32nd Senior Four-Ball Gross Championship
By Brady Garthee
USGA Boatwright Intern
PORTSMOUTH – The golf gods blessed Green Valley CC and the field at the 32nd Senior Four-Ball Gross Championship with two beautiful days and even better playing conditions. With the course in fantastic shape, a great showcase of golf was bound to happen.
Monday's first round did just that. Nine teams finished under par with the team of Dean Parziale and John McNeill leading the way after the conclusion of the first round, finishing 7-under-par.
The weather was the same on Tuesday, but the scoring was much different.
After Monday's round, the 2023 Senior Four-Ball Gross Championship winners Rob Grossguth and Mike Petrarca sat at 5-under par and within striking distance of Parziale and McNeill.
Petrarca and Grossguth had a shaky start but kicked it into gear once the round developed.
"It was a little zig and zag to start out with and then we played better as we went along. … We made four birdies on the back," Grossguth said.
The pair from West Warwick Country Club rattled off birdies on holes 4, 7, 10, 12, 15, and 18, mainly thanks Grossguth's putter.
"Once one goes in you think you can make everything," he said.
"Rob played great today. There were just a few times he needed me and I was there for him," Pretrarca added.
Grossguth and Petrarca have won their second title in the past three years, possibly the start of a dominant run in Senior Four-Ball Championships to come.
In order to have a high-quality golf tournament, a high quality golf course is needed. Green Valley CC Course superintendent Joe Oliveira made sure that the golf course was flourishing and he did just that.
Players raved about the great condition of the golf course over the two days.
Petrarca and Grossguth had extremely positive things to say about the course.
"There's no word for it. It's unbelievable. For the amount of play they get here, the public and the members, the course is immaculate," Grossguth said.
"Greens are beautiful… The fairways are beautiful. Just a beautiful course," Petrarca added.
Quinnatisset Country Club's David Marshall and Tim Murray also added great words regarding the condition of the course.
"The course was in great shape, dry, the greens were beautiful," Marshall said.
"I have never seen a public golf course with so little ball marks. It's unbelievable, they're in phenomenal shape," Murray added.
This week, Green Valley has emphasized the green in its name and it surely won the hearts of the many competing in the 32nd Senior Four-Ball Gross Championship.
