second consecutive Invitational Four-Ball back in July.
The rest of the roster includes Chris Bourbeau (2nd year), Garrett Cousineau (1st), Jason Kelton (3rd), Pat McGuire (3rd) and Jake Willis (2nd). Kelton and McGuire were captains’ picks.
“What I like about our guys is most of us have played with each other one time or another,” explained Kennedy. “If you’re not playing with them in a tourney, you’re playing with them on a weekend. There’s a lot of camaraderie and I think that’s a strength. Everyone’s comfortable with one another.”
Crumpin Fox captain Chris Austin, competing in his sixth Cup, looks to guide his squad back to its first title since 2015 when it captured a convincing 16-8 win. That win also took place at the home course, and the team will look to once again use its familiarity with CFC to snag a title. The team is 6-1-1 in eight career Cups played in Bernardston.
“I’ve been waiting a long time to be at the helm and get to make some of these calls of putting the team together so it’s exciting,” explained Austin, a 10-year member at CFC who won two of his three points in the 2015 victory at home. “We have a really fun group of guys this year. And our course is in great shape right now so we’re excited to show that off.”
Erik Barnes is the lone CFC player to have played in every Franklin Cup, and he’s amassed a career record of 23-19-3. Barnes won both his Four-Ball and Foursome matches in last year’s tournament.
Phil Phillips (15-13-3) is the only other CFC team member who has 10-plus years of experience, though there are plenty of talented golfers looking to make their marks this weekend.
Mark Waskiewicz, runner-up at this year’s CFC Club Championship, has been a standout Cup performer, posting a 12-2-1 mark in five years of competition. Waskiewicz was one of the three players on his team to win singles matches on Sunday a year ago.
“He’s one of our most solid players in this event and his record in the Franklin Cup shows that,” lauded Austin of Waskiewicz. “We’re looking for him to add some leadership to our team.”
CFC’s roster also includes Brett Barnes (1st year), Keith Burch (9th), Rich Carroll (2nd), Justin Dion (4th), Scott Dorval (1st), Chris Stoddard (2nd), Doug Taylor (2nd) and Jason Wallace (2nd). Brett Barnes and Doug Taylor were Austin’s two captain’s picks, while he also pointed to Dion as being someone to watch out for this weekend.
“Our team’s probably a little bit of an underdog in terms of depth of players we have but we have a lot of guys eager and hungry to get after it,” offered Austin. “I would say the majority of the team have been members at Crumpin-Fox for at least four or five years so there’s not a lot of fresh faces in terms of knowing our course.”’
Home teams holding serve in the Cup has become almost a common occurrence in the history of the event. The lone loss on home soil came in 2011, when CFC was defeated, 16-8. Austin said course knowledge plays a huge factor in match-play contests.
“The two golf courses are very different in the style that you have to play them in,” he explained, pointing specifically to CFC’s elevated greens. “The course set-up can really dictate how this tournament goes. The last time we had the Cup at home, we took it down and won. We’re hoping to keep that going this year.”
Kennedy agreed that the two courses offer different types of golf for a competition like the Cup.
“I think (CCG) is a little more wide open, flatter greens, probably more birdies to be had,” he offered. “(Crumpin-Fox) is more of a shot makers course with tougher holes. You can never coast up there. Not that you can at our place, but you have to stay on it the entire time. It’s really different.”
The weekend forecast calls for mostly sunny weather with cooler temperatures in the 60s.