Meet the RI Tri-State Team
After being canceled last year due to rain, the Tri-State Matches are set to resume on Tuesday at Cape Cod National Golf Club.
The matches pit team Rhode Island against a team from Massachusetts and a team from Connecticut.
The last time Rhode Island won was 2001.
Meet the Team Below
Mass Golf are the defending champions, having won the matches in Rhode Island in 2019.
Format
Day One afternoon matches include five Mid-Amateur, Mid-Amateur Matches along with three Senior-Senior Matches.
The Tri-State matches will conclude with singles matches in the morning on Wednesday, October 13.
Meet Team Rhode Island
Bobby Leopold
One of the greatest Amateur golfers to ever come out of Rhode Island, Bobby Leopold joins the Tri-State team as the defending Rhode Island Amateur champion.
Leopold beat Andrew O’Leary in a rain soaked RI Amateur tournament this past July at Kirkbrae Country Club.
The title is the third RI Amateur title of his career.
This summer, Leopold also finished in a tie for third at the Rhode Island Stroke Play at Alpine and 15th at the New England Amateur.
Earlier this season, he finished third at the Rhode Island Four-Ball with his brother-in-law Tyler Cooke.
Tommy McCormick
McCormick makes the Tri-State team after a solid summer of play.
He started it off with a win in the Rhode Island Four-Ball alongside partner Larry Lafauci at Valley.
Playing on his home course, McCormick made it to the semi finals of the Rhode Island Amateur at Kirkbrae, losing to Leopold in an epic match.
McCormick finished 10th at the Rhode Island Stroke Play Championship at Alpine.
A bout with Covid put McCormick’s summer on hold, but he came back strong to win the Kirkbrae Club Championship over Mike Hamilton in another epic match.
Mike Hamilton
Speaking of Mike Hamilton, he is also headed to Cape Cod to be part of the Tri-State Team.
While surely he didn’t get the results he wanted as far as wins go, it was a big summer for the former Lincoln High School star.
For starters, Hamilton made his debut in the Northeast Amateur at Wannamoisett, which is no small thing.
He went on finish 28th in the Rhode Island Mid-Amateur at Ledgemont and 14th in the Rhode Stroke Play at Alpine.
In the RI Amateur at his home course, Kirkbrae, Hamilton made it to the quarterfinals for the second straight year, losing to Andrew O’Leary in a match that went 21 holes.
Hamilton’s chip in on 18 to tie the match is one of the greatest shots you will ever see.
In the Kirkbrae club championship, Hamilton lost to McCormick in the finals.
Jamie Lukowicz
Lukowicz came into the season as the defending RI Amateur champion.
This year, he made it to the semi-finals of the RI Amateur at Kirkbrae, losing to Andrew O’Leary.
Lukowicz beat O’Leary in the finals of the 2020 RI Amateur.
Lukowicz also finished fifth in the RI Stroke Play and 13th in the RI Mid-Amateur.
Following all that, he lost the Agawam Hunt Club Championship to Bruce Heterick in extra holes.
Austin Cilley
It was a big summer for Austin Cilley.
The former basketball star turned golfer made it to the round of 16 at the RI Amateur at Kirkbrae Country Club where he lost to Hamilton.
Cilley snagged a top 10 finish at the Rhode Island Mid-Amateur at Ledgemont, and finished 12th at the RI Stroke Play Championship at Alpine.
At the Rhode Island Open, Cilley finished in a tie for 14th.
Not to mention he played a round of golf with former President Donald Trump and baseball Hall of Fame John Smoltz.
Jordan Amorin
Amorin came away with a big win at the Rhode Island Mid-Amateur at Ledgemont last month after trailing for the majority of the tournament.
He also made it to the round of 16 at the Rhode Island Amateur.
Tyler Cooke
Cooke finished in a a tie for 23rd at the New England Amateur this summer.
He also took a third place finished at the Rhode Island Stroke Play Championship at Alpine and advanced to the round of 16 at the Rhode Island Amateur at Kirkbrae.
Kevin Blaser
Blaser joins the Tri-State team after a solid summer.
He finished in eighth at the Rhode Island Stroke Play Championship and third in the Rhode Island Mid-Am at Ledgemont.
At the Mid-Am, Blaser led the field late on the final day before Amorin took over.
Blaser also made it to match play at the Rhode Island Amateur.
McKinley Slade
After taking some time away from competition, Point Judith’s McKinley Slade reemerged on the local golf scene this summer.
He made it to the quarterfinals fo the RI Amateur where he lost to McCormick on the 16th hole.
He also notched a top-ten finish at the Rhode Island Mid-Amateur and 14th place finish at the RI Stroke Play Championship.
Not too bad for a player who took several years off from competition.
Kolby Simmons
Simmons made it to the round of 32 at the Rhode Island Amateur this past Sumer.
He also finished 28th at the RI Mid-Amateur at Ledgemont.
Dean Parziale
A household name in Rhode Island Golf, Dean Parziale joins the Tri-State team after a big summer.
The Agawam Hunt member took home victories in the RI Senior Stroke Play Championship at Alpine and the RI Senior Mid-Amateur at Ledgemont.
Parziale finished in a tie for 13th at the Rhode Island Senior Amateur.
Darren Corrente
Wannamoisett’s Corrente had a busy summer of golf, playing all over New England.
Corrente finished third at the RI Senior Amateur at Warwick and third again that the RI Senior Stroke Play Championship at Alpine.
Playing in the New England Senior Amateur, Corrente finished tenth in a rain shortened event.
Had there been no rain, he might have won the tournament as he was red hot.
Corrente also finished 28th in the RI Senior Mid-Amateur.
Dr. George Pirie
The legend himself, Dr. George Pirie has made yet another Tri-State Team after a stellar summer of play.
Pirie finished second in the RI Senior Amateur at Warwick and played in the final group on Wednesday.
He also finished second in the RI Senior Mid-Amateur at Ledgemont.
In his storied career, Pirie has won the State Amateur three times, the Mid-Amateur once, the Four-Ball three times with his partner Scott Marshall, the Burke Memorial twice, the Father-Son three times with his son, Jon, the Senior Four-Ball and Senior Amateur once each.
Pirie has been the RIGA Player of the Year three times and has qualified for the U.S. Senior Open, U.S. Amateur and U.S. Senior Amateur.
Randy Millen
The Aquidneck Club’s Randy Millen finished fourth in the RI Senior Amateur at Warwick.
He finished fourth again in the RI Senior Mid-Amateur at Ledgemont last month.
Dante Najarian
Potowomut’s Najarian finished sixth at the RI Senior Mid-Amateur at Ledgemont, and then seventh at the RI Senior Stroke Play Championship.
Playing in the Senior Amateur, Najarian finished in a tie for 13th at Warwick Country Club.
John Auclair
Kirkbrae great John Auclair is back on the Tri-State Team after a strong summer.
Auclair played in the final pairing in the RI Senior Amateur at Warwick Country Club and finished in fourth place.
He also made it to the round of 16 at the Rhode Island Amateur at his home course – Kirkbrae.
Auclair lost to Leopold in the round of 16 match.
After all that, Auclair made to the semi-finals of the Kirkbrae Club Championship tournament, where he lost to Tom McCormick.
He has 13 Kirkbrae Club Championships to his name.