Boys of winter have become the hotshots at Pawtucket CC

PAWTUCKET — It is not a requirement that the R.I. Golf Association Junior champion be a hockey player. It just seems that way.

Peter Taylor is the latest to add to the already long list of hockey players doing well in the tournament. Taylor, who will be a senior at Hendricken this year, supplied the upset of the day yesterday as match play began in the 86th RIGA Junior at Pawtucket Country Club.

He won the last two holes to upset medalist Patrick Wasserman, 1 up, in the second round. Taylor is not alone, either, in continuing the hockey tradition in the tournament.

Two others who spend their winters on ice, Toll Gate’s Jesse DiBiasio and La Salle’s Cam Moniz, reached the quarterfinals. So did basketball players Eddie Hjerpe of Barrington and Owen Lynch of Bishop Feehan. The quarterfinalists also include Nick Jagoe of Westport, Josh Padwa of Moses Brown and Mike Hamilton, a recent Lincoln High grad who is about to begin college at Florida Atlantic.

Even with stifling humidity ruling the day, hockey was a frequent topic of discussion, as it often is in RIGA events. Hockey and the RIGA have gone together for many years, going back to the days when the late Joe Sprague Sr., a longtime hockey coach, ran the association. The new guy running the RIGA, Bob Ward, loves talking hockey, too. He spends his winters as a hockey official.

On the course, Alex Jestings won the Juniors last year. He played hockey for LaSalle. Brad Valois, who won it three times in a row, beginning in 2003, was a Toll Gate hockey player. Among others, Greg Sampson, Tom McCormick, Joe Cavanagh, Brad Adamonis and Patrick Sheehan all were high school hockey players when they won the juniors. Taylor is simply the latest to skate into the golf spotlight.

“I like them both the same,” he said of his hockey/golf playing. “I like hockey in the winter and golf in the summer. I haven’t made a decision yet which one I want to play (after high school).”

Taylor needed some hockey toughness to upset Wasserman. The match was an excellent one, with both taking turns on the lead. Taylor was 2-up through 12 before Wasserman won three holes to take a 1-up advantage to the 17th tee.

Taylor, who finished sixth in the R.I. Interscholastic League Championship this year, won 17 with a par and then 18, too, when he made a routine par. Wasserman went over the green with his second on the par-4 finishing hole. His downhill chip rolled about 10 feet past the hole and he missed the putt coming back, giving Taylor the victory.

“I played well. I’m really happy, but I think I’m ready for a nap,” Taylor said in echoing the feelings of just about all the players. The day began with steady and at times heavy rain, but play was never delayed play. By mid-morning, the sun was out and the humidity dominating, making it a draining, sticky day for everyone. Play lasted more than 11 hours from first tee shot to the last putt.

DiBiasio and Moniz gave Taylor some hockey-playing company in the quarters. DiBiasio was happy with his consistency as he downed Brendan Lemp, 4 and 3, and then Evan Landry, 5 and 4. Moniz, who still has two years left at La Salle, ousted Brad Broome, 2 and 1, and then Tom Mally, 3 and 1.

With the medalist gone, Lynch earned the rank as highest remaining seed with an interesting day. He had to fight off Foster’s Robert Glass in the morning in what might have been the best match all day. Lynch went out in 33 to take an early lead. But Glass made an eagle (he reached the par-4 11th with his drive and sank a 30-footer for the eagle) and two birdies on the back side to pull close.

Lynch was up 1 up going to 18. Glass had a 12-foot birdie putt on that hole, but never got to try it because Lynch drained a 20-footer from the back fringe for bird to win the match. Lynch, the No. 2 seed, built a 3-up lead at the turn in the second round and went on to a 4-and-3 decision over Jeff Mann.

The wildest match in the second round might have been Hamilton’s 2-up victory over Jordan Nissensohn.

Nissensohn won the first three holes. But Hamilton, just back from playing in the Big I National Insurance Youth Classic in Idaho (“I had a great time but I didn’t play well,” he said of the trip), had a 1-up lead by the turn and went on from there to the win.

Padwa was 1-down through four holes before topping 12-year-old Alexander Grimes, 3 and 2; Jagoe survived the day’s longest match, edging lefty Scott Boulis in 22 holes in the second round; and Hjerpe started fast in both matches in beating Ryan Iannarelli, 6and 5, and then Zack Baron, 5 and 4.

CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION

First Round

Patrick Wasserman, Wannamoisett, def. Jake DiMario, RICC, 4 and 3; Peter Taylor, Quidnessett, def. Tyler Cooke, Potowomut, 3 and 2; Nick Jagoe, Montaup, def. Nicholas Leandro, Montaup, 3 and 2; Scott Boulis, Kirkbrae, def. Wyatt Sparks, Weekapaug, 1 up; Mike Hamilton, Alpine, def. Mike Pierard, Wannamoisett, 1 up; Jordan Nissensohn, RICC, def. Casey O’Keefe, Quidnessett, 7 and 5; Eddie Hjerpe, RICC, def. Ryan Innarelli, Wentworth Hills, 6 and 5; Zack Baron, Ledgemont, def. Tod Camara, Montaup, 3 and 2.

Owen Lynch, Wannamoisett, def. Robert Glass, Foster, 1 up; Jeff Mann, Point Judith, def. Kyle Lacey, Foster, 1 up; Jesse DiBiasio, Valley, def. Brendan Lemp, Misquamicut, 4 and 3; Evan Landry, Wannamoisett, def. Tyler Fay, Kirkbrae, 21 holes; Alex Grimes, Wanumetonomy, def. James Green, North Kingstown, 19 holes; Josh Padwa, Ledgemont, def. Patrick Nosal, Cranston, 7 and 5; Cam Moniz, Metacomet, def. Brad Broome, 2 and 1; Thomas Mally, Wanumetonomy, Peter Costa Jr., RICC, 19 holes.

Second Round

Taylor def. Wasserman, 1 up; Jagoe def. Boulis, 22 holes; Hamilton def. Nissensohn, 2 up; Hjerpe def. Baron, 5 and 4; Lynch def. Mann, 4 and 3; DiBiasio def. Landry, 5 and 4; Padwa def. Grimes, 3 and 2; Moniz def. Mally, 3 and 1.

FIRST DIVISION

First Round

Gregory Malo, RICC, def. Patrick Mitchell, Cranston, 1 up; Jimmy Park,, Cranston, def. Vincent Battista, Pawtucket, 3 and 2; Mark Ryan Mello, Montaup, def. Mark Mathieu, Coventry, 4 and 3; Crawford Leeds, East Greenwich, def. Joseph DeSimone, Cranston, 21 holes; Travis Sadler, West Warwick, def. Dan Sullivan, Agawam Hunt, 7 and 5; Sean Leach, Crystal Lake, def. Will McLaughlin, Warwick 5 and 4; Cory Martone, def. Gregory Jamrog, Metacomet, 1 up; Michael Delude, Pawtucket, def. Evan Trifero, Green Valley, 3 and 2.

SECOND DIVISION

First Round

Brad Bowe, Wentworth Hills, def. Mason Freeman, Triggs, 1 up; Bryan Moulico, Harrisville, def. Michael Fournier, Lincoln, 6 and 5; Tim Rogers, Wannamoisett, def. Chace Ahlborg, Warwick, 5 and 4; John Golden, Kirkbrae, def. Brad Auclair, Kirkbrae, 2 up; Billy Mahoney, Coventry, def. Dan Tracey, Wannamoisett, 2 up; Gregory MacPherson, North Smithfield, def. Patrick Roche, Green Valley, 5 and 4; Matt Hayes, Lincoln, def. Anthony Gesualdi, Button Hole, 20 holes; John McCarthy, Potowomut, def. Patrick Hannon, Metacomet, 4 and 3.

TODAY’S QUARTERFINALS

Championship Division

8:20—Taylor vs. Jagoe; Hamilton vs. Hjerpe; 8:30—Lynch vs. DiBiasio; Padwa vs. Moniz.

First Division

7:30—Malo vs. Park; Mello vs. Leeds; 7:40— Sadler vs. Leach; Martone vs. Delude.

Second Division

7:50—Bowe vs. Moulico; Rogers vs. Golden; 8 a.m.—Mahoney vs. MacPherson; Hayes vs. McCarthy.