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COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. - Two teams stand alone at the top of the 15th NYS Men's Amateur Four-Ball Championship leaderboard after one round at Leatherstocking Golf Course. Red numbers racked up in bunches across the Amateur Division field, as 21 sides broke par across the first 18 holes. 

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The brother duo of Billy and David Hanes (Crag Burn GC), along with a team of Rochester natives, Shane Dobesh (Sheridan Park GC) and Yaroslav Merkulov (Sodus Bay Heights GC), led the way, each carding nine-under 63. 

David, who has teamed up with Billy to win two Four-Ball titles in the past (2018, 2023), contributed seven birdies to his team’s effort. 

“Dave was just making a bunch of birdies, and I was just par support,” said Billy. “It was a good yin and yang, even when we struggled on a few holes, but we played great.”

Billy, a past NYS Men’s Mid-Amateur champion, converted a timely eagle on the 15th to bring the side to eight-under and a tie for first place headed down the home stretch. 

David would roll in his final birdie of the afternoon on the 18th to wrap up a bogey-free round and put he and his brother in pole position for a chance at a third title on Monday.

“We got off to a good start, I think we were four-under through six,” said David. “We just got on a roll, then Billy had a couple of nice shots on the back-nine, with the eagle on 15 and that kind of got us rolling.”

Merkulov, who is a past NYS Boys’ 18U Junior Amateur and NYS Men’s Amateur champion, and Dobesh each racked up four birdies on the day. Starting on the 12th hole, Dobesh made an impact early with an eagle on the 15th to immediately put his team towards the top of the leaderboard. 

The Niagara Falls CC duo of Jeff Janese and James Blackwell hold third place, trailing by two strokes. Team New Yorker Cole Jones (East Aurora CC) and Michael Wolski (Lancaster CC) sit in fourth place at six-under, followed by five teams tied at five-under. 

SENIOR DIVISION

Past champion Wade Sarkis (Canandaigua CC) and seven-time NYSGA champion Jim Scorse (Stafford CC) combined to shoot the low round of the day (66). Sarkis contributed three red numbers to his team’s effort, along with an eagle on the 14th, to Scorse’s three. 

The duo will carry a two-stroke advantage into Monday’s final round, with Ken Seibold (RDGA eClub) and John Kircher (Sodus Bay Heights GC) sitting at four-under, Brian Kumiega (CC of Buffalo) and Jeffrey Schauger (River Oaks GC) as well as Andy Bernatovicz (River Oaks GC) and Kenneth Riter (NYSGA eClub - Western NY) each posting three-under to round out the top-five.