Matt Iczkowski ties for fifth in state golf tournament
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NORTHBOROUGH - The best golfers don't allow one bad hole to ruin an entire round. Granby High junior Matt Iczkowski knows that firsthand.
Iczkowski didn't let a double bogey get him down and he carded a 3-over 73 Monday at the Riverside Course at Juniper Hill Golf Course to tie for fifth in the State Division 2 Tournament.
Iczkowski drove into the trees on 11 and ended up with a double bogey seven to drop him to 5 over, but he bounced back to card his only two birdies of the day. On 13 he rolled in a 30-footer and on 14 he used a sand wedge to hit his 90-yard approach to within six inches.
"I feel pretty good," Iczkowski said, "because in the past I've had trouble getting over the bad holes and coming to terms with making bad shots. I kind of get frustrated sometimes, but when I can come off a double bogey and come back with a par and a couple of birdies, it's nice to see that I'm evolving as a player."
The 5-foot-7, 130-pound Iczkowski also carded a 73 at Franconia Golf Course in Springfield two weeks ago when he earned medalist honors and led Granby to the team title in the western Massachusetts golf tournament.
Granby's lowest four golfers totaled 339 shots to place 13th among the 14 teams in the tournament. Shane Hollenbeck fired an 82 and Josh Fernandes, Kevin Sypek and Ben Modzelesky each shot 92.
Belchertown placed 12th at 325 behind Shawn Lebeau's 76, Max Bock's 80, Eli Young's 84 and Mike Fitzpatrick's 85. All are seniors.
Iczkowski gets around. He lives in Southwick, attends Holyoke Catholic, which is actually located in Chicopee, and plays for the Granby co-op golf team.
"It's not confusing for me because I've gotten used to the travel since freshman year," Iczkowski said.
Four of the six golfers who represented Granby Monday attend Holyoke Catholic. The others were Sypek, Modzelesky and Kathy McClaffin.
Granby coach Tom Burke was not with the team. Iczkowski said he was on a business trip to Florida.
Belchertown took 13 fewer strokes than it did when it finished second in Western Mass.
"I think we did OK considering the circumstances," Belchertown coach Dave Wright said. "We really haven't played since Western Mass."
Belchertown didn't have school all last week due to the snowstorm and several of the golfers had no power in their homes or any place to practice. On Thursday, Lebeau drove to Scituate to play Widow's Walk Golf Course.
Masconomet Regional of Topsfield totaled 298 shots to win the team championship by four over Hudson.
Masconomet junior Charlie May sank a 20-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole to earn medalist honors. May, Jason Steele of Pentucket Regional in West Newbury and Jack McDonald of Plymouth North forced the playoff by carding 2-under 68s.
The temperature reached the 60s and nearly all the snow that had postponed the state tournament last week had melted, but the course was reduced to a par 70 because the par-4 ninth was shortened to a 225-yard par 3.
Monday's Division 2 state tournament was scheduled to be played on Oct. 31 at Hickory Ridge CC in Amherst, but was postponed by snow.
