Playing in just his second Fourball, former CCNB employee helps knock off defending champs

NEW BEDFORD — As the director of outside operations at the Country Club of New Bedford for 12 years, Ryan Massoud always looked forward to working the annual Fourball tournament each August.

“With me working it for so many years, this is my favorite week,” Massoud said. “I always worked the Fourball and I loved it.”

When Massoud left CCNB to become a mortgage broker for Stonegate Mortgage in June 2021, he got to experience the CCNB Fourball from a golfer’s perspective.

“Last year I played it for the first time,” said Massoud, who lives in Acushnet. “We lost the first day and we won the second day. We had a win so we felt it. It was so much fun.”

Playing together for the second straight year, Massoud and CCNB member Kyle Kim had the biggest upset on the first day of the 92nd annual CCNB Men’s Fourball on Tuesday as they knocked off defending champions Kyle and David Pelletier.

“When the draw came out and we got the champs, we said, ‘OK,’” Massoud said. “Working here for so long I know they’re a great team and great people. I always cheer for them so when they won I was super happy for them so I was like, ‘Ah that really sucks we’re playing them.’”

Massoud and Kim fell behind early, trailing by four after the front nine.

“I’m not going to lie, after the nine being down four, I thought it was over,” admitted Kim, a Mattapoisett resident who works for State Street Bank. “I think the pause — we had to wait for other teams to come through — threw them off their game a little bit.

“We grinded it out and made some putts we needed to make. Those guys are a great team. They won it last year and they’re even better people. It’s a huge victory for us and we’re happy to have it.”

Kyle Pelletier said it was a tale of two nines for him and his father.

“We played good in the front and we made a few mistakes on 11 and 12 and they battled back,” he said. “They had strokes on 14 and 18 and made four threes and that’s what it was.”

David Pelletier added, “They could have folded after the front nine but they hung in there so it’s a credit to them. They played well to win so they deserved it.”

Massoud and Kim took advantage of every opportunity down the stretch to rally back for the stunning 1-up victory on the 18th hole.

“They had a couple of rough holes where they missed a few putts and we capitalized and before you knew it we were even,” Massoud said. “We had a chance to go up at 16 and I missed a putt. We stayed even on 17. My partner had an amazing two-putt. We went into the 18 knowing that we were getting strokes. It just worked out. It was unbelievable.

“I couldn’t have drawn it up any better than that. For working here for so long, I don’t care what happens the rest of the tournament. I would love to win it, but just beating a team that has won it before validates that we belong and it was awesome.”

Massoud and Kim are hoping to keep it going on Wednesday.  

“I met Ryan when I joined here and he’s always been great to me so I always told him when he was done working here I wanted him to be my Fourball partner,” Kim said. “It worked out last year when he left here and that was our first year together. He’s a great partner to have. He settles me down.

“We’re fairly new at it so we’re learning to play together. It showed on the back nine today.”

BIG DAY FOR THE KIM FAMILY

Less than an hour after Kim and Massoud upset the defending CCNB Fourball champs, Kim’s father, Sun, pulled out a thrilling 1-up victory with Shaun Tavares over Bill Heron and Ben Winters on the 21st hole.

“They played well in the beginning,” Sun Kim said of his competition. “We were down three after 11 holes and we had to keep climbing back. We evened up the match at 17. We had a couple of opportunities to win and we didn’t, but we finished in extra holes and got lucky.

“It was a wonderful day for the Kim family today. I was so proud of (Kyle). It was the biggest upset of the tournament. That was amazing. Hopefully it continues.”

If they both win on Wednesday, the Kim’s could face each other in the Round of 16 on Thursday.

MILESTONE YEAR FOR HICKMAN

This week marks 50 years since Hickman played in his first CCNB Fourball.

“It’s not my 50th event, but the first time I played here was 50 years ago in 1972,” said the 68-year-old Hickman. “Since then I’ve played more than 20 of them over the years. One reason is I live right down the street and I keep getting invited so I keep coming back.”

Hickman took over 20 years off between 1980 and 2000 because of balancing work and family life.

Over the years, Hickman has had eight different parents. He won the CCNB Fourball in 2003 with Mario Roderiques.

On Tuesday, he teamed up with Kevin Costa to beat Steve Saba and Mike Luiz 6 & 5.

“I retired 10 years ago so I started playing a little bit more,” Hickman said. “The big thing is knowing the greens and you have to hit the ball off the fairways. Hit the fairways and everything else falls into place after that.

“We were steady today. The team that we played didn’t have their best day so we took advantage today.”

Hickman and Costa will face Massoud and Kim on Wednesday in second round action.

END OF THE ROAD FOR ROLLI AND HARRINGTON

Playing in their final Fourball together, John Rolli and Jim Harrington experienced an early exit, losing on the opening day 7 & 6 to Ed Winterhalter and Nick Clark.

ROUND ONE RESULTS

Kim/Massoud def. Pelletier/Pelletier, 1 up

Costa/Hickman def. Saba/Luiz, 6 & 5

Kim/Tavares def. Heron/Winters, 1 up

Perry/Ayala def. Correia/Correia, 5 & 4

Grolley/Giusti def. Rocha/Blaser, 2 up

Franco/Wedge def. Adao/Barbosa, 3 & 1

Rogers/DoCouto def. Moura/Moura, 3 & 2

Champagne/Walecka def. Ribeiro/Mello, 2 & 1

Lachapelle/Cadorette def. Lafreniere/Guthrie, 1 up

Manzone/Blanchard def. Botelho/O'Brien, 2 & 1

Hantman/Fernandes def. Morgado/Antonio, 3 & 2

Gonsalves/Santos def. Nery/OConnor, 5 & 4

Glassman/Meggison def. Snell/Rosa, 3 & 2

Lake/Lake def. Stickley/Mullin, 1 up

Neves/Scully def. Oliveira/Dias, 3 & 2

Lees/Winn def. Reedy/Reedy, 4 & 3

Silva/Silva def. Allen/McCarthy, 3 & 2

Dextradeur/Nye def. Reilly/Munafo, 1 up

Winterhalter/Clark def. Harrington/Rolli, 7 & 6

Simmons/Eilertsen def. Zahn/Wedge, 3 & 1

Koska/Rezendes def. Pendergast/Vandal, 2 & 1

Calabro/Downing def. Simmons/Tavares, 3 & 1

Bradshaw/Bradshaw def. Winterhalter/Winterhalter, 1 up

Carney/Farrell def. Miranda/Picinisco, 1 up

Eilertsen/Lamontagne def. Bulbulian/Carvara, 2 & 1

Roberts/Coucci def. Pickup/Pickup, 2 up

Powers/Powers def. Braga/Masi, 1 up

Baptiste/Merritt def. White/Cathcart, 2 & 1

Snell/Debortoli def. Marujo/Bonneau, 2 & 1

Canto/McCarthy def. Gomes/Luiz, 6 & 5

Marinelli/Radell def. Nery/Barboza, 1 up

Dacosta/O'Connor def. DiCesare/Sullivan, 4 & 3

This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: The first day of the 92nd annual Country Club of New Bedford Fourball