COHASSET, Massachusetts – Despite overcast skies, the mood at Cohasset Golf Club was a convivial one, as 58 couples gathered at a South Shore Donald Ross gem with aims on hoisting the Sheeran Trophy.
At day’s end, there was little to separate Dan & Debbie Sullivan (Marshfield Country Club) from Carla Fitzgerald & Nicki Demakis (Country Club of New Bedford). So little, in fact, that the two sides, which had finished atop the leaderboard at 5-over, would have to settle for a matching cards playoff. A deeper dive into the numbers, beyond simple relation to par, granted the tie breaker to the Sullivans.
In the net division, Nicholas Wilder & Caroline Hughes-Wilder of Nabnasset Lake Country Club finished at 2-under, one stroke ahead of a mob of five 1-under sides.
Mass Golf President Megan Bearce was in the field with husband Bill Bearce (Woods Hole Golf Club), as was board member Denise Eddy, with her husband Darin Eddy (Marshfield Country Club).
The format was modified scotch, in which both golfers hit their tee shot and select which drive they want to use. Then they play alternate shots into the hole. The field was open to amateur golfer teams who are legally married or in a legal domestic partnership and each have an active Mass Golf Membership with a Handicap Index® not exceeding 24.0.
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In the Gross Division, Dan and Debbie Sullivan held on for a victory. Due to the shotgun start, they began play on the 13th hole and found themselves 5-over through nine holes. Birdies on the par-3 6th and par-4 9th launched them from a crowded pack to the top of the heap. But with two holes to play, a double bogey on the par-4 11th looked to be extremely costly. Luckily a par on the last got them in the house with a 5-over round of 76, which was good for a share of the lead, and by virtue of the tiebreaker, a victory.
Carla Fitzgerald & Nicki Demakis began on the 5th hole with a bogey, but they quickly righted the ship with birdies on the 7th and 9th. A tough stretch of five bogeys over seven holes left them sinking down the leaderboard, before a third birdie of the day, this one on the short par-3 2nd, lifted them back up. Unfortunately, consecutive bogeys on their final two holes cost them a solo first place finish, and ultimately, the Sheeran Trophy. Though, surely they will take heart in a T-1 finish in regulation.
Nicholas Wilder & Caroline Hughes-Wilder used five net-birdies and one natural birdie to post a division leading 2-under round of 69. Much like the aforementioned top teams of the gross division, they were sitting pretty before stumbles in the finishing holes, in this case bogeys on the 6th and 7th. No matter. A par on their final hole, the 8th, sealed the one shot margin. Gerald & Eileen Nolan (Ocean Edge Golf Club) made four net-birdies and one natural birdie in a six hole span to put the pressure on, but were unable to overcome a double bogey on the 12th.
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