Headline: In Their Event Debut, Jack Kearney and Bill Barry Lead By One Following Day One of 2010 Massachusetts Senior Four-Ball Championship
For Immediate Release: August 30, 2010
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First-round leaders Jack Kearney (left) and Bill Barry partnered at the 2010 Massachusetts Four-Ball Championship and finished in fourth place. |
Granby, MA — If the team of Jack Kearney (Elmcrest CC) and Bill Barry (Elmcrest CC) were looking to make a statement in their Massachusetts Senior Four-Ball Championship debut, they were successful! (story continues below)
Day 1 Quick Links
The duo from Western Massachusetts felt at home this afternoon by carding a round of 9-under par 63 at Westover Golf Course to take a one-stroke lead heading into the second and final round of play.
"We made three birdies right off the bat, so that gets you comfortable," said Kearney, the 1992 Richard D. Haskell MGA Player of the Year who turned 55 years old in June. "Bill made that birdie on the first hole and that got us going. It gave us a cushion, so that we could relax and the birdies just started to come."
After making birdie on three of their first four holes, the duo added a fourth birdie on the front nine – on the 532-yard, par 5 9th – to make the turn at 4-under par 32.
One par later, Kearny and Barry caught fire once again by registering a birdie on four out of their next five holes. Although it's hard to imagine going much lower, the team acknowledged that they felt that it could have been even better after making par on the final two holes.
"Jack played incredibly well today and he made a mile of putts," said Barry, who noted that Kearney made four putts of 25 feet or longer. "It's a wonderful layout [at Westover], and it helped that Jack was really on his game. When he gets that flat stick going, you know it's going in."
While Kearney indeed had an incredible day of putting, it also helped that the two competitors have enjoyed playing together for more than 20 years. In fact, they have played together in the Massachusetts Four-Ball Championship for nearly two decades and most recently finished in fourth place.
Barry, 59, has enjoyed a strong showing in this event for years with longtime friend and partner T.P. Tunstall (Ludlow CC). When Kearney turned 55 years old, there was question as to who Barry would partner with come the 2010 Massachusetts Senior Four-Ball Championship.
"When I turned 55, I asked TP who Billy was going to play with," said Kearney. "At the time he said that he didn't know and that he wanted some time to think about it. He got back to me two weeks later and said ‘you can play with Billy. You have a history, so you should go and play'. That was awfully nice of him because they have been friends longer than me and Billy."
Epitomizing the camaraderie of the event, Tunstall, Kearney and Barry are still the best of buddies and find themselves in a friendly battle for the top spot. Tunstall and his partner this week - Michael Majka (Ludlow CC) – finished with a score of 5-under par 67 at Westover Golf Course today and are scheduled to tee off on Tuesday at The Orchards Golf Course beginning at 9:50 a.m.
Less than one hour later, Kearney and Barry will step to the first tee with the team in second place – Bruce Carter (Ponkapoag GC) and Robert Currey (Brae Burn CC) – who carded an 8-under par 64.
"When you're friends with someone you don't feel as much pressure when you hit a bad shot," said Kearney, who last month won the Senior Division title at the Francis Ouimet Memorial Tournament. "It worked out today, so let's hope that it works out again tomorrow."
A Summer to Remember for Paul Murphy
Three strokes back of the leaders with a score of 6-under par 66 at Westover Golf Course was the team of Paul Murphy (Charles River CC) and Jim Finnerty (Stockbridge GC). Perennial challengers for this title, Murphy and Finnerty appear poised to make a strong run at the title... thanks in part to some spectacular play of recent by Murphy.
The 59-year-old Arlington resident qualified for the third and final round of the 2010 British Senior Amateur Championship three weeks ago and then finished as medalist at U.S. Mid-Amateur Qualifying held last week in Framingham.
Since his victory one year ago at the 2009 Massachusetts Senior Amateur Championship, Murphy has been defying the odds and playing the game better than many half his age. On this day, he partnered with Finnerty and the duo carded six birdies and zero bogies. They made birdie on 1st, 7th, 9th, 12th, 15th and 18th holes. Murphy and Finnerty are looking to improve on their finish at this event which has been improving with each passing year. In 2008, the team finished T5 and then last year they were just one stroke off the pace for a T4 performance.
In Case You Missed It
One year ago, the team of Jim Ruschioni (Monoosnock CC) and Paul Nunez (Ludlow CC) came from behind to capture their fourth career Massachusetts Senior Four-Ball Championship title at the Bay Club at Mattapoisett. Since the event’s debut in 1997, no other team or individual has posted as many wins.
Nunez, who just weeks earlier had qualified for the U.S. Senior Amateur Championship, sealed his team's fourth title by sinking a 15-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole. That one putt dashed the hopes of two teams looking to capture their first-ever Massachusetts Senior-Four Ball title – Steve Bell (Charles River CC) and Mike Fitzgerald (Nashawtuc CC) and Joe Keller (Oyster Harbors Club) and Bruce Carter (Ponkapoag GC).
Four-Ball Play & How It Works
Today's event represents a different type of golf tournament that may be foreign to the occasional golfer. In a four-ball event such as the Massachusetts Senior Four-Ball Championship, each team is comprised of two players who must have a combined USGA/GHIN Handicap index not exceeding the 12.0 limit stated on the application.
Throughout the 18-hole round, each competitor plays his/her own ball. At the end of each hole, the low score between the two partners is used as that team's score. The event earned its name because four-ball competition usually pits two two-person teams against each other which would result in four balls being played! Please refer to Rules 30 and 31 of the USGA Rules of Golf book for more details.
