Lareau wins area CYO title
BY PETER GOBIS SUN CHRONICLE STAFF
Tuesday, July 17, 2007 11:52 PM EDT
Attleboro High product Nick Campbell, 18, tees off on 7 during CYO golf action. (Staff photo by MARK STOCKWELL)
PLAINVILLE - Having missed the cut for the Attleboro Area Golf Association's 2007 Open Championship Tournament, Chad Lareau was more than happy to play some golf at the Heather Hill Country Club, the site for the qualifying round July 27.
Not only did the 2007 North Attleboro High graduate get in 18 holes Tuesday, he inked an even par round of 71 on his scorecard to win the Greater Attleboro Area CYO Tournament championship.
"My putter saved me," said Lareau, who was the runner-up at the AAGA's Junior Championship Tournament at the Highland CC in Attleboro a day earlier. Moreover, Lareau had eagles on the par-5 Nos. 4 and 7 holes on the "north" course during the first nine holes of play, then shot a 38 on the second nine holes, touring the "middle" course at the Plainville layout.
Lareau gained a five-shot margin of victory over Billy Anderson, a 2007 graduate from Bishop Feehan High who will be attending UMass-Dartmouth. Lareau and Anderson were the lone two players in the Senior Division field of 19 to break 80 during the day.
Ryan Keefe of North Attleboro, a sophomore at Bishop Feehan High School, won the Junior Division title with a 7-over-par round of 78, a one-shot margin of victory over Mansfield's Matt DiGiorgio. Keefe, who started his round on the "north" course, gained the lead when he dropped in birdie putts on the 468-yard, par-5 No. 4 hole and then he went to the "middle" course had another birdie on the 474-yard, par-5 No. 3 hole. DiGiorgio had two double bogeys on the front side, but came in with an even par 35 through the final nine holes.
Chris Delude of North Attleboro captured first place in the nine-hole cadet division, winning a one-hole playoff with Tim Malo after both had completed rounds with 47. Delude had a bogey on the par-3 No. 1 playoff hole to take the title.
The top two players in each of the three divisions will advance to the Regional CYO Tournament to be played Aug. 15 at the John F. Parker Municipal Golf Course in Taunton.
Anderson shot a 39 on the "north" course. When he moved onto the "middle" course, Anderson, the son of former AAGA Open great Artie Anderson, knocked down birdie putts on the 320-yard first and par-5 fourth holes.
But, he was unable to belt the ball around like Lareau, who belted the baseball out of Community Field for the Rocketeer baseball team and will be belting the golf ball around too in the fall for the UMass-Lowell golf team.
"I missed the cut last year for the Open, I shot an 86 at Wentworth Hills," said Lareau, who is hoping to stay around for all four days of the AAGA Open this year - provided that he tours the Heather Hills CC in similar fashion as he did in winning the CYO Tournament.
"I was playing it more to gear up for the AAGA qualifier," said Lareau, who also had a birdie on the No. 9 hole to finish with a 33 on the front side. "I had a lot of adrenalin going after that."
On the 468-yard, par-5 No. 4 hole, the fairway is so narrow that Lareau left his driver in the bag and pulled out a 2-iron. Then he laced a 5-iron shot onto the green to within four feet of the pin - a tap-in putt for an eagle.
"Then I got lucky," said Lareau, who used his drive on the 511-yard, par-5 No. 7 hole. He walloped the ball, 350 yards out - even his self-incriminating hook failing to get the best of the ball. "Then I hit a 6-iron into the green, I was leaving everything left too."
Lareau put the ball within 30 feet of the flag and rammed the eagle putt in, "if not the ball would have rolled off the green I hit it so hard!"
He stepped onto the tee on the No. 9 hole with a driver in his hands on the 405-yard, par-4 adventure. The approach shot is very tricky. The green slopes left to right, but on the green, the ball breaks from right to left. "It was awkward yardage in too, I was about 85 yards out," said Lareau, "but that's where a little bit of local knowledge helps out."
On the backside, or "middle course," Lareau double-bogeyed the third hole, "I tried to hit my driver and be a hero!" he chuckled. "Then I tried a Sergio Garcia shot and hit it back into the woods."
But all was not lost, Lareau birdied the No. 18 hole with a 20-foot putt and added more hardware to the mantel.
Now, if he can do it next Friday at Heather Hill and get an entry into the tournament proper for the AAGA Open, he'd really have a smile on his face.
Attleboro Area CYO Golf Tournament
Played at the par-71 Heather Hill CC, Plainville
Senior Division
Chad Lareau 33-38-71
Bill Anderson 37-39-76
Darshan Gandhi 39-41-80
Mike Chandler 40-40-80
Chris Rogers 41-40-81
Greg Malo 40-41-81
Eric Oliver 36-46-82
Matt VanBuren 40-43-83
Dan Duclos 42-44-86
Kyle Marcolini 39-47-86
Brent Burns 42-45-87
Brian Plante 45-43-88
Matt Pereira 42-47-89
Rob Carmone 42-49-91
K.P. Morgan 42-50-92
Nick Campbell 46-47-93
Peter Clarner 45-49-94
Eric Levesque 51-47-98
Jake Meilan 54-51-104
Junior Division
Ryan Keefe 37-41-78
Matt DiGiorgio 35-44-79
Brandon Weiner 38-44-82
Greg Reddington 42-44-86
Ryan Doherty 44-44-88
Evan Goad 43-47-90
Mike Delude 48-45-93
Jeff Chandler 47-46-93
Tyler Cannon 43-51-94
Kevin Johnston 48-47-95
Alex Renner 54-47-101
Colin Murphy 49-55-104
Adam Carey 57-48-105
Conor D'Uva 51-60-111
Zach Myette 56-60-116
Cadet Division
Chris Delude 47
Tim Malo 47
Sean Higgins 49
Sam Peck 53
Chris Walsh 53
Ryan Murray 53
Paul Murphy 55
Mike Pregola 55
Tim Greene 55
J.J. Dillon 57
Matt Harris 59
Zach Peck 66
Andrew Myette 104
Cole Ferreira 111
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