Rookies vs. Veterans
By Joe McDonald
RIGA Senior Writer
WARWICK – Everyone wants a piece of you when you’re the defending champion.
Tyler Cooke and Bobby Leopold are well aware of that notion.
They proved they’re ready for the challenge, while the rest of the field is determined to dethrone the four-time Four-Ball Championship team. On a near-perfect day, the 75th version of this tournament kicked off Tuesday at both Potowomut Golf Club and Rhode Island Country Club. The courses are in great shape and the greens were rolling well.
After Day 1, Cooke and Leopold shared the lead (5-under) along with the teams of John Baldwin/Peter Alofsin and Max Jackson/Bennett Masterson.
Leopold said it feels a bit “odd” and believes there’s pressure as he and Cooke attempt to tie the all-time record of five Four-Ball championships, which is held by Fred Campanella and Angelo Santilli (1955, 1961, 1963, 1964 and 1967). The newcomers are focused to erase the 57-year record Wednesday at Rhode Island CC.
“We know what we need to do,” Leopold said. “We play well together and it’s just fun to play competitive golf together and see what happens.”
Last season, this event was the last tournament of 2023 and was held in late October, while this year it is the first of 2024. There’s no doubt a different dynamic playing the RIGA’s most-popular tournament earlier in the season, but it didn’t seem to bother the co-leaders.
“You’re more in a rhythm later on in the year,” Cooke said. “We’re working out some kinks, but we played some good team golf and scored ok today. It could have been better, but we’re right where we need to be and hopefully we can bring it home again.”
The brother-in-law team play completely different games, which is one reason it enjoy success in this format.
“We have a lot of the same skills, but we do it in a different way,” Cooke said. “It’s fun to watch and I love being part of this team.”
Meanwhile, Baldwin and Alofsin, both 22-years-old, felt confident entering the tournament. The two have been playing together since they were kids and the chemistry is evident with the way the team played Tuesday at Potowomut.
“The round went really well,” Alofsin said. “We started off a little slow. My game wasn’t good early and John’s putter saved us early. Overall, it went well and we struck the ball pretty well all day. We went back and forth all day. The holes I was out, he was in, and the holes he was out, I was in.”
Even though they have a chance to halt a history-making victory for Cooke and Leopold, Baldwin and Alofsin are focused on their own game.
“To us, it doesn’t really matter,” Baldwin said. “We just want to play as good as we can and see where that gets us. We came in with a lot of confidence and we’re really comfortable in this format. We just need to make as many birdies as we can and see where that puts us.”
Alofsin concurs.
“There’s nothing to lose when you’re chasing the guys who have won it a handful of times, so it’s a free-for-all and fire away all day and kind of hope we go back and forth together,” he said.
Alofsin was actually nervous entering this tournament for different reasons. A junior at Elon University in Elon, N.C., he’s preparing for final exams, but he had enough time to fly home and compete in this tournament. When he landed at T.F. Green International airport Sunday afternoon, his clubs never made it. The airline could not locate his bag and he was forced to play his practice round Monday at Rhode Island CC with a hodgepodge bag of clubs.
“The thought of not using my clubs for this tournament was definitely in my mind, but luckily (my clubs) arrived at 2 a.m. (Tuesday). I woke up this morning with my clubs, but I did not go to bed with them and that was a scary thought.”
The leaders switch venues and will play at Rhode Island CC Wednesday. Leopold and Cooke are attempting to rewrite the history books, while Baldwin and Alofsin want to write a new chapter in Rhode Island golf.
The team of Masterson, 21, and Jackson, 18, are rookies in this tournament. They spent years competing against each other at the junior level, so after a few text messages were exchanged the two decided they could have the potential to do some damage in this format.
They proved that on Day 1. They were also keeping tabs on the leaderboard during their round and believe they can continue their momentum on Day 2.
“I would love to get a team dub. That would be great,” Masterson said. “I want a trophy.”
Jackson graduates from La Salle Academy on June 6 and will play golf at Rutgers University in the fall. Even though he still has a few weeks remaining in the high school golf season, he’s focused on having a strong summer on the RIGA circuit. It started Tuesday at Potowomut with Masterson.
“Tyler and Bobby have been controlling this tournament for a while, so if we could take it away from them that would be nice,” Jackson said.