'It was a once-in-a-lifetime two days of golf,' Eighteen years later, Falcucci twins celebrate second Walter Cosgrove Four Ball championship

WORCESTER — Eighteen years ago, Dave and Dan Falcucci captured their first Walter Cosgrove Four-Ball Championship at Green Hill Municipal Golf Course.

Little did the twins know it would be nearly two decades for them to win another one. Dave Falcucci summed it up best when he said, “It was a once-in-a-lifetime two days of golf.”

The 39-year-old Falcuccis, who represented Cyprian Keyes Golf Club in Boylston, shot a remarkable 62 on Saturday, and followed that with a 64 on Sunday for an impressive two-day total of 126, holding off a strong challenge from Ryan Riley and Nick McLoughlin by two strokes to capture the 26th annual event, topping 37 other teams in the Championship Flight.

“Awesome,” said Dave Falcucci, who resides in Grafton. “Awesome. We’ve been in the mix a lot. From 2001 to now, we probably finished in second place six or seven times. My partner was an absolute stud today.

"The first 10 holes we played (on Sunday), he was 5, 6 under (par) on his own ball. It was insane to watch him. It was awesome. We made putts. We made pars when we had to. Eighteen under is ridiculous for four-ball. No bogies.”

“It feels great,” said Dan, who lives in Auburn. “More than anything it’s fun to come out and compete and put yourself in the mix. We gave ourselves chances, and the putts dropped. Overall, it was a great weekend. It was fun and special to pull it off in the end.

“The older we get, the more I enjoy the company,” Dan said of playing with his brother, who both grew up in Northborough. “With the kids at home, winning and losing isn’t as important as it used to be.”

On Sunday, Dave said the duo combined for eight birdies and an eagle.

“It was really, really good team golf,” Dave said. “I hope it happens again (next year).”

Brandon Parker and Taylor Fontaine finished third with a two-day 131, while defending champions Sean Magarian and Ryan Fillebrown, who are teammates at Assumption College, were fourth at 134. The tandem of former St. John’s star Kyle Tibbetts and Max Ferrari and the twosome of Jack Moy and Scott Van Den Burgh tied for fifth at 137.

“No bogies,” said the 20-year-old Magarian, who played for West Boylston High. “Honestly, we both hit pretty well, but we just didn’t hit any putts. We didn’t make any big putts going down the stretch (on Sunday)."

The 6-foot-3 Fillebrown, who played at St. Bernard's and recently earned his master's degree at Assumption, said whoever makes the most putts wins.

“There were a lot of tough pins out there today,” said Fillebrown, now 23. “Last year we made a lot of putts outside 15 feet. This year, we didn’t make any of them. A lot of close putts this year just didn’t go.”

The 40-year-old Riley, who grew up in Sutton and now resides in Easton and plays out of Thorny Lea in Brockton, and the 28-year-old McLoughlin, who grew up in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and lives with his fiancé in Amesbury, were generally proud of their performance.

In fact, the pair only trailed by one stroke when Riley sank a birdie on 10 from 40 feet, but they couldn’t get any closer.

“They earned it,” Riley said of the Falcuccis. “They played great. If you would have told us at the beginning of the week we would have shot 16 under, I would have liked our chances. Dave and Dan played better. Tip the cap. We kept fighting, two back. We had a chance.”

Riley, who won three Walter Cosgrove Four-Ball championships with former partner Herbie Aikens from 2010 to 2012, eagled on nine (par 5), lipped out a birdie on 11 and two-putted a birdie on 16.

“It was certainly nice to get us going,” Riley said of his eagle. “We parred all the way until 15.

“We did a great job of covering each other,” McLoughlin said. “Individually, on our own ball, we didn’t do anything special. I’d say we both played good, not great, but we did a good job of not having a bad hole at the same time. Sixteen under for a couple of putting-challenging days, that probably wins four out of five times. This is probably the one time. You can’t get upset about that.”

Next up for Magarian and Fillebrown is the Worcester County Amateur on July 2 (Kettle Brook Golf Club) and 3 (Wachusett Country Club).

“My big thing is to get off to a great start in the first round, play the last three holes well at Kettle Brook, and play well at Wachusett the second day,” Magarian said.

“Historically I play very well at Kettle Brook,” Fillebrown said. “I’ve got to try and figure out some stuff at Wachusett.”

—Contact Steve Farley at sports@telegram.com.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Eighteen years later, Falcucci twins celebrate second Walter Cosgrove Four Ball championship