MARBLEHEAD — With a chip-in par on the 18th hole, Tedesco Country Club member Greg Mahan sealed the victory along with his partner Peter Abbruzzese at the 81st annual Tedesco Four-Ball Invitational Monday morning. The duo earned a 1-up win over the team of cousins Ryan and Brendan Coleman.
The winning chip came from a tough spot over the back of the 18th green, with Mahan needing to make it in order to avoid a playoff with the Colemans. If the match had gone to a playoff, the Colemans would have received strokes based on their handicaps and would have likely had an advantage.
“It was an exciting end to an exciting weekend,” said Tedesco head professional Jake Leech.
During the trophy presentation ceremony, the winning team was presented with their plaques by former longtime Tedesco head professional Bob Green, who the tournament has now been named after. Moving forward, the annual tournament will be known as the Bob Green Four-Ball Invitational.
“We’re so happy to be able to do this for Bob, and he’s very honored,” said Jake Leech.
Monday’s match was a continuation of the final match from Sunday afternoon, which was suspended for darkness after dealing with several weather delays.
The Colemans made it into the final match after rallying to win their final two holes of the semifinal, making birdies on both 17 and 18. Mahan and Abbruzzese had to work even harder in their semifinal match, surviving six playoff holes to make it into the final. Due to the long playoff, the final match began at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday as opposed to the planned start of 1 p.m.
In the final, the teams went back and forth the whole way. It started out even through five holes, but Mahan and Abbruzzese were able to take a 2-up lead after the eighth hole.
That’s when the weather stepped in.
Lightning in the area caused the horn to blow with the two teams in the fairway on the par-5 ninth hole. After a quick 10-minute wait inside the teams were sent back out to try and continue, but the horn quickly blew again and sent everyone back inside for another 20 minutes. The go-ahead was once again given around 6 p.m. and the two teams went back out to get as much golf in as they could.
The teams battled through the rain to complete 15 holes before play was suspended due to darkness, with Mahan and Abbruzzese leading 1-up in the 16th fairway. When they came back Monday morning, the duo was able to hold off the Colemans over the final 2 1/2 holes to claim the victory.
There are still a number of big events left on the calendar for Tedesco, including the annual Tedesco Cup (moved from June to September 11-12), the men’s and women’s club championships over the next couple weeks and the Les Dunn Memorial Tournament this fall.
