GREENFIELD — Heavy downpours and golf courses do not make for the best of friends.
Such was the case Thursday, as the Country Club of Greenfield was tested by torrential rains throughout opening-round qualifying at the 73rd Invitational Four-Ball. Despite tricky weather that forced two postponements of play, the course held up with the closure of three holes — Nos. 2, 12 and 17 — along with moving a few hole locations that dropped even par from its usual 72 to 70 for the day.
Two teams, both with solid pedigrees in the event, shared medalist honors following Thursday’s round. KC Finley and Cody Booska, the 2014 champions, tied for the low round of the day with Troy Miller and Scott Serwa, who reached the semifinal round in 2016. Both duos shot 6-under 64s to lead the field.
“It was drenched out there,” began Booska of the conditions. “The course definitely played a little longer and the greens were pretty slow, but luckily KC made a lot of pars for me so I could kind of give my birdie putts a run. I made a lot of them because of that. We got the momentum on our side early with a couple birdies to start and overall I’m pretty happy with a 6-under.”
Finley and Booska posted six birdies and no bogeys in a clean opening round, snagging medalist honors for the second year in a row after posting a 62 last year. The pair recorded birdies on Nos. 1, 4, 6, 10, 13 and 18 en route to their 64. They earned the No. 3 seed in the field and take on 14th-seeded Chris Varilly and Steve Jones today at 12:09 p.m. in the Round of 16 match-play portion of the Championship Flight. Varilly and Jones posted a 1-under 69.
“They know the course like the back of their hands,” Booska said of Varilly and Jones. “Definitely a good team that we’re playing right off the bat. We’re going to have to take the match one hole at a time like always. Hopefully, me and KC will ding and dong enough to be in the same positions that we were today.”
Miller and Serwa birdied seven holes — Nos. 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 16 and 18 — to go with one bogey on the day. The team returned to Championship Flight match-play after missing the cut a year ago. They reached the semifinals in 2016, and they’re seeded second with a Round of 16 matchup today against No. 15 Bruce White and Lee Craig at 12:27. White and Craig shot 69 on Thursday.
Two-time defending champions Brodie Conant and Max Major were guaranteed the No. 1 seed in match play regardless of how Thursday’s round finished, though the pair went out and played well en route to a 4-under 66. That number was good enough for a tie for third place in qualifying, and they’ll open with a Round of 16 matchup today against No. 16 seeds Bryant Bishko and Scott Martin at 1:12 p.m.
“We made a couple mistakes in the middle, bogeyed 9 and 10, but overall we hit the ball really well, I thought,” said Conant, whose team aims to win three consecutive Invitationals for just the third time in event history. “It’s really hard to get into a rhythm on a day like today. The course was playing a lot longer than normal. I knew the qualifying scores would be a bit higher.”
Major, who has enjoyed a nice summer on the amateur circuit after graduating from Johnson & Wales University-Miami (Fla.), said his third trip to CCG for the Invitational comes at an ideal time.
“I’m probably playing the best golf I’ve played the last two years or so,” he admitted. “A three-peat would be nice, but we can’t get ahead of ourselves. If we stay in the moment, I think we have as good of a chance as we ever have.”
Rain forced two stoppages of play throughout the opening day. CCG PGA Golf Professional Kevin Piecuch estimated the delays totaled about an hour and a half,
“We decided to leave our rain gear in the truck and then on the very first hole, it came down like crazy,” said Conant with a laugh. “It was pretty bad, but Kevin and Patrick (Maddock) do a great job and we got through it.”
To earn a spot in the Championship Flight match play, teams needed a 1-under 69 or better. The course played tougher than last year’s qualifying round, as the rain, mixed with a longer fescue than in past years, had just 16 teams finishing under par. Last year, teams needed to shoot 3-under to punch their ticket to match play.
Paul DeNofrio and Matt Grayson posted a bogey-free 66 to earn the No. 4 seed, and they’ll tee off in the Round of 16 at 12:54 against No. 13 seeds Derek Yvon and Brian Foley. Last year’s runners-up, Yvon and Foley got back into the match play bracket for the second year in a row after firing a 2-under 68 on Thursday.
No. 5 seeds Paul Vincelette and Mike Slyne also had a clean 4-under round of 66, and they’ll play No. 12 seeds Hank Champagne and Tony Jung (68) in the Round of 16 beginning at 12:45.
Two-time champions Nate Burdick and Dave Kennedy shot 3-under 67 and will open match play as the No. 7 seeds in the draw. Burdick and Kennedy were 1-over after a bogey on No. 6, but rebounded with four birdies over the next 12 holes to get into the field. They’ll tangle with the 10th-seeded tandem of Jared Barber and Hugh Barber, which shot 68 in the qualifying round, at 12:18.
The rest of the Round of 16 matches today include eighth-seeded Tom Herzig and Gary Hunt (67) against No. 9 Chris Ferriter and Joe Wilson (68) at 1:03, as well as sixth-seeded Pat McGuire and Aaron Wheeler (67) against 11th-seeded Dave Donoghue and Jacob Zaranek (68) at noon. The latter match is the first one out to start the Championship Flight today.