ADAMS -- Chad Alibozek walked toward the coaches table staring at his scorecard almost in disbelief. He handed in the card, smiled and walked away without saying much of anything.
He didn't have to say a word -- his card said it for him.
With four birdies, three in the final four holes, he closed his round beautifully and earned the right to smile. He led his team to a 161-169 victory over the Lee Wildcats. But with a bogey and a double bogey, he knew it could have been so much better.
"I played a lot more aggressive today," Alibozek said. "I am a birdie player usually. This year I haven't been getting to that 15-18 foot range on the [putting] green, I've been getting to 25 or 30. So I'm putting well, but what are the odds of making putts from 30 feet opposed to 15?"
On Thursday, it seemed he couldn't miss, regardless of the distance, on the last few holes. It wasn't like that all day, however. He double bogeyed the second hole and then bogeyed the fifth hole. His opening drive on the sixth wasn't any good either. He hooked it way left.
That's when he starting playing more aggressively.
"I hooked one down by the cart cage [on the sixth hole] and I knew I had a tough chip coming up," the senior said. "But I hit it almost perfect and almost holed it. It ended up landing just four or five feet shy. From that range, for me so far this year, has been almost automatic."
The 33 set the pace for the match,
"I know Chad is going to do that," Hoosac coach Jay Sniezek said. "He had a bad hole on 2, had a double bogey, then he hit four birds. He knows he can do that, it's typical for him."
It was Matt Burdick, the No. 5 golfer, that sealed the match. After the first four golfers came off the course the teams were tied, 181-181. Burdick's 43 bumped No. 4 Ty Clark and gave the Hurricanes enough of a cushion to withstand Lee dropping 12 strokes by taking No. 6 Devyn Olds' 39.
"I got nervous when Lee's six guy came in with a 39, but Matt Burdick sealed it for us with that 43," Sniezek said. "He just played steady and that's really what you need out of a five guy."
The entire Hoosac lineup had a steady round. Mike Barnes shot a 43 and Keith Pero carded a 42 for the other two scoring rounds. Clark had a difficult round after hitting his hand on a metal pole while attempting a chip shot. He continued to play, but a sore and swollen hand contributed to a 63.
For Lee, Andy Consolati shot a 40 and Jared Fadding a 44.
The victory keeps Hoosac's hopes of a Western Massachusetts tournament appearance alive.
"This was huge, we didn't start off too good, but we battled back," Pero said. "This is just about building momentum. We have three matches next week, so, hopefully, this momentum will carry us into those."
To reach Sam Monroe, email
smonroe@thetranscript.com.
On Twitter: @NAT_DigitalSam
Font Resize
