Headline: Bay State Golf Courses Set to Host Local and Sub-Regional Qualifiers for the 2018 Drive, Chip & Putt Championship

For Immediate Release: January 11, 2017

From top: Zach Colon, Gabrielle Shieh and Brian Glennon will represent the Bay State at the 2017 Drive, Chip & Putt National Finals. Qualifying sites for the 2018 edition are now available.

Norton, MA — When qualifying for the 2018 Drive, Chip and Putt National Championship begins this summer, five Bay State clubs are slated to host either local or sub-regional qualifiers ahead of the national event, held annually at Augusta National Golf Club during the week of the Masters Tournament.

The announcement was made on Tuesday as part of a national release of the 268 local qualifying sites across the 50 United States during the months of May, June, July and August.

Bay State clubs who are scheduled to host local qualifiers for the DCP Championships include The International GC (June 27), The Ranch GC (July 11), The Bay Club at Mattapoisett (July 11) and Granite Links GC (July 26). In addition, Pinehills Golf Club, site of the 2017 MGA Amateur Public Links Championship, will also host one of the 53 sub-regional qualifiers at their course on August 16.

“We are grateful for the willingness of each of these MGA clubs to assist in the efforts by the Drive, Chip and Putt Championship to help grow golf at the junior level,” said MGA Executive Director Jesse Menachem. “In the past few years, Massachusetts has been well represented at the National Finals in Augusta and the effort by these clubs to partake in events such as these are one of the key factors to that success.”

In this free youth golf development initiative open to boys and girls ages 7-15, participants compete in a series of events whose main goal is to help grow the game by focusing on the three fundamental skills employed in golf. By tapping the creative and competitive spirit of girls and boys ages 7-15, the Drive, Chip and Putt Championship provides aspiring junior golfers an opportunity to play with their peers in qualifiers around the country.

Three juniors from each age/gender category will advance from the local qualifiers, including the four hosting in Massachusetts, while two juniors from each division will advance from each respective subregional qualifier, including the one at Pinehills Golf Club, to the regional qualifier.

All who qualify from the Massachusetts local and subregional Drive, Chip and Putt qualifiers will advance to the regional qualifier, which will be held at New York’s Winged Foot Golf Club, site of the 2006 and 2020 U.S. Open Championships. One junior participant will advance from each age/gender category to the National Finals, being held at Augusta National Golf Club on April 1, 2018.

Ahead of the 2018 qualifier schedule, Massachusetts will be represented by three junior players who will be compete at the 2017 Drive, Chip and Putt National Final in April. Brian Glennon (Cohasset GC), Gabrielle Shieh (Marlborough CC) and Zachary Colon (The Haven CC), who all qualified at the regional qualifier held at The Country Club last fall, will be among the 80 junior players heading to Georgia for the main event.

For more information and a complete list of 2018 qualifying sites, visit the DCP website at: www.drivechipandputt.com.