GREENSBORO – In one of the most tightly contested finishes in Master’s Memorial golf tournament history, a card count that went three holes deep finally determined a winner in Friday’s golfing fundraiser at Mountain View Country Club, hosted by the Hardwick Academy/Hazen Union Alumni Association.
Three teams finished tied for first place with rounds of five-under par 30, and they all came from the 3:30 p.m. tee time groups. The day was divided into two groups, one teeing off at 1 p.m. and the second at 3:30 p.m.
The day began inauspiciously, with cool temperatures, high winds, clouds and rain pounding the course up until just before the first groups were to tee off. The rains finally came to an end about 30 minutes prior to the tourney’s start, but the 1 p.m. foursomes had to deal with very heavy winds throughout their round.
By the time the second groups went off at 3:30 p.m., the weather improved and within a couple holes the skies cleared and they were graced with steady sunshine and reducing winds. It’s no wonder the second group managed to tame the course with more success.
Once the first 10 groups completed play, the foursome of Rick Renaud, Dave and Cindy Wemette and Mike Bellavance led the tournament by posting a three-under 32. Three foursomes were tied for second place after shooting a two-under 33.
They included the foursome of Rowdy Doyon, Mike Nixon, Dan Mencucci and Rich Ahern, as well as Dan Judkins, Landon Thompson, Jake Drown and Dave Pudvah, and finally, June Bascom, Michael Hoffman, Lynn Stegner and Tom Woodward.
The second 3:30 p.m. grouping, however, was loaded with past champions. With much improved weather, reduced winds and sunny conditions, those previous winners put on a push for another championship.
The foursome of Joe Mulligan, Patrick Mulligan, Neal Mulligan and Dan Miko posted their round, but were actually the first of the three groups who tied for the lead to get eliminated first. In the card count, they lost out on the first hole, the fourth, by producing a four, while the other two groups birdied the hole. However, Joe Mulligan would end up winning closest to the hole on the third hole and Neal Mulligan captured closest on five.
That left two foursomes still in the hunt. The foursome of Dan Hudson, Sue Hudson, Darwin Thompson and Bob Fair had parred the second toughest hole, the sixth, as did the foursome of Arron Molleur, Nate Brown, Brian Niemi and Ted Benoit.
The championship count had to go to a third hole to determine a winner, and the latter group birdied the first hole while the other group parred, and that was the difference in securing the 2025 Master’s Memorial title for Molleur, Brown, Benoit and Niemi.
In the earlier group, it was Dave Bellavance who won closest on the third hole while Landon Thompson won closest on five. The 50/50 winners were Dan Gauthier for the 1 p.m. group and Brad Romeo won the draw later in the afternoon.
A total of 23 foursomes participated in the 2025 Masters, 10 playing in the morning and 13 in the afternoon.
