Jones, Pike shoot 68s during qualifying for Norwich Invite

Dave Jones, as the defending champion, was guaranteed a spot in the championship flight of the 90th Norwich Invitational golf tournament.

But Jones proved he's ready take on all-comers Friday when he shot a 3-under-par 68 to share medalist honors with Woodstock's Greg Pike in the stroke play qualifying portion of the three-day event at Norwich Golf Course.

Pike earned the No. 1 overall seed and will tee off in the first of eight championship flight first-round matches at 8:42 a.m. Saturday against No. 16 Todd Lavoie. Jones, meanwhile, is seeded second and will play his opening match at 9:06 against No. 15 Tim Wynosky.

Matt Lame shot a 2-under 69 to earn the No. 3 seed while Nick Harrington, who plays golf at UConn, shot a 1-under 70 to earn the No. 4 seed.

One other former champion, Bill Hermanson of East Lyme and Black Hall Club in Old Lyme, qualified for the championship flight. He shot an even-par 71 and earned the No. 6 seed. He will face No. 11 Noah Straub (73) in the first half and could face Lame in the quarterfinals later Saturday and then possibly Jones in Sunday's semifinals.

The player who survives the top half of the bracket will play for the Invite title for the first time on Sunday afternoon.

Dan Hendrickson, who lost in last year's final and won the title in 2013 and 2014, tied for 31st with a 76 while Phil Perry, a four-time champion out of Black Hall, was forced with withdraw from the tournament after shooting a 74.

Other first round matchups in the championship flight include: No. 8 Aaron Vargas vs. No. 9 Jim Lawler, No. 4 Harrington vs. No.13 Drew Aitken, No. 5 Richard Kutia vs. No. 12 Rob Tedoldi, No. 7 Christian Jensen vs. No. 10 Frankie Lee and No. 3 Lame vs. No. 14 Chris Vincent.

The players will take a break for lunch following the first round and play the quarterfinals Saturday afternoon. The semifinals and final will be held Sunday.