By Dalton Balthaser
EAST PROVIDENCE – Rob Grossguth stood on the 18th green knowing where he stood.
His caddie and clubmate at West Warwick Country Club, Tyler Boisclair, told him all he had to do was two-putt from 35 feet to win.
“Sometimes the hardest thing to do is two-putt to win,” said Grossguth, 57, of West Warwick. “I am glad Tyler told me where I stood. I would have jammed the putt by the hole.”
Grossguth proceeded to do the unthinkable. He left his putt short and had a hard right-to-left 10-footer to win and avoid getting into a playoff with defending champion Bruce Heterick.
“I wanted to throw up, that’s how disgusted I was,” said Grossguth about leaving his first putt short. “But I know that I am a good putter and I committed to making a good stroke on the last putt. I didn’t want to go into a playoff.”
As his ball dripped over the edge, all of his shortcomings in the past vanished and Grossguth won the 62nd Rhode Island Golf Association Senior Amateur Wednesday at Triggs Memorial Golf Course (par 72, 6,302 yards).
Grossguth finished with a final-round 69 and a two-day total of 5 under. He prevailed by one shot over Agawam Hunt’s Heterick, the defending RIGA Senior Player of the Year.
Day One leader Paul Quigley, of Green Valley Country Club, finished fourth after a final-round 74.
“It’s a great feeling,” said Grossguth. “I haven’t played a lot of golf this year. I could do no wrong on the front nine. Without a doubt, this is the biggest win of my life.”
He trailed Quigley by one to start the round. But a front-nine 31 (4 under) gave him a four-shot cushion.
With a reachable par 5 to start the back nine (502 yards), Grossguth could’ve took control of the event for good. But a bogey, killed all the momentum he built on the front.
Grossguth remained calm and bounced back with a birdie on No. 11 (par 4, 340 yards).
“Making birdie on No. 11 was a huge for me,” said Grossguth. “That helped me calm down after making bogey on No. 10. I knew after that I still had a four-shot lead over Paul. I didn’t know Bruce was making a run because I didn’t want to see the scores.”
Heterick charged with birdie, birdie on those same holes causing a two-shot swing.
Grossguth faced adversity next on No. 15 (par 5, 496 yards). An untimely swing led to a lost ball but Boisclair told him to stay in it and try to make a bogey.
He did.
Grossguth and Heterick parred the last three holes coming in. Heterick grazed the edge on a 35-footer on the last for birdie. It was one he knew he needed to make after seeing Grossguth standing in the middle of the fairway with a wedge for his second.
Grossguth's prior shortcomings were on his mind but represented a motivating factor in breaking through. Grossguth may have waited too long for a victory of this magnitude but the trials and tribulations throughout his RIGA career made this win feel so much sweeter.
He was a runner-up in the 2003 #RIAmateur at Valley Country Club. He lost to Mike Soucy in 37 holes.
Grossguth was on the bag at the 115th Rhode Island Amateur Final in July at Pawtucket Country Club when close friend Jamie Lukowicz won the biggest title of his career.
Now he has his just over a month later. Plenty of good karma was on his side.
“The guys at West Warwick will finally say that I won something,” said Grossguth. “My name is finally on a trophy. If I were to die tomorrow, I would be as happy as I could be. It means everything. I can’t wait to tell my wife and my daughter.
“I’ll never worry again about having trouble sleeping. If I do, I’ll just envision that 10-footer. I’ll remember it for the rest of my life.”