By Dalton Balthaser
WARWICK, R.I. - The University of Rhode Island forged Eric Marchetti and Chris Francoeur’s friendship.
Francoeur’s freshman season at URI coincided with Marchetti’s year as an assistant coach after he graduated in 2017. They became close as a result of that shared experience.
The current and former Ram used a 3 under 32 on the back nine to take the day one lead of the 70th Rhode Island Golf Association Four-Ball championship with a 2-under-par 67 at scenic Warwick Country Club (par 69, 6,467 yards) Tuesday.
“The wind was howling and the course was playing long,” said Marchetti, 24, of North Attleboro, Mass. “The rough is quite thick and with the firm and fast greens, you have to take your medicine on some holes. We played smart and put together a good round of golf that gives us a chance tomorrow.”
After making the turn in 1 over 35, the tandem needed to find a spark.
“We were hitting greens and getting down in two,” said Francoeur, 20, of Amesbury, Mass. “We started off slow. The two of us kept making the same scores. It was all about placing the ball in the right spots because if you didn’t you had a tough two-putt.”
The flame was ignited on No. 11 (par 4, 379 yards). The momentum needed to get the round back on track.
Francoeur striped a big tee shot down the middle of the fairway to 40 yards. He hit that wedge to 15 feet and converted the putt.
“Both of us birdieing No. 11 was the key,” said Marchetti. “Once we made our first birdie, our confidence grew. On the front nine, we were really grinding. The first few holes, I wasn’t in the hole at all. Chris did a good job of keeping us going.”
Marchetti added a birdie of his own on No. 13 (par 3, 186 yards) after stuffing a 7-iron to eight feet to get them to even par.
The highlight of the round for the duo came on No. 15 (par 5, 478 yards), the only par 5 on the course. Francoeur bombed his drive down the center of the fairway and hit a smooth 7-iron from 167 yards to 25 feet and buried it to get the URI pairing to 2 under.
Three pars got them into the clubhouse as one of two-under-par scores on yet another blustery, damp and wet day in Rhode Island.
With the wind whipping off the Greenwich Bay and the greens as firm as the Warwick parking lot the players parked their cars in, scores around par were quite good.
The only other round in the red was from the father and son duo of John and Brad Auclair of Kirkbrae Country Club and Brad of the host club.
Five groups are behind at even par. 22 teams of two are within four shots of the lead. Setting up a wild Wednesday finish at Agawam Hunt.
But for Francoeur and Marchetti tomorrow’s round is just another day.
“I am going to prepare for tomorrow the same way that I prepare for every tournament,” said Francoeur. “I am going to get a good night’s sleep and have a good breakfast in the morning.”
“I don’t think we will change how we play at all tomorrow,” said Marchetti. “We will have to stay aggressive and take shots as they come to us. If we can do that, we should have a chance to take this home tomorrow.”