Matt Iczkowski leads Granby as both win sectional Division 2 golf championships
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SPRINGFIELD - The two F-16s could not have picked a better time to fly over Franconia Golf Course on Tuesday.
The fighter planes screamed by just as the final scores were posted on the leaderboard and Granby, behind Matt Iczkowski's medalist performance, started celebrating its first sectional championship since 1976.
The flyby "was an omen of what came," Iczkowski said. "It was a good sign."
Iczkowski, a Holyoke Catholic junior who plays for Granby via a co-op program, claimed his first outright championship at any level with a 2-over-par 73 to win the Western Massachusetts Division 2 title. Iczkowski was four shots better than Max Bock of Belchertown and Sean Folan of Wahconah.
"This is very cool," Iczkowski said, clutching his individual trophy. "It's a good feeling."
Granby finished with a score of 334. Shane Hollenbeck (85), Josh Fernandes (86) and Kevin Sypek (90) contributed to the win. The best four-of-six scores count toward the team total.
"I'm shocked," Granby coach Tom Burke said. "I knew they were going to be in it, but it was really a nice surprise. I thought with the conditions the way they were, anybody had a shot today. My thing to the kids was make every shot count."
Belchertown was second at 338 behind Bock, Eli Young (86), Mike Fitzpatrick (86) and Shawn LeBeau (89).
"Some people are happy with how they shot, some people aren't," Bock said. "It was tough. It wasn't an easy day to play good. It's not the end of the world. We're going to states."
The top two teams qualified for the start tournament, which will be held Monday at Hickory Ridge County Club in Amherst. The top six individuals also qualified. Sean Ryan of Hampshire Regional missed qualifying by two shots with an 85. The Raiders, who went undefeated during the regular season, finished fifth at 348.
"There's a 'what if' on every shot," Ryan said. "I could have made a putt here, or not chunk a shot there."
Cameron Porter had a 91 to pace Frontier Regional (383), which was last in the nine-team field.
Iczkowski, who lives in Southwick, and Bock were among four players who broke 80, joining Folan and Alex Vincellette (79) of Cathedral. Conditions were difficult. Despite cool temperatures and sunny weather, a stiff wind affected most shots.
"This is normally a pretty easy course," Bock said. "The wind, the conditions were very difficult. It hurt a lot of people."
The conditions affected everyone, leaving the championship wide open. Among the region's top players, Matt Oleksak of Cathedral fired an 88, while Chad Alibozek of Hoosac Valley had a 90 and Mike Ames of Frontier shot a 103, proving that even some of the best were not immune to the challenges.
"This was tough, tough day, for everybody," Burke said. "It's a matter of mentally hanging in there and (Granby) did a great job. Super job."
Iczkowski started on the second hole and opened with two pars. Four straight bogeys set him back but he closed his front nine with two pars and a birdie to get back on track. Iczkowski's steady play continued with five straight pars before a birdie on the par-4 14th. He then parred No. 17, bogeyed No. 18 and birdied the par-4 first hole for a 73.
"I was pretty comfortable with the wind all day, it was really adjusting to the greens," Iczkowski said. "During the practice round they were slow and bumpy, but (the club) really rolled them and cut them down short so they were pretty quick."
Bock started on No. 1 and put himself in position to contend for a second title with 36 on the front nine. The senior faltered a bit on the back nine with double bogeys on No. 13, No. 14 and No. 17 to close with a 41. It was Bock's second straight runner-up finish. He won the individual title as a freshman.
"I tried to keep my head in the game," Bock said. "I birdied 16, which helped. I tried not to get too far ahead."
Hampshire, meanwhile, had a setback before the tournament began. The Raiders lost their No. 3 player Eddie Hagelstein to an injury and Cody Payson, who was an alternate all season, took his place.
But Hampshire showed resolve and had its best finish as Josh Holt and Codie LaPlante each shot an 87, and Jake Antosz added an 89.
"Our team played fine," Ryan said. "This is the first time our team made it with all four in the 80s. That was big for us."
Mike Moran can be reached at mmoran@gazettenet.com.
