Fore! — This Week At The Rock

Rock Ridge Country Club held its Annual Men’s 3-Day Member Guest Tournament this past weekend. The winners were: Pat and John McLaughlin (flight 1); Jack Duffy and Howie Busse (flight 2); Rick Varnum and Victor Evaristo (flight 3); and Jason Campbell and Matt Lecher (flight 4). Here are the highlights:

As the tournament got underway on Friday, it looked as if the rain would never let up, stopping play after only 14 holes and leaving the course soggy for the weekend. In the wet conditions, golfers played the remaining 49 holes on Saturday and Sunday. Finally, after two long days, Duffy and Busse emerged as this years overall champions.

Flight 1 Recap

Flight 1 was nail-bitter going in to the last match with four teams separated by less than two points. The father and son team of John and Chris O’Connor played the role of spoilers for the father and son team of Marty and Ben Gersten, who were in the hunt for the title. The team of George Trudell and Bob Smith and the team of Mike Spicci and Bruce Hamilton both won their final matches in hopes of winning the flight. However, the Mclaughlin brothers, Pat and John, who led going into the last match managed to hold on to their lead, beating Tony Cirone and Jim Arconti. Pat and John were the flight 1 champions, and they were this year’s runner up for the overall championship.

Flight 2 Recap

The second flight featured a hard battle between two of the top point-getting teams in the tournament. The teams of Jack Duffy and Howie Busse and Bob Tendler and Jeff Ross had accumulated more than 10 points in the first six matches. Tendler and Ross lost their final match to Tom Meyer and Jim McDade. Meanwhile, Duffy and Busse managed to tie their final match against the sleeper team of Tom Dullinger and Brian Potter, who needed a three-point swing with a win over Duffy and Busse to win the flight. Duffy and Busse were this years flight 2 champions, and this years overall champions. Tendler and Ross qualified as a wild card in the overall championship where they finished tied for fifth.

Flight 3 Recap

The third flight was the closest of any flight, with three teams playing to within fractions of a point going into the final match. Dave Fletcher and Robert LeBlanc were tied for the lead, but were upset by the DiPerrio brothers, Tony and Mike. Chris Donohue and Joseph Parson, who were more than six points back at one point, caught first over the weekend by winning four straight matches, including a three-point swing win over the leaders. Donohue and Parson would finish a close second in the third flight to Rick Varnum and Victor Evaristo, who won their final match and were this years flight 3 champions.

Flight 4 Recap

Flight 4 was dominated by the team of Jason Campbell and Matt Lecher, who won five matches and became the only team without a loss in the event. They finished the tournament with 12.6 points, the highest total of any flight champion. This team won its first match and sat in first place in the flight for the rest of the tournament. Not far behind, the team of Mike Portnoy and Rick Marks fought hard to stay with Campbell and Lecher throughout the event. However, Portnoy and Marks were unable to hand their opponents a loss when the two teams met in a critical Sunday match (both teams earned a single point in a tie). Campbell and Lecher were this years flight 4 champions, and finished third in the overall championship. Portnoy and Marks earned enough points to qualify as a wild card in the overall championship and finished in a tie for fifth.