Corrente’s 69 leads the way in Mid-Am
Sep 26, 2007
01:00 AM EDT on Wednesday, September 26, 2007
EAST PROVIDENCE — Darren Corrente all but grew up at Metacomet Country Club as one of those “know every blade of grass on the course” kind of players. He’s also capable of making birdies at a dizzying pace.
Yesterday, Corrente didn’t have to make many birdies. Pars were more than good enough for him to shoot a 1-under 69 on his home course to lead the Rhode Island Golf Association’s Mid-Amateur tournament. He’ll carry a one-shot lead over Rob Grossguth, Jim Colucci and Oliver Bennett into the final round this morning.
Corrente, 44, says he’s been a member at Metacomet for more than 30 years. He captured the club championship in 2002 and ’04 and regularly tees it up with a slew of good players who call the tight, short (6,464 yards) Donald Ross-designed layout home. Those rounds with players like former State Amateur champs Paul Quigley and Mike Soucy, as well as Eugene DiSarro, Jim Stallman, Paul Schwab, Nick Cioe and other friends have steeled Corrente’s game.
Yesterday, the Providence native benefited from knowing where to stick his irons on the slick greens that tormented much of the field. He made 15 pars, two birdies and only one bogey to skate around the course with few blemishes.
“I hit the ball really well and just made sure to hit a lot of greens,” Corrente said. “We aerated the greens in August here and now they’re really back to what we’re used to. They’re drying out and getting faster.”
Corrente was fortunate to be paired with Colucci, as well as Randy Millen. Colucci birdied the second and sixth holes and led Corrente by one shot after nine. That helped keep him pushing for more on the back side. A bogey at the par-5 ninth hole left Corrente at one-over-par but he birdied the 11th hole with a 15-foot putt to get back to even. A birdie putt at the difficult 14th hole lipped out, but he drained a 12-footer at the next hole to get under par for the first time. A birdie try at the 17th rimmed around the hole and out, but pars at the final two holes left him as the only player in the 120-player field under par.
“We had a very loose group and that helped all of us,” Corrente said. “When this golf course is soft, guys can go really low. But the wind is blowing a little bit and the greens are running fast. It’s hard out there.”
That was a similar refrain heard from much of the field. With defending champion and 2007 RIGA Player of the Year Charlie Blanchard missing the tournament because of this week’s USGA Mid-Amateur in Bandon Dunes, Ore., this event is seemingly wide open. Nine players are within three shots of the lead and at least a dozen are more than capable of emerging as the 36-hole champion.
Grossguth had one of the first tee times of the day and flew out of the gate with birdies on three of the first four holes. He made the turn at 3-under 34 and trumped a bogey at the 10th hole with his fifth birdie of the round at number 11. However, bogeys at the 17th and 18th holes cost the West Warwick resident a chance at the lead. Colucci (35-35) also bogeyed the 347-yard final hole to finish at even par and one shot off the lead.
Bennett, however, finished fast. He made a 50-foot bomb of a birdie putt at the 15th hole and a difficult, curling 30-footer at the 18th to finish at 70, easily his lowest round in a RIGA event. “It was 80 degrees, the greens were spectacular, the pace of play was terrific and I made some long putts. It was a great day,” he said.
Four players are only two shots back — Chris O’Neill, John Auclair, Andy Falcone and Jim Shriver. Coming in at 72 were Herb Stevens and Stallman, the reigning Metacomet club champion.