Headline: A Special Inside Look at the 2017 U.S. Senior Open Sectional Qualifier Scheduled For Kernwood Country Club on May 24
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Doug Clapp is one of 84 players who will compete for the two spots available at Wednesday's U.S. Senior Open Sectional Qualifier at Kernwood Country Club. |
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For Immediate Release: May 20, 2017
Salem, MA — Below are some highlights and "need to know" information about the upcoming 2017 U.S. Senior Open Sectional Qualifier, which will be held on May 24th at Kernwood Country Club.
The Championship Proper is set for June 26 to July 2 at nearby Salem Country Club. Click here for complete coverage of the 2017 U.S. Senior Open Championship.
Kernwood Country Club is located in Salem, 5 miles from Salem Country Club. Designed by Donald Ross, Kernwood’s first nine holes opened for play in 1914 and the 18-hole layout was completed four years later. The club has hosted three Massachusetts Amateurs and four Massachusetts Opens. Francis Ouimet, who won the 1913 U.S. Open and the 1914 and 1931 U.S. Amateurs, claimed the Massachusetts Amateur at Kernwood in 1922.
Total: 84 players (55 amateurs, 29 professionals) … playing for two (2) qualifying spots …
Countries (3): United States (78) – Massachusetts (58), New Hampshire (5), Connecticut (4), Rhode Island (3), Vermont (3), Maine (2), Florida (1), Illinois (1), New York 1) … Canada (5) and England (1).
Youngest: 49-year-old Douglas Clapp, of Walpole, Mass. (turns 50 on May 28), 50-year-old Michael DiBenedetto, of West Hartford, Conn. (born 4-18-67) and 50-year-old Frank Dully III (born 3-23-67)
Oldest: 68-year-old Edward Porter, of Winchester, Mass. (born 5-30-48), 65-year-old Ken Mattini, of Wheeling, Ill. (born 9-9-51) and 65-year-old Andrew Horvitz, of South Dartmouth, Mass. (born 5-8-52)
Average Age of Field: 56.18 (15 players over age 60)
Groupings and Starting Times: https://www.golfgenius.com/pages/943953
Doug Clapp, 49, of Walpole, Mass., was the first to file his entry for the 2017 U.S. Senior Open when he submitted online at 9 a.m. ET on March 8. Clapp, who turns 50 on May 28, used his cell phone from a Dominican Republic golf course to file. Clapp has competed in 16 USGA championships, including five U.S. Amateurs and eight U.S. Mid-Amateurs. He was chosen 2013 Massachusetts Golf Association Player of the Year was the 2014 Massachusetts State Amateur runner-up.
Frank Dully II, 50, of Salem, Mass., is the head golf professional at Kernwood Country Club. He had advanced to six U.S. Open sectional qualifiers and shot a 71 to earn medalist honors at last year’s U.S. Open local qualifier, held at Essex Country Club. Dully, who was the golf captain at the College of the Holy Cross, was the 2006 PGA New England Section Play of the Year when he won the NEPGA title.
Chip Johnson, 54, of Hingham, Mass., is the head professional at Hatherly Country Club. He tied for 40th in the 1988 U.S. Open, held The Country Club, in Brookline, Mass., and qualified for the 2015 U.S. Senior Open. Johnson, who won the 2002 NEPGA championship, captured the NAIA national title in 1984 while playing at Limestone College.
Flynt Lincoln, 59, of Natick, Mass., won the 1993 Massachusetts Amateur and was runner-up in 1992. Lincoln, who won the 1975 state high school championship, played as a collegian at UMass and Florida, where Mark Calcavecchia, Larry Rinker and Ken Green were among his teammates. He works as a regional director for a golf cart management company.
Jeff Page, 59, of Natick, Mass., is in his fourth year as the head men’s golf coach at Babson College. He has guided the Beavers to a pair of New England Collegiate Conference championships and two NCAA Division III appearances. Page, who qualified for the 1998 U.S. Mid-Amateur, was twice chosen NECC coach of the year.
Ron Philo Jr., 51, of Stowe, Vt., is the brother of LPGA player Laura Diaz, who has competed in 15 U.S. Women’s Opens and four Solheim Cups. Philo, who played in the 1999 U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2, is the director of golf at Stowe Mountain Resort. He won the 2006 PGA Professional National Championship.
Kevin Quinn, 51, of Needham, Mass., won the 1999 Massachusetts Open and 2004 New England Amateur. Quinn, who works in commercial real estate, has played in 17 USGA championships, including five U.S. Amateurs and eight U.S. Mid-Amateurs. His older brother, Fran, competed in four U.S. Opens, and tied for 56th in 2014 at Pinehurst No. 2 in 2014 at age 49.
Stuart Robbin, 54, of Danvers, Mass., is an 11-time club champion at Kernwood Country Club. Robbin, who serves as vice president for a web hosting company, earned two varsity letters as a member of the University of Pennsylvania golf team in the early 1980s.
Bud Schultz, 57, of Hingham, Mass., is a former professional tennis player and head coach of the World Team Tennis’ Boston Lobsters. Schultz, an All-American at Bates College, competed in four Grand Slam events and advanced to at least the third round of the U.S. Open, Wimbledon and Australian Open. Schultz owns Cohasset Tennis Club and was inducted into the New England Tennis Hall of Fame in 2003.
Geoffrey Sisk, 52, of Marshfield, Mass., has won six Massachusetts Opens, including the 2007 championship at Kernwood Country Club. Sisk has advanced to the U.S. Senior Open through sectional qualifying the last two years. He shot a 65 at Ipswich Country Club in 2015 and went on to tie for 54th in the Senior Open at Del Paso Country Club, in Sacramento, Calif. Sisk has also competed in seven U.S. Opens and made the 156-player field six times by qualifying through local and sectional play.
Craig Steckowych, 57, of Greenland, N.H., has won a pair of New Hampshire Amateurs (1990, 1998) and two New Hampshire Mid-Amateurs (1991, 2003). Steckowych, who owns an auto sales and service company, qualified for the 2010 U.S. Senior Open, held at Salahee Country Club. He has competed in 11 USGA championships.
Steven Tasho, 58, of North Easton, Mass., won the 1981 and 1985 Massachusetts Amateur and the 1998 Massachusetts Mid-Amateur. Tasho, a manufacturing representative for an office supply company, has competed in nine USGA championships, including five U.S. Amateurs.
Frank Vana Jr., 54, of Boxford, Mass., has won 14 Massachusetts Golf Association events, including the 2004 and 2005 Massachusetts Amateur. A nine-time MGA player of the year, Vana was inducted into the Massachusetts Golf Hall of Fame in October 2016. He has competed in 29 USGA championships, including 10 U.S. Amateurs and 10 U.S. Mid-Amateurs.
