Brian Higgins
Warwick, RI — They came with a mission and they did not disappoint.
The 12-person team from Massachusetts was looking to make history, and they did by capturing a 10th straight Tri-State Match title. This latest accomplishment for the Bay State came at Warwick Country Club on Friday where the team finished with 61 points following two days of foursomes and singles play.
In its 80-year history, no other team has been able to claim that many titles in a row. In fact, Team Massachusetts broke the previous record of nine straight titles (set by Massachusetts) last year. Massachusetts has now won a total of 31 Tri-State Matches titles since its debut in 1928.
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80th Tri-State Matches Quick Links
Final Results (PDF)Photo GalleryMeet Team Massachusetts__________________________
"We are proud of this team and what our state has accomplished over the past decade," said Harry McCracken, who served as captain of Team Massachusetts. "All of the players here this week played extremely well and the event was a tremendous success. Their performance and the respect they all showed for this historic event speaks volumes about the integrity of each state golf association."On this day, there was no question as to which team was the one to beat.
Following Thursday's foursomes matches, Massachusetts held a slim 0.5-point lead over Connecticut and a 2.5-point advantage over Rhode Island. During the singles matches on Friday morning, the Bay State broke away thanks to impressive and perfect performances by Keith Smith (Franklin CC), Kevin Carey (Dennis Pines GC), Matt Parziale (Thorny Lea GC) and Herbie Aikens (Pinehills GC). All four competitors captured the maximum number of six points in their singles matches.
Kevin Quinn (Charles River CC) finished with four points in his singles match, while Frank Vana, Jr. (Marlborough CC) and Brian Higgins (Franklin CC) both came through with 3.5 points.
Over the course of two days, Massachusetts figured into the scoring category in 17 of the 18 matches. The top overall scorers from Massachusetts were Carey and Parziale who both registered four points on Thursday for a two-day total of 10 points.
Finishing in second place was Rhode Island with 56 points, while Connecticut came in third place overall with 45 points.
View results for Tri-State Matches
ABOUT THE
Tri-State Matches
The history of the Tri-State Matches dates
back to 1907 when the team from
Massachusetts was victorious at the
Agawam Hunt Club in Providence, Rhode
Island.
Since that time, teams from
Massachusetts, Rhode Island and
Connecticut have come together each fall
to compete for the regional title. Individual
amateur golfers are selected each year by
the respective state golf associations.
View Complete Tournament Information