DiLisio, Hervol in elite club
Conquer historic layout, advance to 36-hole final
Six trips around the historic layout of The Country Club and two 21-year-olds separated themselves from the rest over four days at the 111th Massachusetts Amateur.
Steven DiLisio of Swampscott and Hopkinton’s Jimmy Hervol earned their places in the 36-hole final for the Massachusetts Cup beginning today at 8 a.m.
On a cool, overcast day during which play was halted for 90 minutes in the morning because of a downpour, DiLisio made quick work of both of his opponents yesterday. The rising senior at Duke was lights out in the morning in taking down Matt Parziale, 7 and 6, and never trailed in his 4 and 3 win over Jack Boulger in the semifinals.
“I’m treating it like stroke play,” said DiLisio, who never had reached the quarterfinals before this week. “I think when I get out here in the past it’s been very focused on the match and the opponent, and all of a sudden I finish the round and I shoot like a 75 or 76. … So I took a step back this year and looked at it, just really tried to play the golf course — 1 up, 2 up, 3 up, that’s why it didn’t change what I hit off tees.”
DiLisio seized control of both matches around the turn, winning 9-10-11 in each match.
During the afternoon at the 510-yard, par-5 11th, DiLisio hit 3-wood and 9-iron to 3 feet for a conceded eagle.
He was able to get a bit of payback against Parziale, who eliminated DiLisio 5 and 3 in the first round last year.
“Matt’s a great guy. When we shook hands he said it was a little payback for last year because he beat me pretty good last year,” he said. “He’s a great competitor and it’s always fun with him. I’m going to be playing with him next week (at the Porter Cup) and same with the U.S. (Amateur) and he’s a great player. I tried to not get wrapped up in playing him and knowing what he’s done winning the U.S. Mid-Am, U.S. Opens he’s had a lot of success. I didn’t try to get wrapped up in that and try to beat the golf course.”
DiLisio has done well beating the golf course, playing even par in stroke play and has been 12-under over 59 holes across the four matches.
“I shot 1 over in that first round and I felt like that was as bad as that day could have went and have been feeling really positive,” he said. “I’ve had a lot of under par rounds and I’m just trying to use those rounds and those experiences to follow into this match play portion, and I know if I play my game and shoot under par rounds like I feel like I easily can out here it’s going to be hard to beat.”
Hervol just graduated from UConn and finished off his second-round match that had been suspended from Wednesday. He then took down Nick McLaughlin, 5 and 3, in the quarterfinals before grinding out a 1 up win over Brett Krekorian in the semifinals, birdieing the last after hitting a wedge from 138 yards out of the rough to 4 feet.
Hervol had a whole range of highs and lows over the final four holes — taking the lead at No. 15 by knocking his approach from 185 yards to 8 feet, missing a 4-foot birdie putt at the 16th, losing the 17th and then dialing up his most important shot of theday.
“I just tried to stay relaxed the whole time,” he said. “The big thing I’ve been working on is not treating it as anything special and treat it as just another golf shot. I think I was able to do that for the most part, maybe I got ahead of myself on a couple shots like the putt on 16, which I’ll do better tomorrow. Overall, I’m super happy and excited to have the opportunity.”
Hervol was the 2015 Mass. Junior champion when it was played on his home course Hopkinton CC.