For the second straight day, the team of Jeff Murray and Bobby Massa shot the low round in the championship flight of the 59th Quarter Century Partnership.
That was good enough to give the duo the victory Saturday, as they carded rounds of 68-62-64—194 to finish two shots ahead of Kelly Grunewald and Kevin Thornton (67-64-65—196).
It was the first time Murray and Massa have won the competition.
Murray and Massa had some work to do after the first round, where they found themselves three shots behind leaders Brian Scherer and Martin Board.
The bounce back effort on the second day of the competition gave the duo all the confidence they needed to stay strong in the final round.
“We came in today feeling pretty good,” Massa said. “We played really good yesterday and [Murray] made a good birdie on (No.) 1 to kind of get the momentum started and from there, we just took it one hole at a time.”
The winners were able to avoid setbacks through much of their showing on the Old Course, seeing Massa record birdies on the third and fourth hole.
An eagle on the ninth hole helped them close out the front nine on a strong note to pull away from the other top teams in the championship flight.
Things were tight on the flight’s leaderboard before the final round started, with Murray-Massa holding a narrow lead.
Grunewald and Thornton were able to earn runner-up honors with a strong back nine from the former, who won the Quarter Century Partnership’s championship flight in 2013.
Grunewald birdied 14, 16, 17 and 18 to gain some separation from Scherer and Board, who finished third after putting up 65-65-67—197.
This was the first year Murray and Massa teamed up for the Quarter Century Partnership, sharing a collegiate connection forged when they played at UT Arlington.
“This is our first time to play together in probably 10 years,” Murray said. “I was an outgoing senior when he was an incoming freshman, so I was a student assistant while I finished up my degree and he was on the team, so that was 15 years ago almost.
“That was a long time ago, we’ve kept in touch here and there, obviously a great human being and he’s a good player but better human being.”
Murray added that he has been playing in the Quarter Century Partnership for 13 or 14 years, while this was Massa’s second time competing in the event.
Last year’s winning duo of Michael Pruitt and Brady Shivers finished fifth, carding rounds of 66-69-65—200.
>> Follow Chris Amaya on Twitter at @OA_CAmaya
