Headline: Bay State Golfers Enjoying Success During the Collegiate Spring Season; Update on Six Local Products
For Immediate Release: March 28, 2017
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| From top: Jake Shuman, Charlie May and John Clancy are three local products who are enjoying strong collegiate spring seasons. |
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Norton, MA — Every season, the Massachusetts Golf Association is well-represented in its many state amateur tournaments and USGA qualifiers by collegiate players in the Division I, Division II and Division III levels.
While many of those players represent colleges that allow for competition all year long, others have been forced to wait a little longer to get back on the links due to the weather conditions.
However, with most student-athletes’ spring semesters nearly halfway over and the spring season, at least on the calendar, having technically started, almost all players have seen their spring seasons started. As a result, the MGA checked in on some of its current and former competitors at the collegiate level.
2016 MGA Amateur Public Links Championship Runner-Up
Ever since finishing second to MGA Amateur Public Links Champion Matt Cowgill in a three-hole playoff last August, Turner Hills native and JWU junior Booska has continued to make a name for himself on the links. At the ACU Spring Invitational, his team’s second tournament of the spring, Booska shot 2-under 214 (72-72-68 – 214) for the three-round tournament, good enough for the squad to take second overall and Booska to finish T3 individually. Booska placed T17 as the team placed fourth of 13 at the Shootout in San Antonio (2/26-2/27) then followed that performance the next weekend by finishing two shots off the lead, carding a 67-77-73 – 217 at the Sand Shark Invitational to help the Wildcats to second overall. Most recently, Booska followed up with T13 finish at the Keiser Invitational and T3 at the Battle at Primm.
Advanced to Final Round of 2016 MGA Open Championship
A multiple divisional champion in the MGA Junior Amateur Championship and member of Team Massachusetts at the New England Invitational, the Swampscott native DiLisio, a freshman for the Duke Blue Devils, garnered his first collegiate victory in February at the 2017 Heel Pack Individual, relying on the last day of competition to be his best round – a round in which he would be only one of two to shoot under par, a feat he accomplished by carding a 2-under 70 to finish atop the leaderboard at 1-under 143 for the two-day tournament. The former captain at Phillips Exeter Academy, DiLisio also saw action at the Desert Shootout/GCU Invitational in Phoenix, shooting seven over par to finish T47. The 21st ranked Blue Devils placed first overall at the tournament, shooting a team total 23-under par.
Advanced to Round of 16 at 2016 MGA Amateur Championship
Fellow Blue Devil Shuman, who shined in round one of stroke play at the MGA Amateur Championship, setting a competitive course record score of 7-under par 64, advanced to the Round of 16 in match play. The junior from Needham has played in eight tournaments during the 2016-2017 season, with his best finish coming September 19-20 at the Inverness Invitational in Toledo, Ohio, where he finished T1 and the team second of 13. Recently, Shuman placed T50 at the Lamkin Grips San Diego Classic and 18th at the GCU Invitational.
2016 U.S. Amateur Qualifier
A junior from Topsfield, May was one of three players to qualify for last year’s U.S. Amateur Sectional Qualifier at George Wright GC, and competed in the stroke play portion of the 2016 Massachusetts Amateur Championship at Taconic Golf Club. For Elon, May opened the spring season by finishing T23 individually, a score that guided the Phoenix squad to a third place overall at the Loyola Intercollegiate. May recorded his first career hole in one and finished T32 at the Pinehurst Intercollegiate in mid-March. Most recently, he helped the Phoenix to win the 22-team Towson Spring Invitational by earning his fifth top-25 finish of the season by earning a tie for 18th individually.
Advanced to Round of 16 at 2016 MGA Amateur Championship
In his freshman year, the Northborough native Humphrey has seen action in six events, playing a total of 17 rounds and averaging an 18-hole score of 73.9. After finishing T11 during the October “Connecticut Cup,” his career best, Umphrey most recently recorded his second top-20 finish of his career with a 74-73-74-221 to tie for 13th place at the Slomin Championship in West Palm Beach, Florida on March 26.
Finished T3 at 2016 MGA Amateur Public Links Championship
The Sandwich native and senior member of the Penmen squad, Clancy recorded two top-10 finishes in the fall half of the 2016-2017 season, finishing 1-over 145 (T3) at the Northeast-10 Conference Championship and 10-over 154 (T8) at the NEIGA Championship last October. This spring, Clancy, who finished T3 at the 2016 MGA Amateur Public Links Championship, opened the season at the Newberry College Invitational in South Carolina, carding a 78-73-80-231 for a T38 finish. Clancy finished 27th at the Barton Intercollegiate in North Carolina March 13-14 as Southern New Hampshire placed second overall in the 12 team tournament.
For more information on the MGA competitors, be sure to check back on mgalinks.org and follow the MGA on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @mgalinks.
