Kaley Captures Second Classic Crown
PITTSFIELD, Mass. – Wahconah High senior Tim Kaley Sunday earned his second Berkshire Classic Championship by shooting a 77 at the Country Club of Pittsfield.
Kaley held off Mount Greylock’s Jacob Hilman and Lee’s Joey Abderhalden by going 1-over in the final six holes after doubling the par-4 12th, a hole that surrendered just one par to the 24-player field.
“I had to just keep reminding myself I didn’t hit that many bad shots,” Kaley said of his mindset down the stretch. “Especially on 12, I hit a knock-down 5 iron 220 into the rough and got buried, so I was like, ‘What are you gonna do?’ I just had some bad lies.
“I think I laid down on a bench on the 13th tee and said, ‘You’ve still got a shot here. You’re scrapping around pretty good. You could still grind it out.’ I made a good par putt on 13 and 14. I don’t know. It was a good end.”
Kaley, the 2022 Classic champ and 2023 runner-up, knew he had a chance, in part, because he was in a threesome with a couple of other pre-tournament favorites: Abderhalden and Taconic’s Mitch Hall.
He could keep tabs on those two rivals shot-by-shot and had a pretty good idea how the rest of the field was shaping up, including Hillman, who was one group behind.
“For the front nine, [Abderhalden] had me pretty good,” Kaley said. “I think he was up 3 on me – I could be wrong – making the turn. But I looked up on the board and saw Jacob doing great. So I was like, ‘This is going to be a three- or four-man race out here. I thought, there are some tough holes out there so, really, just grind it out as much as possible.”
Kaley’s lone birdie came on the 153-yard, par-3 fourth hole. He stood at 3-over at the turn. Abderhalden, who birdied the 512-yard, par-5 eighth, was actually two strokes ahead as they headed to the 10th tee.
Hillman made the turn at 39 but made up ground on the back nine, picking up a birdie on the 476-yard, par-5 16th hole to get within one stroke of Kaley with two holes left.
“I hit the ball pretty solid,” a ninth-grader for the Mounties. “I wasn’t in the fairway a lot, but my irons were good enough to get me back in the places I wanted to be. I hit some putts that weren’t awesome, but I also hit some clutch putts that I needed to make.
“My birdie was pretty big, at least at that point. I hit a solid drive, good 3 wood to just short of the false front. Then hit that to around 6 feet above the hole, so I was like, OK, just try to get it in the vicinity of the cup. Then I just hit it pretty solid right at the cup, and it went in.
“All of us made birdie on that hole, actually, our whole group.”
Hillman played with Lenox’s Hunter Shepardson and Wahconah’s Kesler Anello, who placed fourth in the field.
Lenox’s Brady DiGrigoli rounded out the top five with a round of 85 that featured a birdie on the 15th hole, a 485-yard par-5.
Not surprisingly, Wahconah, which went undefeated in match play and accounted for one quarter of the field at Sunday’s individual event, placed three golfers in the top six.
After Kaley and Anello, Wahconah’s Sam McLaughlin tied for sixth with Hoosac Valley’s Zach Mongeon.
McLaughlin started his day with a birdie on the 371-yard, par-4 first hole and ended up shooting 16-over.
Birdies were scarce and bogeys were the order of the day on the challenging CCOP layout. Fifteen out of the 24 players entered – the best high school golfers in the county this fall – finished at 20 or more over par.
One hole appeared to give more trouble than most.
The 340-yard, par-4 12th hole saw the field average 6.5 strokes with eight quadruple bogeys.
Just two golfers – Monument Mountain senior Gregory Kay and Wahconah ninth-grader Kesler Anello – tamed No. 12, each making par.
“I just thought, ‘Got to get it there,’ and it was perfect,” Anello said. “I hit a 9 iron. It just hit the hill, and it was perfect. My putt was about 20 feet. I blew it by and then made the comebacker.”
77
Tim Kaley, Wahconah
79
Jacob Hillman, Mount Greylock
81
Joey Abderhalden, Lee
82
Kesler Anello, Wahconah
85
Brady DiGrigoli, Lenox
87
Sam McLaughlin, Wahconah; Zach Mongeon, Hoosac Valley
88
Will Svrluga, Mount Greylock
89
David Carlino, Lee
91
Logan Aitken, Wahconah
94
Mitch Hall, Taconic; Mia Freeman, Lenox
95
Gregory Kay, Monument Mountain; Dom Marcella, Wahconah
96
Charley Driscoll, Taconic; Hunter Shepardson, Lenox; Michael Methe, Lenox
97
Oliver Kirby, Lenox
100
Jason Fields, Taconic; Carter Drake, Wahconah
103
Simon Fife, Mount Everett
104
John Brighenti, Lee
112
Gavin Maffuccio, Taconic
WD
Max Easton, Mount Greylock