By Joe McDonald

RIGA Senior Writer

 

HOPE VALLEY – The field is complete for the 119^th Rhode Island State Amateur.

 

After three qualifying rounds – Cranston CC, Foster CC and Fenner Hill GC – along with an already impressive exempt list, the state’s best golfers will tackle the seaside Donald Ross course July 8-13 at Warwick Country Club. The exquisite venue on Narragansett Bay is also celebrating its 100^th anniversary and will serve as the perfect backdrop for the state championship. 

 

Wannamoisett’s Cole Vieira shot 4-under 68 to finish as the medalist during the final qualifying round Tuesday at Fenner Hill. 

 

“I hit the ball very well and kept it smart. I missed a few putts, but I kept it below the hole and didn’t try to do something I knew I couldn’t,” he said. 

 

Vieira, who just completed his freshman year at Assumption University, is no stranger to RIGA events. He competed and played well in several junior tournaments but was unable to qualify for match play in his two previous appearances in the State Amateur. After a season of collegiate golf experience, Vieira is playing with confidence and believes he’s ready for the upcoming challenge at Warwick CC. 

 

“It means a lot,” he said of qualifying. “I hope this year will be the turnaround year and I (advance to match play). My game is where it needs to be, so I need to keep improving and work on the stuff that needs to be done.” 

 

Pannone Returns

 

The golf community in Rhode Island was both excited and fearful when it learned Jonathan Pannone regained his amateur status. The 37-year-old returns to the amateur side of the game after 12 years grinding through the local pro circuit. In his first event back, he shot a 1-under 71 at Fenner Hill to qualify for the State Amateur, his first in over a decade. 

 

“I was so nervous and it’s a good thing,” he said. “If I’m not nervous I don’t even want to go compete and waste my time. (Tuesday) was the most nervous I’ve been in four years, so it was awesome. I’m back.” 

 

Pannone said he grew up idolizing all the players who won the State Amateur Championship, including four-time winner and defending champion Bobby Leopold. Pannone wants a state championship of his own, especially since he’ll make his amateur return on his home course. 

 

“It has a different energy about it,” he said of the State Amateur. “The energy around the golf tournament is something you can’t replicate and being at my home club is going to be very special and all my friends and family will be there. It should be an electric setting and a nice day to spend at the Bay.” 

 

He admits he wasn’t having fun playing golf as a pro. His solid performances were fading and he lacked the passion in order to compete at a high level. 

 

“Over the last three years, nothing really brought me joy playing tournaments,” Pannone said. “I would get home and would just be angry that I shot even, or 1-, 2-under because I knew guys would be shooting 63, or 64 and were playing 30, or 40 events per year and I was playing five. If you play four events you need a certain mindset, which I didn’t have. Last summer was the breaking point where I missed the cut at the Mass Open and then the Travelers (Championship). I was going to events feeling unprepared.” 

 

Pannone described his first year as a pro in ’12 as a honeymoon phase. 

 

“It was my best year as a pro,” he said. “I finished Top 5 in all the state opens, I held the lead at the Rhode Island Open and broke the course record (61) at Triggs. My game was on and it was a weird feeling.” 

 

Weird in a sense that instead of competing at Q School, he was simply going to work and running his business. Then COVID-19 hit, the golf business boomed, but he was focused on his business – Spargo Golf. He would still practice at his club-fitting facility and started hitting different styles of equipment. 

 

“I was realizing there’s a lot more fun in the game that I hadn’t really knew existed,” he said. 

 

Last year, after a disappointing round in the pre-qualifier for the Travelers Championship in Hartford, Conn., he felt he needed a change. 

 

“I made the split decision (to retire) and haven’t looked back,” he said, adding he sent an email that night, asking to regain his amateur status. He was granted that wish this winter and he’s looking forward to the next chapter in his career. 

 

“I still want to compete,” he said. “There is a fun life to play very high-level (amateur) golf.” 

 

A Newcomer Enters the Mix

 

Geronimo Narizzano recently graduated from the University of Rhode Island. On Tuesday, he shot a 1-under 71 to qualify for the State Amateur, which will be his first RIGA event. 

 

“It was a fun round, a great round, had a great caddie and he guided me around the course pretty good,” he said. 

 

He was born and raised in Argentina and attended a community college in Nebraska before transferring to URI to play golf. Teammate Sebastian Carlsson, who was the 2023 Rhode Island Interscholastic League’s Boys’ State Champion out of Narragansett High School, served as Narizzano’s caddie at Fenner Hill. Carlsson is also playing in the State Amateur. 

 

Narizzano is excited for his opportunity to play at Warwick Country Club. 

 

“It means a lot,” he said. “I didn’t have a chance to play last year. It’s at a great course and I’ve always wanted to play there. I’ll be practicing and getting ready for it.”