Materos Capture Fourth Straight

Auburn, Maine, August 19,2006

The Team Matero juggernaut continued to roll on at Fox Ridge Golf Club in Auburn, today capturing its fourth consecutive Joe Merrill Invitational Golf Classic with a four-stroke victory in the 10th-annual playing of this historic tournament. The foursome of David Matero, Tim Matero, Greg Day and Jim Harford were led by Tim Matero, who shot an 82, and again demonstrated their brand of consistent team play for the four-stroke victory. Following the unique best-two-balls-out-of-four scoring system, the Materos finished at 161, the equivalent to 17 strokes over par. Again finishing as runners-up, Team Higgins team was hampered by the inability of ace Drew Turnbull to break 80 on the afternoon, as well as the twin-Sandbagger performance of the Higgins brothers, both of whom carded the high male scores of 111. Third place went to the Pulverizers, led by David Hopkins who shot an 81 to capture his first-career Drig Fournier cup. In fourth place was the squad fielded by the tournament founder, a team that fought gamely against its own incompetence but could not avoid falling 34 strokes off the pace at the end.

Team Matero: Greg Day, David Matero, Tim Matero, tournament orgainizer Joe Merrill, Jim Harford.

Two tournament rookies collected individual awards on the afternoon. Tim O'Neal from Team Higgins has the drive closest to the pin from the elevated tees on the signature 13th hole, while Krista Hopkins from the Pulverizers finished closest on the Par 3 third hole. Krista Hopkins also made it a family affair to capture the low score trophies (in her case, an "MX" championship hat), as she was the low medalist among females with a 122. The long-drive contests went to repeat winners this year. There was no consensus winner on the 513-yard 11th, as last year's winner Tim Matero set a standard that was equalled by Joe Merrill (who hit the longest drive on this hole in 2004) in the following group. Because the balls were several yards apart in the fairway, members from both teams surveyed the results and concluded that neither ball could be definitively determined to be longer, and thus the first tie in the history of the tournament was declared. There was no contriversy on the 17th, however, as David Hopkins again hit an implausible 300-yard uphill drive to run away with the prize. Hopkins has hit the longest drive on this hole in each of the three years the tournament has been played at the picturesque and challenging Fox Ridge layout. The final award on the afternoon was for the female Sandbagger (high score), captured for the first time by Doreen Merrill of Team Merrill.

Results:

Team Matero (161): Tim Matero 81, David Matero 91, Greg Day 99, Jim Harford 105


Team Higgins (165): Bill Higgins 111, John Higgins 111, Tim O'Neal 87, Drew Turnbull 86


The Pulverizers (173): Al Hopkins 96, Holly Higgins 130, Krista Hopkins 122, David Hopkins 81


Team Merrill (195): Doreen Merrill 143, Ralph Barker 107, Joe Merrill 108, Brian Ketchum 100.

Individual Awards:

Drig Fournier Cup: David Hopkins, 81
Low Medalist - Women: Krista Hopkins, 122
Sandbagger - Men: (tie) Bill Higgins, John Higgins, 111
Sandbagger - Women: Doreen Merrill, 143
Closest to the Pin, #3 - Krista Hopkins 27' 6"
Long Drive, #11 - (tie) Tim Matero, Joe Merrill
Closest to the Pin, #13 - Tim O'Neal 17' 8"
Long Drive, #17 - David Hopkins

(l-r) Doreen Merrill, Joe Merrill, Tim Matero, Krista Hopkins, Tim O'Neal, Bill Higgins, David Hopkins, John Higgins