WARWICK –– George Pirie took a giant step yesterday toward winning one of the few titles he has yet to capture in R.I. Golf Association competition.

The periodontist from East Greenwich, who already is a member of the RIGA Hall of Fame, shot a 3-under-par 68 and took the first-day lead in the 25th Stroke Play Championship.

That was one stroke better than two of the players having their best years in state competition, Garrett Medeiros and Steve Royer. Medeiros, who was a semifinalist in this year’s State Amateur,and Royer an Amateur quarterfinalist, both shot 69, at Potowomut.

Nine-time champion Paul Quigley was in at 70, along with Wannamoisett’s Patrick Wasserman.

Jason Pannone, who won the Stroke Play each of the last two years, finished just inside the cut line at 77. He did that after being 5-over his first five holes.

Pirie was strong all day, although the way he moved to the top was a bit of a surprise. He is noted for his precision and determination, not power. But it was his work on the par-5s that boosted him as he birdied the ninth and then eagled the 10th. Pirie did bogey the only other par-5, the 15th.

Medeiros also went birdie-eagle at nine and 10. Royer had five birdies and three bogeys on the way to his 69.

Valois in the hunt

Brad Valois has gotten himself involved in one of the wildest playoffs in the 108-year history of the U.S. Amateur Golf Championship.

The URI star who plays out of Alpine shot a 74 yesterday to finish 36-hole qualifying at 5-over 145 on the Pinehurst (N.C.) No. 2 and No. 4 courses.

The two-time Rhode Island Amateur champion was among the early finishers and had to wait about six hours to see if his score would be good enough to get into the top 64. Valois was tied for 117th in the 315-man field when he finished. With players going backwards in the tough conditions, he kept climbing and climbing and was in a tie for 63rd when play was completed. The top 64 move into match play.

That meant he was still alive to compete for the last two spots. The bad news was that 25 others were tied with him, setting up a 26-man playoff for the two spots. The playoff could not be started last night because of darkness. It begins at 7:30 this morning.

One bad five-hole stretch in the middle of his round yesterday kept Valois from moving higher.

After opening with a 71, Valois parred the first six holes in the second round. But he then went bogey, bogey, bogey, double bogey, bogey in the next five holes. He closed strongly, going 2-under for his last seven to get into the playoff.

Brian Higgins, of Bellingham, Mass., had a second-round 76 for 147, former URI star Ben Spitz had a 72 for 150 total and Mark Stevens, the New Hampshire Amateur champion who is Valois’ teammate at URI, had 74 for 152.

The qualifiers included Massachusetts native Peter Uihlein. The 18-year-old, headed to the University of Oklahoma, had a 71 for 140. He is the only New Englander to reach match play, although Uihlein now lists his home as Orlando, Fla., where he went to high school.

Connecticut rules

Connecticut pulled away yesterday to win the New England Junior Invitational for the third year in a row.

Connecticut had a five-player total of 363 in the third round, eight strokes better than any other team. That gave it a 54-hole total of 1,085, 13 strokes better than second-place Vermont.

Host Rhode Island finished last at 1,125.

Chris Loop led Connecticut with 72-69-71–– 212. It was the fifth time in the last six years Connecticut has won the title. Evan Russell of Vermont was the top individual at 72-67-72––211.

Barrington’s Jared Adams led Rhode Island with 75-74-75––224. Tom Mally and Owen Lynch, last year’s Rhode Island Junior champion, had 227. Lynch on rounds of 81-71-73 and Mally 76-77-74. Matt Creamer had 76-75-77––228, John McCarthy, the new RIGA Junior champion, 73-77-79––229, Jeff Ray 74-78-78––230 and Tyler Fay 77-81-79––237.

pkenyon@projo.com