Gover & Hamel Comfortably Take Top Seed at Inaugural Four Ball Match Play
Canterbury, NH – As the inaugural NHGA Four Ball Match Play Championship got underway at Canterbury Woods Country Club, 34 teams teed it up in the stroke play qualifying round. One team in particular stood out among the rest and grabbed the top seed with match play set to begin later this month. Mat Gover and Russell Hamel, a duo who has yet to team up in a four-ball format, went low with a nine-under par, 63. Three shots back of Gover and Hamel, the team of Brett Wilson and Dan Mulkern find themselves heading to match play with the second seed after a qualifying score of 66 (-6). As the format shifts, players look to keep the momentum going to hold off one team at a time.
“We’ve been wanting to play together but never really got the opportunity to”, stated Hamel. It seems like this pairing might be one that sticks going forward as they equally contributed to a 63 (-9) to get the 1 seed for match play. Starting on the 2nd hole at Canterbury Woods in the shotgun start, Hamel was the first to get a birdie on the board for the team. From there, Gover went birdie-eagle to get the team to four-under par in a hurry. They were able to go back and forth, taking full advantage of the format, helping each other when needed. The two didn’t run into much trouble.
“He [Hamel] was mister reliable off the tee so it kind of allowed me to take a couple different lines and hit a couple different shots that I normally would not”, commented Gover. It showed, as one would safely put themselves in the fairway and the other would be able to play the hole more aggressively; it paid off in the long run.
The team is aware of the strong teams that are out there and want to keep the momentum rolling as the format shifts to match play. “This course is in great shape, and anyone can win”, stated Hamel. “There’s a lot of birdies out there.”
Right behind them was the duo from The Golf Club of New England, Brett Wilson and Dan Mulkern who fired a 66 (-6), both shooting 71 on their own, but helped towards the team score where necessary. Starting with the first hole, Mulkern made par to save the team from a bogey but didn’t come close to a bogey the rest of the way on the front nine. They went back and forth perfectly on six of the first nine holes, making the turn at five-under par. Their back nine was not as strong, carding two bogeys, but they held it together enough to go one-under par on the back nine for a six-under par total. The 66 was good enough to earn the 2 seed for match play.
Ultimately, even-par (72) and better made it into the Championship Flight of the tournament. With stroke play qualifying complete, the first round of matches will begin on May 28, continuing at Canterbury Woods.
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