CCNB Men's Fourball golf preview: One last hurrah for John Rolli and Jim Harrington
NEW BEDFORD — A lot of good things happened for John Rolli during his 32-year career as the men's ice hockey coach at UMass Dartmouth.
One of them was meeting Jim Harrington, who quickly became a golfing buddy and one of his dear friends.
It was 10 years ago that the two teamed up for their first appearance in the Country Club of New Bedford Men's Fourball and they're returning for a grand finale in this week's tournament, which gets underway with first-round action on Tuesday.
"We've had a good run, but it's time to step aside and let some younger guys take our spot in the field," said Rolli, who finished with an overall record of 577-224-43 with the Corsairs. "Golf is a young man's sport and we've more than aged out of this tournament."
Rolli, 71, and Harrington, 73, met after Rolli and partner Shaun Tavares, one of his assistants at UMD, had just finished up a round in the fourball.
"Jim approached us and asked if we were coaches at UMass Dartmouth," said Rolli, who also ranks seventh all time among NCAA hockey coaches with a .709 winning percentage. "He told us his nephew (Chris Carpenter) was one of our players and that was the beginning of our friendship."
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A big fan of former Boston Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara, who played for the New York Islanders last season and is currently a free agent, Harrington became a fixture at UMD hockey games and his friendship with Rolli eventually spilled over onto the golf course.
"We've had a lot of fun playing together and we both like to compete," said Harrington, a CCNB member and former tournament chairman who will be playing in his 24th fourball — 13 with Tim McNeil and 11 with Rolli. "We play well off each other. John is a much more competitive player than I am, but I try to feed off his energy and help out where I can."
Rolli, Harrington 'ready to go'
Rolli, who plays out of Allendale Country Club in North Dartmouth, said Harrington, a former state representative from the 1st Worcester District, has a reputation for rising to the occasion.
"Jim is an intense competitor who plays every shot like it's his last," said Rolli, who lives in Marion and spends his winters in Vero Beach, Fla. "He's always on his game and he's a grinder. You have to be mentally tough to play in the fourball and Jim has that toughness you need when the going gets rough."
Harrington, who spends his time in South Dartmouth and Port St. Lucie, Fla., said Rolli's approach on the golf course is the same one he carried on the Corsairs' bench — do what's needed to be successful.
"He knows what it takes to compete at a very high level," said Harrington, who retired in 2015 after serving for 11 years as the executive director of the Massachusetts Insurance Federation, the state's largest insurance trade association. "John's teams won a lot of hard-fought games and he put everything he had into UMD hockey. He's the same way with golf. He's all in for every match and he always shows up at the course ready to go."
Even though they've slowed down a bit on the golf course, Rolli and Harrington would like to bow out in one final blaze of glory.
"We would love to win a couple of matches to make it exciting. It's a great event and we've enjoyed being a part of it," Rolli said. "It's a very active and tiring week, but it's the event of the summer for golfers like us. We've been blessed in the past and anything that happens this year will be a bonus."
The father-son duo of David Pelletier and Kyle Pelletier, who notched a 5-and-3 win over Mark Bulbulian and Dave Carvara in last year's final, will be back to defend their title as the top seed in the 64-team event. The other seeds for the tournament will be released on Sunday.
Course in great condition
The tournament will get underway on Tuesday with first-round tee times starting at 10 a.m. The championship match is scheduled to tee off at noon on Sunday, Aug. 7.
The par-3 seventh hole has been reworked with new bunkers and the cart path has been moved. New cars for aces at the hole have been given away the last three years.
"The course is the best I've ever seen it," said Vince Forte, who's in his third season as the club's head pro. "The fairways are in great shape and the greens are perfect. It's been a lot of hard work getting the course ready, and we're looking forward to another great week of golf and activities."
This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: CCNB Men's Fourball preview: One last hurrah for Rolli and Harrington
