GolfNewsRI

In honor of the late coach Richard Palazzini…

Dynasty….

Merriam-Webster defines “dynasty” as a powerful group or family that maintains its position for a considerable time. 

Enter the Woonsocket High School golf team from 1967-1983. 

Those teams were led by Head Coach Richard Palazzini, who recently passed away at the age of 79. 

“Coach Palazzini always let us play our own game and basically, we just won most of the time for him,” said former player Dan Cesaroni. 

From 1967 to ’83, Palazzini helped the team to 11 division titles and several runner-up finishes in the State Championship. 

John Auclair recalls, “Mike Palazzini and I played on the team for Mike’s Dad all three years (WHS was a three-year High School back then). I was fortunate enough to be our number one player for all of my time on the team and I was one of only two WHS Freshmen (what we called 10th graders) to make All-State in 1980.  Sue Landry (girls tennis) was the other. Mike was one of my best friends so I really got to know Dick very well. Fun days….I miss them.”

From Cesaroni, to Auclair to Charlie Smith, the Woonsocket dynasty encompassed some of the best players in RI high school golf history. Some of whom are still great players today. 

Their run remains unmatched.  

The Pillars of a Dyansty

When looking back at the dynasty, any dynasty, it is important to identify the time. 

Rhode Island high school golf back in the 60s, 70s and early 80s, was not really much of a thing. Not like it is today. 

Back then, players from the state were not getting scholarships to top colleges like they do today. 

The run of Brad Faxon and Billy Andrade was still years away, and Dana Quigley was just beginning to get noticed. 

This sentiment holds true about three of the key pillars to the Woonsocket dynasty – Charlie Smith, Tom Wecal and Bobby LeBlanc. 

“These three players were pillars of the Woonsocket High golf dynasty. Today, they would have had multiple Division I scholarships to the top schools,” said Cesaroni. 

The three didn’t all play together, but their importance to the dynasty can’t be overstated. They were each single digit handicaps and were considered leaders of their era. 

Of those three, an argument can be made that Smith was the most important – he helped get it rolling. 

Charlie Smith & The Beginning of a Dynasty 

Smith arrived on the Woonsocket High School golf scene in 1967.

Just one year earlier, the Villa Novans were an intramural team.

As an intramural program, Woonsocket tested themselves against some of the best competition in the state and went 14-3 in those matches, a foreshadowing of what was to come. 

Smith joined a Woonsocket team that was bringing back Roger Hoyle, Chris Robinson, and Paul O’Connor from the intramural year. 

“Charlie was really the beginning of it. He was a great guy, he was really one of the funniest guys that you would ever want to meet,” said Cesaroni. 

Smith was a great athlete, tall and lanky. Rumor has it that he took on Providence College great Ernie DeGregorio in a one-on-one basketball game and beat him. 

His golf swing represented a reverse C. He nearly looked like he was going to fall over with the amount of bend he had on his way through the ball.

In his first year, Smith helped lead the Villa Novans to a 14-0 record and a Northern Division title – Woonsocket’s first. The team was never in any serious trouble. 

That season, Smith had an average score of 78 to lead the team. In the state championship that year, he shot 75 to finish runner up. Smith captured the year’s scoring honors. 

It is important to understand that high school golfers shooting in the 60s back then was not a thing. 

With one division title under his belt, Smith returned the next season with a strong team behind him.  

In 1967-68, Woonsocket went 13-1 and captured its second straight Northern Division title. Once again, the Villa Novans were never in any danger. 

However, that changed in the State Championship. 

Woonsocket struggled to figure out the small, undulating, fast greens at Agawam Hunt and great opposition. They would finish second again for the state title. 

Smith averaged a 74 that year to lead the team, he shot 75 in the State Championship. 

No other Woonsocket player broke 85. 

But once again, a strong team was coming back and another opportunity to win would soon arrive. 

In 1969, Smith was awarded the captaincy of the team, it was his senior season. 

Smith, along with coach Palazzini, lead the team to an 11-2-1 mark and a third straight Northern Division title. 

Smith was named an all-stater for the second straight year and took home the Rhode Island Interscholastic League’s Individual Championship. 

“He was the best player (in the history of the dynasty) I am thinking. There were a bunch of good players, but Dick always said he was the best,” said Auclair.

In 1969, the State Finals were held at the exclusive Misquamicut Country Club, a place that no one on the Woonsocket High School golf team could otherwise play. 

In the State Championship, Woonsocket was led by Roger Hoyle, whose father owned Castle Hill Golf Course. 

However, Woonsocket lost to the golf powerhouse of Warwick in the championship. 

It marked the end of era for several players, the most important of which was Smith. 

It also set up a rebuilding year for Coach Palazzini. 

Years later, Smith would play in the 1978 U.S. Open at Cherry Hills in Colorado after getting through local qualifiers.

Smith shot 79 and 77 in the first two rounds to miss the cut.

Arnold Palmer also missed the cut that year.

The Dreaded Rebuild 

Perhaps one of the scariest terms used in sports as it relates to franchises – rebuilding. 

Every franchise, every dynasty goes through it at some point in their run. The New England Patriots are doing it now.

Teams take years to rebuild, some teams never stop rebuilding (Buffalo Sabres, Sacramento Kings), Coach Pal and the Woonsocket Villa Novans took all of one year. 

“It was interesting because I think Coach Pal knew what he had coming up, we all played at Castle Hill. So he knew the players that were coming in,” said Cesaroni, who was set to be part of the rebuild. 

Woonsocket went 3-10-3 in 1970 with Allen Bouley as the only player who had any significant experience. 

Bouley averaged an 88 that season, while Tom Sosik averaged 87 and Gary Hoyle averaged an 84. 

The Villa Novans had seven matches that year in which they did not score more than three points. Two matches where the team only managed one point. 

Needless to say, it was a long year for Woonsocket golf. The good news was, 1971 would prove to be much better. 

Back in the Saddle – Again 

One year after losing ten matches, Coach Pal had the 1971 Villa Novans playing as good as any of his previous championship teams. 

Coincidently, 1971 was also the year that Dana Quigley turned professional and played on the PGA Tour. 

It certainly gave young Rhode Island golfers something to look ahead to. 

Led by Tommy Wecal, LeBlanc, Hoyle and Cesaroni Woonsocket compiled a spectacular 9-0-1 record. 

“We had so much fun playing high school golf in those days. Here we were, a bunch of public links golfers playing private clubs like; Newport Country Club, Agawam Hunt, Misquamicut and Kirkbrae. Back in those days, we never would have had the opportunity to play golf at those places,” said the high school team as a group. 

Wecal averaged a 78, LeBlanc 79, Hoyle 81 and Cesaroni 82 for the year. 

The Villa Novans would easily win the Northwestern Division Crown, before finishing third at the State Championship. 

The next season, 1972, was LeBlanc’s senior season, and Woonsocket made sure to send him out on top.

Led by All-State selections Wecal and LeBlanc, Woonsocket went 9-1 in the regular season, with their only loss coming to a good Cumberland team. 

Woonsocket would see that Cumberland team later in the season in a playoff for the division crown. 

The Villa Novans would get their revenge on the Clippers and win the title for the second straight year. 

Wecal averaged a sparkling 76, LeBlanc 77, Hoyle 80 and Cesaroni 81 on the way to a title.

The next season, 1973, would be the last for Wecal and Cesaroni. 

As expected, Woonsocket cruised during the regular season, going 10-0 with no team even touching them. 

They were never in danger of losing one single match. 

Bigger picture, Woonsocket had lost just one regular season match in three years. 

Woonsocket would win their third straight division title, but would stumble in the State Championship. 

What was thought to be a favorable matchup against Warwick, the Villa Novans lost 7 1/2 – 4 1/2 in the semifinals. 

The loss ended the high school careers of Wecal and Cesaroni. 

In their final seasons, Wecal averaged a career best 73.5, while Cesaroni averaged 79, a career low for him as well. 

In a way, this season marked the end of an era for Woonsocket with LeBlanc, Wecal, Hoyle and Cesaroni all moving on. 

However, it would not be the end of the run for Coach Pal. 

The Revamp 

New look team, same story for Coach Pal and his Woonsocket Villa Novans. 

The 1974 team featured players such as George Rasta, Jeff Delasanta, Jimmy Auclair, Jerry Chabot and Wayne Connelly. 

These new look Villa Novans, hungry to continue the run, went undefeated during the regular season.

The only two teams that even came close to beating them were Cumberland and Mount St. Charles, other than that, Woonsocket was never in any trouble. 

The Villa Novans would raise another division banner and advance to the State Championship. 

Woonsocket drew Westerly in the semi finals and would beat them on the first sudden death hole. 

However, the Villa Novans were not able to get over the State Championship hump. 

Rasta led Woonsocket with an average score of 74.5 for the season, while Auclair averaged 76. 

In a stat that illustrates how the game was already changing, three other players averaged scores in the high 70s that year, with just one player averaging a score in the low 80s. 

In the early years of the dynasty, having just one player crack 80 was an accomplishment. 

The next season would be the last for Auclair, Delasanta and Belanger as they were seniors. 

In the regular season, Woonsocket went undefeated again, but not without some close encounters. 

In the Villa Novans’ second match against rival Cumberland, they won by a point, 6 1/2 to 5 1/2. Woonsocket also beat Mount Saint Charles by four, the second time around. 

Incredibly, Woonsocket had lost just one regular season match over the last five years. 

In the State semi finals, Woonsocket edged Cranston West 7-5 to advance to the finals. 

Once again, Woonsocket wouldn’t be able to get over the hump. 

The Villa Novans would lose the championship to La Salle that year.

In their final high school seasons, Auclair averaged a 76, Delasanta averaged a 77 and Belanger 79.

The Last Run 

After another one year rebuild in 1976-77, the Villa Novans were right back on top in 1978. 

Led by Jim Beauregard, Dave Wecal and the Tavernier brothers (Steve & Scott), Woonsocket won the Northern Division with an 8-1-1 record. 

The Villa Novans beat Mount Saint Charles twice to clinch the division and advance to the State Championship. 

Woonsocket would suffer a heartbreaking one point loss to Cumberland, who was led by a young star named Ed Kirby. 

Beauregard drew Kirby in the match and shot 69. However, Kirby shot 68 to help Cumberland to victory.

“Eddie was amazing even in high school. We were close friends growing up at Winnesucket Country Club. We would play every day as kids. He won the match and Cumberland beat us in the semi finals at Kirkbrae Country Club,” said Beauregard. 

Years later, Kirby would make it to the PGA Tour and find himself on the leaderboard at a U.S. Open. Currently, he is the head pro at The Aquidneck Club (formerly Carnegie Abbey.) 

Woonsocket posted another division title in 1979, before a down year hit in 1980-81. 

However, the 1981 team made up for it. 

Led by the coach’s son, Mike, as well as, All-Division players John Auclair, Paul Mercier and Bill Mathurin, the Villa Novans went 11-1 to win the Northwest Division again. 

“Dick Palazzini had a knack for making COMPLETELY obvious and/or ridiculous comments during matches and practices. Someone cold shanks a pitch out of bounds, “That’ll be a tough shot from there,”” recalls Auclair.

Auclair continues, “I beat some poor kid from Foster 10 & 8 (in an 18 hole match!), “Played well today?” A guy WIFFS his tee shot on the first tee and almost falls down, “Keep your head down.” At the RIIL Individual tourney on the first tee, “You don’t need me here today, right?  I’m heading to Jai Lai…I’ll be back in a few hours.””

John Auclair was the younger brother of Jimmy Auclair, who had helped the Villa Novans to several division titles a few years earlier. 

Now, the younger Auclair had his banner. 

In the State Championship that season, Woonsocket downed Burrillville 8 1/2 to 3 1/2, but lost to Toll Gate in the State Semi-Finals. 

RI Golf Rises, a Dynasty Fades 

The Rhode Island golf scene was beginning to change in 1983 – for the better. 

Barrington’s own Brad Faxon had just turned professional and was competing at a high level on the PGA Tour. 

Providence Country Day’s Billy Andrade had just committed to Wake Forest, where he would lead them to a National Championship in 1986. He would join Faxon on the Tour in 1987. 

For Rhode Island golfers, the PGA Tour was now becoming a real thing. 

For Woonsocket, despite high expectations for the 1983 season, the Villa Novans would go 6-3-1 and finish third in the Northwest Division. 

It was Woonsocket’s 17th winning season under Coach Palazzini, and the last season for Auclair and Palazzini jr. 

For Auclair, it is the pranks that live on forever.

“One time after an away match I decided to move the FULL SIZED school bus that we took to the match.  Yes…sometimes they gave us a FULL SIZED bus to transport like 7 guys. We were all on the bus, but Dick was at the bar with the other coach.  The keys were in the bus.  It was an old crappy manual transmission, but I figured out how to move the dumb thing around the corner where Dick couldn’t find it when he came out from the bar,” said Auclair.

Auclair continues, “He couldn’t see the bus, but we could see him.  He was looking left and right, had his hands on his hips, scratching/shaking his head.  He was totally confused.  I finally beeped the horn and he saw the bus behind the building. Most coaches would’ve been PISSED, but he couldn’t stop laughing,” recalls Auclair.

John Auclair has since gone on to win the Kirkbrae Club Championship 12-times and remains one of the top players in the state. 

With Auclair gone, Woonsocket went 3-6 in the 1984 season, a far cry from where they were over the last 17 years. 

With that, the historic run of the Villa Novans slowly faded year after year. 

Palazzini retired from Woonsocket High School in 1993. 

Power houses such as Bishop Hendricken, La Salle and Moses Brown began to rise, and still remain on top of the Rhode Island high school golf world.  

Perhaps setting the stage for dynasties of their own. 

Today, the Woonsocket golf team is searching for participants, hoping another dynastic run will soon rise.