Match play starts Wednesday at the RI Amateur. Here's five takeaways to get you ready.

The grind is officially over. Let the fun begin.

You won’t find two tougher days on the Rhode Island Golf Association’s amateur tournament schedule than at the Rhode Island Amateur. This year’s 118^th edition of the tournament at Montaup Country Club was no different, as Monday’s opening round was paused briefly by torrential downpours and Tuesday’s second round of qualifying play needed a playoff to give us our field of 32 players who will begin match play Wednesday morning.

There’s plenty to talk about from Monday and Tuesday’s qualifying rounds of play, but here are five things that really stood out.

1. Bobby Leopold looks unstoppable

The three-time State Amateur champ looked very much like someone who could be adding to his trophy case at week’s end.

Leopold played about as well as you could ask on Monday and after making par on his first three holes, didn’t make another until he hit the 10^th. Leopold made back-to-back birdies, had the audacity to follow with a bogey, then quickly put that on the back burner by finishing the front with three straight birds to shoot -4 on his first nine of the tournament. Two birdies on the back gave him a 65, putting him in a tie after Day 1 with 2020 champ Jamie Lukowicz.

Tuesday’s round could have started better. Leopold teed off on No. 10 and opened with three bogeys before turning into Superman. He made a birdie on No. 13 and closed the back side of the course with five pars and hit the front running.

Leopold birdied four of the first five holes there, made bogey on the par 3 seventh, then closed out his round with a par and birdie for a wild 37-31-68 that left gave him a 65-68-133, five shots clear of second-place Bennett Masterson.

In two rounds Leopold has managed to birdie eight of Montaup’s first nine holes – with two bogeys on No. 6 – and if he continues to have that kind of success, it’s going to make life very difficult for anyone he plays. Leopold opens the tourney against No. 32 Kyle Hoffman – who qualified via a playoff – and the winner there would play the winner between No. 16 Jantzen Vargas and No. 17 Augie Sottile.

2. Is there such a thing as too much golf?

When the two rounds were over, 34 players had come in at 5-over par or better, which meant the seven players at +5 had to get back out on the course to battle for the final five spots.

Patrick Healey, Jordan Klein, Patrick Ford And Mark Wilson didn’t waste time, earning their spot on the first playoff hole. Klein was the No. 28 seed and will play No. 5 Mike Caparco in match play; Healy is No. 29 and will play Lukowicz, who finished as the No. 4; Ford earned the 30^th seed and will play No. 3 Harry Dessel; Wilson was No. 31 and will play Masterson on Wednesday morning.

That left Austin Cilley and Kyle Hoffman fighting for the final spot. Cilley made a terrific up-and-down to force a third, but Hoffman’s sand save pushed him to the match play portion of the tournament and a matchup against Leopold.

3. Young guns had fun

While the field for match play is filled with plenty of names familiar to fans of the state’s amateur golf swing, a quarter of the bracket is made up of players who are in high school, college or just graduated.

Bennett Masterson, an All-Stater at Prout before heading to Old Avon Farms to play hockey, went 69-69-138 to earn the No. 2 seed and a matchup with Mark Wilson.

Right behind him was former Moses Brown All-Stater Harry Dessel, who just finished his freshman season at Lafayette. Dessel shot 69-70-139 to earn the No. 3 seed and a match against Patrick Ford.

Former Middletown High School state champ Mason Gilman played well at Montaup, firing a 70-71-141 to finished tied for sixth, giving him a first-round matchup with last year’s runner up Michael Hamilton.

Rocco Biafore, who qualified for the U.S. Junior Amateur last year and recently graduated from St. George’s in Newport, shot 71-72-143 to tie for ninth and earn his spot as the No. 13 seed. He’ll play Sam Fuentes, a rising senior at Coventry High School who was named All-State after his terrific play his junior year this past spring.

Two-time high school state champ Max Jackson shot 71-74-145 to finished tied for 22^nd. He’s slotted as the No. 23 seed and will take on former State Amateur champ Tom McCormick Wednesday morning.

Henry Horgan, who just completed his senior season at Holy Cross, came in tied for 24^th after going 72-74-146. Horgan is the 25^th seed and will play No. 8 Lance Gillett in the first round.

Finally, Joey Iaciofano earns the distinction as the youngest player standing. The 15-year old – whose father Joe is the former State Amateur champ – failed to qualify for match play in his Amateur debut last summer, but came through with a 71-75-146 to finish tied for 24^th and earn the No. 26 seed. Iciofano will have his work cut out for him up against former champ Kevin Silva.

4. There will be no repeat champ

Consistency was key to Kevin Blaser’s run to the 2022 State Amateur title, but his 2023 tournament was anything but.

Blaser, who plays out of Segregansett, struggled on Monday and shot a 12-over 83 with a round that featured three double bogeys and one triple. He grinded tough on Day 2, shooting a 75, but it was well off the cutline.

With Blaser out, that leaves five champs left – Tom McCormick (2005), Brad Valois (2006, 2007, 2011, 2014), Bobby Leopold (2009, 2014, 2021), Kevin Silva (2015) and Jamie Lukowicz (2020).

5. What to look for in match play

Everything that happened the previous two days no longer matters. Match play is a different beast and sometimes experience and guts becomes more valuable than raw talent.

Looking at the bracket, Leopold’s a clear favorite to reach the quarterfinals. There’s plenty of players who could get hot and take him down but if there’s one match that would make for a heck of a story, it would be if No. 24 Tyler Cooke – the former Toll Gate All-Stater – found his way there. The two have played together in big tournaments and it’s no surprise why – Leopold is Cooke’s brother-in-law.

On the bottom half of the upper portion of the bracket, No. 4 Jamie Lukowicz is the favorite but it will be interesting to see how Rocco Biafore and Sam Fuentes – two of the tournement’s youngest players – would fare. Sometimes not knowing how big a match is helps in a match that’s bigger than you realize.

Bennett Masterson’s prize for two days of terrific stroke play? A potential afternoon match with Brad Valois, who’s a favorite every time he tees it up. If there’s a region of death in the State Amateur, its Masterson’s half of the bracket that features three former State Am champs (Valois, Kevin Silva and Tom McCormick), a proven winner on the junior circuit in Max Jackson. Yikes.

The final quadrant of the bracket could hand out the most upsets and show how crucial experience is. If you’re looking for a darkhorse this week, watch Larry Lafauci Jr. He’s a different player than he was in his 20s, but with nerves of steel he’ll be a tough match as long as he’s out there.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Five takeaways from stroke play at the 118th Rhode Island Amateur at Montaup