The 2023 Mayor’s Cup Championship drew a record crowd of 44 golfers this year, all here before the start of the Tuesday Night golf tournament held Sunday, Sept. 24, at Mountain View Country Club in Greensboro.
GREENSBORO — After struggling through one of the wettest summers on record, the sun finally shined brightly on the Tuesday Night golf league during its championship tournament at Mountain View Country Club Sunday, Sept. 24.
A record crowd of 44 golfers showed up for this year’s championship as 11 foursomes filled the course for the 18-hole scramble, all hoping to capture the 2023 Mayor’s Cup trophy. The new league trophy, a silver cup, was named in honor of Richard Brochu, a longtime league member who passed last June. His nickname was “The Mayor.”
The 2023 tournament was also played in memory of two former league champions who passed this year, Ian Drown and John Patterson. Patterson won the tourney in 2015 and Drown finished first in 2021.
The day started off cloudy, but as soon as play began at 10 a.m., the skies cleared and the golfers were treated to ideal conditions, a sunny, windless day with highs near 70 degrees.
Mayors cup champ
The 2023 Mayor’s Cup Champions were, from left to right, Dale Rowell, Mark Wright, Steve Parker and Jeremy Kaufman. The Mayor’s Cup was named after Richard Brochu, who passed last June. This year’s event was played in memory of Ian Drown and John Patterson, two former Tuesday Night champions who both passed this year.
The day began with a draft of players to help form equal teams and it resulted in another tight tournament. Eight strokes separated first place from last place. The best of the bunch was the winning foursome of Mark Wright, Jeremy Kaufman, Dale Rowell and Steve Parker as they carded a six-under par 64. They crowned themselves the 2023 Mayor’s Cup champions.
Parker, MVCC’s course superintendent, got the ball rolling on the team’s second hole when he buried a 30-foot birdie putt. The group concluded its opening nine holes with birdies on the final three holes. Wright got them in close on seven and Kaufman sank the putt. Then Parker put an approach to 10 feet on eight and Wright sank the putt. On nine, Kaufman hit an approach to six feet and sank the putt and they posted a four-under 31.
They only had two birdies on the back nine. Parker hit a long drive on the tough sixth hole, put his 180-yard approach to six feet and sank the putt. Wright followed that up with a birdie putt on seven as they carded a 33 on the back nine.
Taking second place, one stroke off the pace with a 65, was the foursome of Arron Molleur, Dan Mencucci, Andrew Whitney and Rowdy Doyon. They opened with a 34 on the front side with one bogey, but Whitney and Molleur sank birdie putts on seven and nine as the team took good advantage of Molleur’s length off the tee box.
Jeremy Kaufman gets some love from his teammates, Dale Rowell, Mark Wright and Steve Parker, as he puts the finishing touches of drinking from the Mayor’s Cup. The league instituted a new tradition of the champions downing a fresh Budweiser from the Mayor’s Cup after winning the title in honor of Richard Brochu, a longtime league member who passed a year ago in June.
Then on the back nine, they got it going with a four-under 31. They birdied the second hole, their first hole, on the back nine as Mencucci’s putter started heating up. Mencucci drained another birdie putt on seven and then again on one, the team’s final hole.
In third place with a four-under 66 was the foursome of Tim Bellavance, John Bellavance, Randy Bellavance and Mike Nixon. They shot two-under on both nines. Nixon drained their first birdie putt four holes in, on the second hole, as they started play on eight. Then Randy Bellavance sank a birdie putt on their last hole, the seventh.
They got their only bogey on eight to begin their back nine, but Nixon’s putter remained hot as he drained birdie putts on both two and three. Once again, they birdied their last hole as Tim Bellavance drained their final birdie putt.
There were three teams tied for fourth place with rounds of 67. The foursome of Dan Hudson, Rob Montgomery, Dennis Pudvah and Pat Hussey posted rounds of 33-34. The Nate Brown, Karl Ferland, Adam Whitney and Eric Stratton group shot rounds of 35-31. And the foursome of Mike Clark, Matt Kiley, Dave Rogers and Mike Brochu came home with rounds of 34-33.
Three more groups tied for fifth place with rounds of 68. Tyler Rivard, Kip Doyon, Dale Hall and Bob Blake came in with a 35-33. The foursome of Andy Hunt, Bill Hunt, Roger Boone and Carl Edwards also shot 35-33. Finally, the group that included George Gattone, John Sperry, Brad Ferland and Doug Allen shot a three-under 32 on the front, but a one-over 36 on the back.
The foursome of Brian Niemi, Slade Farnham, Jim Bellavance and Dan Gauthier ended up with a 71 and the final group of Colton Niemi, Dean Rogers, Dan Rogers and Wyatt Bellavance posted a 72.
It was a tough day on the greens. The MVCC grounds crew had just recently aerated and sanded the greens, so they were quite bumpy and true rolls were hard to come by. However, with all the wet weather this season and with this recent dry spell, the course was lush and glowing green.
The league spent many Tuesday’s this season playing in wet weather. When the floods hit in early July, the course was closed for two weeks and there was no play. But the weather slowly improved through August and September has seen very nice golf weather. The league ended play this past Tuesday, but they will continue drawing crowds through October.
It late June the league set a Tuesday night record when 55 golfers showed up to play. Over the course of the 2023 season, the league has attracted 91 different golfers. Attendance was strong again this year, averaging nearly 40 golfers a night, which was excellent considering all the wet weather they had to play through.
Tuesday Night Golf Championship
2023 Mayor’s Cup Results
1st Place – 64
Mark Wright, Steve Parker, Dale Rowell, Jeremy Kaufman
434 344 433 – 31 443 433 444 – 33 = 64
2nd Place – 65 .
Arron Molleur, Dan Mencucci, Andrew Whitney, Rowdy Doyon
543 434 443 – 34 333 434 443 – 31 = 65
3rd Place – 66
Tim Bellavance, Randy Bellavance, Mike Nixon, John Bellavance
433 434 444 – 33 432 434 454 – 33 = 66
4th Place – Tie – 67
Dan Hudson, Pat Hussey, Dennis Pudvah, Rob Montgomery
443 434 434 – 33 433 434 544 – 34 = 67
Nate Brown, Adam Whitney, Eric Stratton, Karl Ferland
344 434 544 – 35 433 433 444 – 32 = 67
Mike Clark, Dave Rogers, Matt Kiley, Mike Brochu
443 434 444 – 34 433 434 444 – 33 = 67
5th Place Tie – 68
Andy Hunt, Bill Hunt, Carl Edwards, Roger Boone
444 434 534 – 35 433 343 444 – 33 = 68
Tyler Rivard, Kip Doyon, Dale Hall, Bob Blake
432 444 644 – 35 444 333 444 – 33 = 68
John Sperry, Brad Ferland, Doug Allen, George Gattone
342 425 444 – 32 444 425 544 – 36 = 68
6th Place – 71
Brian Niemi, Slade Farnham, Jim Bellavance, Dan Gauthier
434 434 554 – 36 543 435 434 – 35 = 71
7th Place – 72
Colton Niemi, Dean Rogers, Wyatt Bellavance, Dan Rogers
343 434 543 – 33 444 525 654 – 39 = 72
Closest to the Pin Results
#3
George Gattone 5’10”
#5
Roger Boone 6’5”
Dan Rogers 10’5”
Eric Stratton 17’10”
Mike Brochu 21’2”
Slade Farnham 22’
Steve Parker 27’9”
Pat Hussey 33’10”
#8
George Gattone 6’8”
Steve Parker 10’11”
Dan Rogers 12’8”
Pat Hussey 13’7”
#9
Rowdy Doyon 2’10”
Jeremy Kaufman 6’6”
Dan Rogers 11’7”
Nate Brown 15’4”
Tim Bellavance 16’6”
Andy Hunt 18’9”
Mike Brochu 21’2”
#12
Mike Nixon 17’8”
Steve Parker 23’
Pat Hussey 24’4”
#14
George Gattone 9’11”
Pat Hussey 10’10”
Randy Bellavance 13’
Mike Clark 16’7”
Tyler Rivard 24’9”
Slade Farnham 26’
#17
Brian Niemi 10’
Andrew Whitney 11’
Pat Hussey 26’10”
#18
Mike Brochu 5’9”
Andy Hunt 7’6”
Bob Blake 24’5”
