Scenes From the Keane

Scott Peters and TJ Anthoine, Quechee Director of Golf, share a moment after the Vermont club played host to a hugely successful Tommy Keane Invitational.

Craig Steckowych and Brett Wilson congratulate each other on the 18th hole as champions Andy Hydorn and Scott Peters look on.

The championship pitted four friends against each other.

Peters and Wilson

Peters-Hydorn Grind Way To Title

Teammates congratulate each other after the final putt on the 18th hole.

QUECHEE – The Tommy Keane Invitational began Friday in a torrential downpour and, fittingly in its successful first run at The Quechee Club, ended Sunday with a rainbow over the heads of the winning team of Scott Peters and Andy Hydorn.

Three holes up on Craig Steckowych and Brett Wilson with six to go, Peters-Hydorn saw the veterans from the New Hampshire seacoast charge back and with a birdie on 18 have a chance to extend the match. But Hydorn answered the challenge with a birdie putt of his own to sew up the championship.

“They hit some great shots to get us down in a hole,” said Wilson. “But my partner came through and made a couple clutch birdies. We made them have to earn it on 18, and they answered the call.”

The Keane title is the eighth for Peters and his second with Hydorn, who has won the annual event three other times with a different partner.

“It was a great,” said Hydorn, who makes the trip up from Houston each year for the tournament. “Scott was awesome early on when I wasn’t so sharp. We pretty much had each other’s back the whole time. Brett and Craig are really good players and we knew it would be a tough match.”

Peters and Hydorn birdied the first hole on the Lakeland course to take an early lead that they never relinquished. After Hydorn’s three-foot birdie putt on 12 put his team three up with a chance to stretch the lead Wilson cozied a critical tricky downhill putt close on 13 to halve the hole with a par.

Then it was Steckowych winning 14 with a birdie and Wilson knocking in a putt on 15 to pull within one hole with three to play.

An excellent chip by Peters held off Steckowych and Wilson on 16 and after the 17th was halved it all came down to the matching birdies on the 18th green.

“They are two of the best players in New Hampshire and great friends,” said Peters. “We were hoping to play each other. You have to play good to beat those guys. You just have to.

“We ham-and-egged it. I didn’t play good some holes and he didn’t play good on some, but as a team we were a bunch under and managed to win.”

The championship flight finalists were the two top-seeded teams after shooting matching 66s during Friday’s qualifying. Peters-Hydorn also got the measure of the other pair in a one-hole playoff Friday for medalist honors.

“This was so much fun,” said Wilson. “All four of us are friends. We go on the road together. We were jovial. It just felt like four friends playing golf together, although obviously there was a little more on the line.”

The tournament, a staple at the now closed Hanover Country club from 1975  until 2019, was held at Quechee for the first time and for the first time in fall instead of its usual end-of-July date.

“The move here was seamless,” said Peters, who heads up the Keane committee. “The people at Quechee were wonderful and everyone loved it. I don’t think the tournament could have been better.”

Brett Wilson follows his putt on 18 under the rainbow.

(Check back Monday for a selection of photos from the championship flight final.)

Saturday Afternoon Brackets

QUECHEE – New venue. Same old same old.

They aren't at Hanover Country Club this year but familiar names head into the semifinals on championship Sunday of the Tommy Keane Invitational at The Quechee Club.

Scott Peters and Andy Hydorn, the 2017 champions, topped Ben and Tom Peters 3&1 in the morning and then made short work of Mike Hathorn and John Donnelly in the afternoon, 6&5, to set up a Sunday morning match against Vince Kimball and Zach Pollard, 4&3 winners in their morning match and 1-up winners over Doug Daniels and Cole Lewis in the afternoon.

On the other side of the bracket, three-time Keane champion Craig Steckowych teaming with Brett Wilson won by 3&2 in the morning and then took down five-time champions Nick and Shane MacDonald. They will face Jim and Andrew Jankowski in the semifinals after the father-son team won their morning match 5&4 before outlasting Bill Vielleux and Mitch Cable, 3&2.

The semifinal matches will tee off at 8:30 and 8:40 on the first hole with the championship set for the afternoon.

 

Monring Results: 1st, 2nd, 3rd Flights

Saturday 7 PM Update

Here are the results of the Championship Flight morning matches. The rest of the morning results will be posted shortly and the afternoon matches tonight when they are finalized.

Saturday Brackets

About Saturday

Editor's Note:  The change to September brought a conflict between what I do for a a big part of my living (Dartmouth football) and the Tommy Keane. Ultimately my responsibilities at Dartmouth have to win out. The hope is I can get brackets posted at some point today but I can't promise that.

Regular coverage of the TKI will resume Sunday.

Sun Shines On Tommy Keane

QUECHEE – The first groups on the course for Friday’s qualifying round of the Tommy Keane Invitational were twice called off the Quechee Club course and back to the Murphy Farm tournament headquarters because of lightning. By the time they finished their round the early rain had subsided, the dark skies had lifted and a beautiful afternoon beckoned.

It was a fitting first day for the annual event, which had the sun shine down on it when it found a home this year in Quechee.

“We talked about different locations back in the summer and this was right at the top of the list because they’ve got two courses and we wouldn’t affect member play,” said Jim Jankowski, who teamed with son Andrew to win the final TKI at the now shuttered Hanover Country Club in 2019. “I didn’t know about Murphy’s Farm. It is fabulous. Hanover was always special but this is a really strong golf course.”

Qualifying first for Saturday’s match play were teams featuring former winners of the four-ball event. Scott Peters and Andy Hydorn shot 6-under 66 along with team of Craig Steckowych and Brett Wilson. With no wind and the course soft because of the rain eight teams shot in the 60s.

Peters, instrumental in bringing the Keane to Quechee after a one-year stop at Lake Sunapee, couldn’t be happier about the reception the new venue earned.

“The reaction has been overwhelmingly positive,” he said. “With good weather the next 2½ days it is going to be spectacular here. People are over the moon.”

Count Steckowych, who won the 1997, ’98 and ’99 Tommy Keane with Brian Doyle, among those applauding the move to Quechee.

“I have very fond memories of this golf course because I won the New England amateur here,” said the Greenland, N.H. golfer. “It is a wonderful venue for the tournament. When we got here today it didn’t look like we were going to get to play and it is pretty amazing the way it turned out.”

Maine’s Mike Kelley, whose father Fred was instrumental along with Seaver Peters in helping the tournament become an Upper Valley fixture, wasn’t at all surprised that it continues to thrive. 

“It is resilience and perseverance that keeps it going,” he said. “Seaver passed away, and my father passed away but it’s something we have to continue. It’s not just a few individuals that make it happen. It is a community that does that. People like the Cioffi’s (Dave and Ron) who were never going to get near the championship flight but always come back to play and support the event.”

While Keane veterans like the Cioffi’s are critical to the success of the tournament credit a relative newcomer for helping it land at Quechee.

Frank Lombardi played in his first Tommy Keane only a year ago but the transplanted Massachusetts golfer quickly fell in love with the tournament and made a push to bring it to his home club after learning it was in need of a new venue.

“I had a great experience playing in it and I thought with two golf courses and Murphy’s Farm it would be a perfect fit,” he said. “I was on the golf committee and I pushed to bring it here. When the members didn’t want to close the course for a weekend in July I suggested moving it to September and the rest is history.”

Jankowski, who was presented with the Seaver Peters Award at the Tommy Keane dinner Friday night for his contributions to the event, applauds the move to Quechee. But he knows the tournament is about more than the scores or the venue or even the sun breaking through to shine on the event.

“Is it still the Tommy Keane here?” he asked. “It’s the people that make it what it is. I am seeing people here I haven’t seen in a year, so yes. It is the Tommy Keane.”

7:30 Update

Here are qualifying scores for all but the last two teams. Check back later tonight tomorrow for brackets and tonight for a story.

66	Scott Peters/Andy Hydorn
66	Craig Steckowych/Brett Wilson
67	Jim Jankowski/Andrew Jankowski
67	Jeff Lazerowich/Alex Lazerowich
68	Tom Keane/Sam Natti
68	Justin Cash/Peter Mittendorf
68	Chris Broom/Chad Kageleiry
68	Nick MacDonald/Shane MacDonald
69	Mike Hathorn/John Donnelly
70	Vince Kimball/Zach Pollard
70	Adam Pippin/Ran Landgraf
70	Bill Vielleux/Mitch Cable
71	Ben Peters/Tom Peters
71	Dan Elliott/Christian Wolter
71	Shane Wolter/Matt Mackin
71	Jeff King/Doug Williamson
72	Griffin Kiritsy/Andrew Loney
72	Dillon Sass/Luke Marrinan
72	Ryan Thorpe/Cam Thorpe
72	Tyler Hosser/Pete Robitaille
72	Pete McDougall/Rob McDougall
73	Ryan Bergeron/Cody Dodds
73	Frank Lombardi/Glenn Micalizio
74	Chris Taylor/Erik Lindahl
74	Matt Schmidt/Mike David
74	Toby Jasmin/Todd Holmes
74	Jake Obar/Tyler Kelly
74	Grant Kelly/Shane Glennon
74	Joe Yukica/Mike Yukica
75	Patrick Norden/Brent Hatch
75	Mak Lyford/Mike Lyford
75	Thomas J Keane/Kevin Keane
75	Matt Keane/Jonathan Keane
75	Anthony Cuomo/Alex Carras
76	Steve Hesser/Ted Sheehan
77	Chris House/Ryan Fay
77	Mike Kelley/Don Weisburger
77	Robert Brown/Jack Arnold
77	John Seaver/Scott Luca
77	Eric Maskwa/Dan Maskwa
78	Charlie Carr/Charlie Wheeland
78	Mark McCaddin/Rick Wetmore
78	Tom Dupree/Mike Garvey
78	Scott Fabisak/Jared Lemos
78	Jay Mullen/Aaron Mullen
79	Matt Smith/Matthew McLaughlin
79	Dan Campbell/Nick Trottier
80	Cody Danforth/Peter Holzberger
81	Greg Hardy/Ken Goodrow
81	Rick Hughes/Chris Clark
81	Jim Keane/Kevin Sullivan
81	Mark Loranger/Kevin Delaney
81	Craig Maguire/Mike Sullivan
82	Dean Cashman/Brad Podolac
83	Jeff Frechette/Terry Hall
84	Gary Smith/Michael Fisher
84	Scott Sinclair/Joe Robblee
84	Eric Wales/Brad Coates
85	Julian Jaworski/Eric Emery
85	Bobby Davis/Chad Frechette
91	Alex Robinson/Jonathan Vogel
91	Dave Cioffi/Ron Cioffi

6 P.M. Update

66	Scott Peters/Andy Hydorn
66	Craig Steckowych/Brett Wilson
67	Jim Jankowski/Andrew Jankowski
67	Jeff Lazerowich/Alex Lazerowich
68	Tom Keane/Sam Natti
68	Justin Cash/Peter Mittendorf
68	Chris Broom/Chad Kageleiry
69	Mike Hathorn/John Donnelly
70	Vince Kimball/Zach Pollard
70	Adam Pippin/Ran Landgraf
70	Bill Vielleux/Mitch Cable
71	Ben Peters/Tom Peters
71	Dan Elliott/Christian Wolter
71	Shane Wolter/Matt Mackin
71	Jeff King/Doug Williamson
72	Griffin Kiritsy/Andrew Loney
72	Dillon Sass/Luke Marrinan
72	Ryan Thorpe/Cam Thorpe
72	Tyler Hosser/Pete Robitaille
72	Pete McDougall/Rob McDougall
73	Ryan Bergeron/Cody Dodds
73	Frank Lombardi/Glenn Micalizio
74	Chris Taylor/Erik Lindahl
74	Matt Schmidt/Mike David
74	Toby Jasmin/Todd Holmes
74	Jake Obar/Tyler Kelly
74	Grant Kelly/Shane Glennon
74	Joe Yukica/Mike Yukica
75	Patrick Norden/Brent Hatch
75	Mak Lyford/Mike Lyford
75	Thomas J Keane/Kevin Keane
75	Matt Keane/Jonathan Keane
75	Anthony Cuomo/Alex Carras
76	Steve Hesser/Ted Sheehan
77	Chris House/Ryan Fay
77	Mike Kelley/Don Weisburger
77	Robert Brown/Jack Arnold
77	John Seaver/Scott Luca
77	Eric Maskwa/Dan Maskwa
78	Charlie Carr/Charlie Wheeland
78	Mark McCaddin/Rick Wetmore
78	Tom Dupree/Mike Garvey
78	Scott Fabisak/Jared Lemos
79	Matt Smith/Matthew McLaughlin
80	Cody Danforth/Peter Holzberger
81	Greg Hardy/Ken Goodrow
81	Rick Hughes/Chris Clark
81	Jim Keane/Kevin Sullivan
81	Mark Loranger/Kevin Delaney
81	Craig Maguire/Mike Sullivan
82	Dean Cashman/Brad Podolac
84	Gary Smith/Michael Fisher
84	Scott Sinclair/Joe Robblee
85	Julian Jaworski/Eric Emery
85	Bobby Davis/Chad Frechette
91	Alex Robinson/Jonathan Vogel