GREENFIELD — As defending champions, Paul DeNofrio and Matt Grayson had already locked up the No. 1 seed for championship flight match play at the 77th Invitational Four-Ball at the Country Club of Greenfield. But that didn’t stop the pair from playing a stellar 18 during qualifying-round action on Thursday.
DeNofrio and Grayson — who won the 2020 and 2021 Four Ball Invitationals — could have taken their foot off the gas on Thursday, but decided to build some momentum heading into match play on Friday.
The pair looked like back-to-back defending champs in the heat and humidity on Thursday. They finishing the day with score of 8-under-par 64, tying for the low score of the day.
“This is our second practice round,” DeNofrio said. “We played [Wednesday] but we still wanted to go shoot a good score and we did. It was hot but I like to go out there, grind it and not go through the motions. You still want to stay focused out there.”
It was a solid day throughout for the pairing, which shot 4-under 32 on the front nine and matched that with another 4-under 32 on the back.
They closed the day with an exclamation mark, as Grayson drove the green and rolled in a lengthy eagle putt on the par-4 18th hole. It was his second eagle of the day, as he also recorded one at No. 14.
“We’re going to have to play a lot better than we did last year,” DeNofrio said. “[Last year] we played well on Saturday morning, we played well in the championship match. If we can keep that up and if Matt continues to bomb it off the tee, he can do a lot of damage out there. He has one of the best short games and hopefully I can help him out along the way.”
There’s pressure entering this weekend as back-to-back champs, but for DeNofrio, those two titles in his back pocket has him feeling relaxed. Everything after has been gravy, and he said he felt the pressure was lifted off him last year.
“I think the first one is the hardest to get,” DeNofrio said. “It took me 17 tries to get the first [title]. I felt way more comfortable last year. You just have to get the first one and see how it goes.”
Grayson —who resides in Kentucky — doesn’t get the same pressure DeNofrio, who grew up in Greenfield, gets, though understands that everyone will be gunning for the duo again this year.
“Me being out of town, [DeNofrio] gets more of it than I get which is nice,” Grayson said. “The third time around, it’s hard to beat everyone a third time.”
DeNofrio and Grayson will hit the course at 1:20 p.m. Friday in the Championship Fligth Round of 16, taking on Jeff Robidoux and Joe Groth who earned the No. 16 seed after shooting 3-under 69 on Thursday.
The defending champs will employ the same strategies they’ve used in the past during match play.
“We’re just going to try to play like we did today,” Grayson said. “We’ll take advantage of our good shots and both of us will stay in the hole. You get defensive when one player is out of the hole. When you get defensive, that’s when you mess up. If both players hit it in the fairway, both players hit it on the green, one’s aggressive and one’s not. That’s match play. That’s how you play. It’s hole-to-hole. If you hit a bad shot, you get up and down. Next hole you hit a good shot, you hit a putt.”
The team of Dennis and Cody Booska were paired with Grayson and DeNofrio on Thursday, and after a slower start, the father-son duo found their groove on the back nine.
A pair of birdies from Cody Booska saw the pair go 2-under on the front nine, but they caught fire from that point on. Dennis Booska birdied Nos. 10 and 11 before Cody carded birdies on Nos. 12, 13 and 14. Cody added a birdie on No. 18 to finish with a back-nine 30, and the pair closed the day with an 8-under 64.
“It was a good day,” Dennis Booska said. “We got off to a slow start; we just didn’t hit any putts early on. Then we caught fire on the back nine.”
The score was tied for the low round of the day and earned the Booskas the No. 2 seed in match play. While both have hoisted the trophy before — Cody winning in 2014 and Dennis hoisting the trophy five times himself — they’ve yet to take home the title as a pair, but are determined to change that this year.
First they’ll have to get past 15th-seeded Dave Kennedy and Nate Burdick in match play on Friday. Kennedy and Burdick are certainly not an easy Round of 16 opponent, as the pairing hoisted the trophy together in 2013 and 2015 while Kennedy has won it three separate times and Burdick one other time. The pair shot 4-under 68 on Thursday.
That Round of 16 contest will tee off at 12:40 p.m. on Friday.
“It’s an old cliche, but it’s one match at a time,” Dennis Booska said. “The first round’s done, now we’re in the championship flight. That’s all you have to worry about the first day.”
Andy Lesenski and Chris Austin won the Invitational in 2011, and despite coming close a number of times, haven’t been able to get back in the winner’s circle since.
The duo finished as runner-ups last year and came out firing on Thursday, tying for the low round of 8-under 64 to earn the No. 3 seed in match play.
Lesenski and Austin finished 4-under on the front nine but carded four straight birdies from holes 12-16 to finish with a 64.
“We had a good run on the back,” Lesenski — the reigning CCG club champion — said. “That helps. We played solid. We didn’t put any pressure on ourselves that we didn’t need to.”
Lesenski and Austin are confident that if they play their game, the results will come.
“Unfinished business isn’t what it is,” Austin said. “We know if we do what we know we’re capable of doing, we’ll be fine. We’re comfortable playing anybody. It worked last year so we’ll keep doing it and hope it results in a better finish.”
They’ll be matched up with Jason Goodhind and Mark Waskiewicz, who earned the No. 14 seed after posting a 4-under 68 on Thursday. Those groups tees off at 12:24 p.m.
“We have to keep doing what we do,” Lesenski said. “We’ve only not been in the finals once together. If we do our thing, stick to our game plan, it usually works for us.”
Chris Bourbeau and Justin Dion finished the day with a 7-under 65 to grab the No. 4 seed. They’ll face off against No. 13 seed Chris Varilly and Steve Jones, who shot 4-under 68 on Thursday. That match tees off at 12:56 p.m.
The No. 5 seed went to the team of Connor Piecuch and Michael Bechard, who shot 6-under 66. They take on No. 12 seeds Kevin Bagge and Mike Lavalle at 12:48 on Friday. Bagge and Lavalle shot 5-under 67 on Thursday, though Bagge recorded the shot of the day during qualifying. He recorded a rare albatross (double eagle) on No. 8. After his tee shot on the 455-yard par-5, he used a 6-iron to hole out from 178 yards out.
Jake Willis and Reece McLeod (6-under 66) came out as the No. 6 seeds and will tee off at 12:16 p.m. on Friday against 11th-seeded Jeff Houle and Rick Wisell (5-under 67).
Chris Cervini and Ryan Cote (6-under 66) are the No. 7 seeds and will face off against 10th-seeded and 2019 champions David Donoghue and Sam Wolanske, who shot 5-under 67 on Thursday. That matches tees off at 12:32 p.m.
Wrapping up the championship flight matches will be Clint McCloud and Justin McCloud, the No. 8 seeds, against Jamie Crocker and Jason Kelton, the No. 9 seeds. Both pairings shot 6-under 66 on Thursday.