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.”
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