Headline: Local Amateurs... and Professionals Battle Against Each Other at the Annual Cape Cod Cup in Hyannisport
For Immediate Release: October 19, 2009
Norton, MA — The MGA championship season may be over, but the high-caliber golf is continuing on in the Bay State.
In addition to a handful of club-level and regional tournaments, a field of professional and amateur golfers came together this past weekend to take part in the annual Cape Cod Cup match. This 23-year-old event was held in Hyannisport pits local professionals against amateurs.
This year the outcome came down to the final pairing where the professional tandem of Rusty Gunnarson of Rochester Golf Club and reigning Cape Cod Chapter of the New England PGA champion Allan Menne of Hyannis Golf Club pulled out a 2 & 1 victory over the amateur duo of Herb Aikens (Pinehills GC) and Jim Horvath (Dennis Pines GC).
Here is a copy of an article that appeared in a recent issue of Cape Cod Times. Congratulations to all of the competitors on a job well done!
Pros have day in the sun at Cup
By Geoff Converse
Contributing Writer
October 16, 2009
HYANNISPORT – For the sixth consecutive year of the annual Cape Cod Cup match between area professionals and amateurs, the team that dropped the event the previous year gained a measure of revenge the following year as the professionals avenged last year's loss to the amateurs with a 12-9 victory yesterday at the Hyannisport Club.
With the win, the professionals narrowed the gap in the 23-year-old event, as the amateurs now hold an 11-10-2 advantage.
It's the second time the Cup has been held at The 'Port and the results were the same as the first time with the pros holding sway and leaving with the hardware.
As has so often been the case, the match was not decided until the final pairing finished with the professional tandem of Rusty Gunnarson of Rochester Golf Club and reigning Cape Cod Chapter of the New England PGA champion Allan Menne of Hyannis Golf Club eeking out a 2-and-1 win over the amateur duo of Herb Aikens of Pinehills and Dennis Pines' Jim Horvath.
Last year at New Seabury, it was Aikens who was on the winning side of the final match to help give the amateurs the win.
The tides were turned on him this year as the pro team notched a 3-up win on the front nine, only to see the amateurs grab a 2-up victory on the back nine. However, the overall went to the pros by a 1-up margin.
Teams get points by winning the front nine, the back nine and the overall match.
“We jumped out to a 3-up lead, but a couple of bad swings on our part together with some good swings on their side got them right back into it,” said Gunnarson. “The key hole in the match was the 16th where Allan made a great eagle-3. We needed it.”
“It was a great match,” Horvath said. “There were some momentum swings, but they did a great job to hold us off.”
It was a tight match throughout the rain-soaked afternoon as the players had to battle the cold and wet along with a perfectly manicured, lightning-fast Hyannisport track.
The amateurs had the early momentum as the senior team of Dave Houghton of Captains and Cape Cod National's John Crook grabbed a 2-1 win over the pro team of Bob Chase of Quashnet Valley and host pro Rick Johnson.
A string of three birdies on holes No. 6, 7 and 8 enabled the pros to win the front nine. However, a back-9 birdie blitz enabled the amateurs to grab the other two points in the match.
The second match to finish saw the amateur duo of Dennis Konary Jr. of Olde Barnstable and Mike Walker of Oyster Harbors roll to a 3-0 win over the pro team of Craig Garris (Ballymeade) and Quashnet Valley's Kevin Evangelista.
“I'm more upset with the way I played than the weather,” said Garris. “We gave them three holes with 3-putt greens. You can't expect to win doing that.”
The amateurs won the ninth hole to break up a tie on the front nine then a string of four birdies on holes 13 through 16 sealed the match.
“We really had it going,” Walker said. “That stretch on the back nine really energized us. As a team we were five or six-under par.”
The pros started to come back over the next two matches.
Jim Campbell and Mike McGoldrick of Cape Cod National broke open an even match with a stretch on the back nine where they captured two straight holes and held on to record a 2½-½ victory over the Hyannisport tandem of John Shields and club champion Jay Riley.
The next match turned the tide in the pros' favor as the six-time Seagulls Fourball Championship winning team of Kevin Carey and Joe Walker of Dennis Pines fell, 2-1, to Mark O'Brien of The Captains and Oyster Harbors' Tim Watroba.
“Joe gave them a good match,” said Carey. “The way I played, I should have stayed at work. Joe couldn't have done any worse alone.”
Walker had six birdies on his own ball while Carey was uncharacteristically blanked on the birdie level.
“It was a real team effort,” said O'Brien. “I played well on the front and Tim took over on the back nine. It worked well enough to get us the two points.”
The best match of the day ended in a draw as the pro team of Mike Haberl of the home course and Mike Ghelfi of Hyannis Golf Club halved the team of Brian Secia of Miacomet on Nantucket and Hyannis' Matt Sheran.
It was close all the way,” Secia said. “Neither team could get a foothold on the other and it came down to the last hole.”
The biggest win for the pros was 3-0 victory by Greg Yeomans of the Bay Club and Joe Cordani of the Country Club of New Bedford over two formidable players – Dick King of Hyannis Golf Club and Joe Keller of Oyster Harbors.
The key was the white-hot putter of Yeomans, who buried lengthy putt after lengthy putt.
“He did not miss a putt all day,” Keller said.
So, the Cape Cod Cup now rests in the hands of the pros of the Cape Cod Chapter of the New England PGA for another year when the best of Cape face off in what has become a great day of competition and camaraderie.