The Spring 2013 NCCGA New England season began on April 6 in West Yarmouth, MA at Bayberry Hills Golf Course. Club golf Players experienced the Links (3,345 yards, 74.2/130) and Red (3,576 yards, 75.3/132) nines under notable harsh conditions. The exposed Links nine was built atop reclaimed land that formerly housed a town dump, and featured some of the windiest conditions many had ever seen. The Red nine was tightly lined with trees, and seemed particularly narrow after the treeless Links. Scoring conditions were tough, between the wind and the temperature, which hovered around 45-50 degrees, and the first round featured correspondingly high scores. Only three players broke 80, with UNH’s CJ Konkowski leading the way with a solid 76. UNH stood alone in first place after one day with a team total of 400, 18 shots ahead of BC and 19 shots ahead of Providence College.
Day two featured action at Bass River Golf Course, a sister venue located about ten minutes away from Bayberry Hills. Bass River (6,129 yards, 69.7/127) is a shorter, trickier layout than the group faced the previous day. With holes along Yarmouth’s Bass River, some of the views, particularly from holes like the par 3 ninth, were particularly nice. The wind still blew, and it was still chilly, but conditions were more favorable than they had been for Saturday’s round. Mike Sefton, Chris Kinney, and Colin Barnea, who all managed 79’s, and were therefore the only three club golf players to break 80, had the day’s lowest score. UNH”s Cj Konkowski, overnight leader, put up a score of 80 to claim the individual title with a total score of 156, besting teammate Jake Hajec by five shots. With the top two individual scores, and others on the All-Tournament Team, it’s no wonder that UNH Club Golf took the team title, making it three straight for the Wildcats. Their two-day total of 802 was 42 shots better than Providence College, and 43 shots better than BC.
Despite the brutal scoring conditions on day one, the new region’s first-ever event featured some very respectable play. For a pair of courses coming off an extremely long winter, the turf conditions were very good. The pro shop staff, particularly at Bayberry Hills, was incredibly helpful in running the event. If the courses were located closer to Boston, the NCCGA would likely return for another regional tournament. Regardless, the Cape location can always be utilized again in the event of another long, New England winter intruding into spring play, as snow tends to melt sooner out there. April snow is far too possible, as all New Englanders know, so we may be back sooner than we expect. Thanks to all involved, and we look forward to next weekend’s event.
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