Andy Lesenski and Cody Booska made their mark at the 42nd Massachusetts Four-Ball Championship. 

Lesenski, representing the Country Club of Greenfield, and Booska, representing Crumpin-Fox Club, ended Tuesday’s opening round of the two-day tournament sitting in first place after shooting a 9-under-par 62 at the Hyannisport Club. 

On Wednesday, playing their second and final round at the Bayberry Hills Golf Course in West Yarmouth, the pair carded a 3-under 69, placing them tied for fifth overall with a two-round score of 12-under. 

Thomas Harrison and Steven Tasho won the tournament with a two-day score of 17-under. 

“It was a good couple days,” Booska said.”We gave ourselves a chance but we just couldn’t make our putts [Wednesday]. They weren't falling. We shot 3-under which was the worst we could have shot. We were inside 100 yards quite a bit but couldn’t capitalize.

“Sitting here now, I don’t feel like we lost, though,” Booska continued. “I had a great time. It obviously stinks we didn’t win and I’m getting sick of having all these runner-up and top five finishes in Mass Golf [events]. That’ll come around. This was a great tournament and I got to play two days of golf on two awesome courses.” 

While it wasn’t the end result the pair hoped for, it was still a tournament the two enjoyed competing in. 

“Everything went smoothly,” Lesenski said. “[Wednesday] was a grind. It was really cold out there and tough for me to get a feel going in. We hit a lot of wedges into the greens but weren’t able to do much with it. We didn’t make any putts this morning. We had fun though and it was a solid finish. To be able to compete and be near the top of the leaderboard is always fun.”

It was a monster opening round at Hyannisport for the pair. Lesenski finished Tuesday’s opening round with three eagles, helping them enter the second day of the tournament with a one-stroke lead on the field. 

Lesenski got things going with an eagle at the second hole, and Booska sank a pair of par putts down the stretch to keep them in the lead heading into Day 2.

“Andy’s three eagles helped, for sure,” Booska said. “Both of us played solid both days. As for [Tuesday] we just dinged and donged well. Every time someone had a good look at birdie the other was in for par. That was key for us, having your partner in the hole so you can give yours more of a run. It was a mixture of that and a little bit of luck. Andy chipped in for eagle on two to get us started and he bombed in a couple putts too which was awesome.”

Day 2 saw the pair rack up four birdies, but one bogey combined with two bogeys during Tuesday’s opening round ended up being the difference. 

“A couple bogeys came on easy three-putts unfortunately,” Booska said. “You have to give and take. Our eagles made it so we could afford to hole out on a couple holes.”

It came down to putting on Wednesday, with the pair unable to make as much around the greens as they were on Tuesday.  

“Making that shot on [No. 2] on Tuesday got our day started,” Lesenski said. “[Wednesday] we needed something like that to get the momentum shifted and get us in gear. We just stayed patient and didn’t do anything unusual. We just ran out of holes.” 

It helps that Lesenski and Booska have good rapport on the course. In a Four-Ball structure that counts the best score per hole from each player, the duo was able to see things the same way, and while their games might not be the same, having the same course of action leads to success in this structure. 

“Our games are totally different but we look at the game of golf the same way,” Booska said. “We’re always on the same page about our approach. Our shot shape we use is different but we visualize stuff the same way. It makes for a good team.” 

While not always playing tournament golf together, Lesenski and Booska have spent plenty of time together on golf courses. They plan to try to play in more competitive events together going forward.

“We’ve played a lot of golf together,” Lesenski said. “We had a good finish in this. We didn’t really discuss it in depth but we definitely want to play more together and try to get a win. We play good together and [Booska] has a great game. It’s nice to have a partner you can trust and not have to worry about out there.” 

Michael Mertes of Wyckoff Country Club and Ronald Laverdiere of Crumpin-Fox finished the tournament 5-under, placing them tied for 48th. Justin Dion and Keith Burch of CFC finished the second round at Hyannisport at even par to finish their tournament 3-under and in a tie for 81st. 

Mark Waskiewicz and Troy Miller, both of Crumpin-Fox, finished 1-under during their second round at Hyannisport. They closed out the tournament at 1-under to finish tied for 101st.

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