SOUTH HADLEY — On the fourth hole of Wednesday’s golf match against Southwick at Ledges Golf Club, South Hadley’s Zach Kotfila knew he had to go for it.
The par-4 fourth is 276 yards long with a slight dogleg left and a pond that protects the entire left side of the fairway.
The safe play is to pull an iron out and lay up. Kotfila stepped up to the tee, driver in hand, and ripped a drive over the fountain in the middle of the pond and onto the green on the far side.
Kotfila had good reason to take a chance. His opponent, James Longhi, made four birdies on his way to the top score of the day, a 3-under-par 33. Longhi chose to lay up on the fourth. He hit a fine approach shot and matched Kotfila for par after the number one for South Hadley rimmed out on his birdie attempt.
“When you’re playing someone that good, it doesn’t make you nervous, it just lets you know what you have to rise up to,” Kotfila said. “It’s tough to beat someone who’s making 20 footers left and right.”
Kotfila shot an even-par 36, which included a beautiful birdie on the par-3 third hole after his tee shot came to a stop 2 feet from the pin. But Longhi is considered one of the top golfers in western Massachusetts and his iron play was superb all day.
Longhi has a very calm demeanor on the course that belies a quiet confidence. There was no scream after he sank a 15-foot birdie putt on the 9th hole, but he silently raised both hands and pumped his fists.
“For me, I just play the golf course,” Longhi said. “I know that if I play my best, I’m probably going to come out on top.”
This was a matchup between the two top teams in the Suburban East, and Southwick (8-0, 6-0) put some distance between itself and South Hadley (6-2, 4-2).
Southwick’s strength at the top of the lineup was evident on the sixth hole. After their drives had them standing next to each other in the middle of the fairway, Longhi and his teammate Bradley Durand were ready for their approach shots. Longhi looked on as Durand’s lofted chip landed 4 feet from the flag. A moment later Longhi’s own ball landed beside Durand’s. Longhi sank his birdie putt, and Durand finished for par after his birdie try lipped out.
Southwick also has strength in depth and it picked up points in the third, fourth, and sixth matches. Southwick’s Matt Garrity beat Jack Allard 3½-½ at No. 3. Jack Fairlie added another win by beating Jack Remillard 3-1 at No. 4, and Nick Kavrakis beat Jared Waite 2½-1½ at No. 6.
In the second match, South Hadley’s Billy Scott shot a 38 to defeat Durand, 3-1.
South Hadley’s Logan Waite tied Chris Baker, 2-2 at No. 5.
“We were in it, but golf’s a funny game,” South Hadley coach Bill O’Neil said. “There are places for improvement but we ran pretty tight with them. All in all, it’s my first year, I’m having fun and I think the kids are too.”