Headline: Bay State Golfers Take Their Game Across the Country... and Even Across the Pond This Past Week; Check Out the Highlights
For Immediate Release: August 14, 2017
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Local Golfers Were In Action Across the Country... and Even the World This Past Week |
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Norton, MA — While the 36th playing of the Massachusetts Amateur Public Links Championship was underway at Pinehills Golf Club and qualifiers for several other MGA championships were taking place across the Commonwealth last week, several competitors with Bay State ties were teeing it up on national stages across the country – and even the world.
Take a look at how several golfers from Massachusetts did in various locations this week:
Massachusetts had two representatives in the US Women’s Amateur Championship this week at San Diego Country Club. Angela Garvin, a 16-year from Feeding Hills and the reigning WGAM Junior Player of the Year shot 79-76-155 (+11) in two rounds of stroke play on Monday and Tuesday, while Shannon Johnson, of Norton, and the reigning WGAM Player of the Year, shot 79-78-157 (+13) in her two rounds.
The cut to match play was set at 6-over par 150. While neither Garvin or Johnson advanced into match play, Lake Worth, Florida’s Alexa Pano finished at T11 at 1-under par 143 for the stroke play portion of the tournament and advanced to the Round of 64 in match play before falling 4&3 to Mexico’s Isabella Fierro. Pano is originally from Massachusetts and a multi-time winner in the Drive Chip and Putt National Championship, held annually on the Sunday before Masters Week at Augusta National.
At the Big “I” National Championship this week, one of the premiere junior events of the season, the Bay State was represented by two females and four male competitors. In the Girls Championship, Elise Keane (Marshfield), who will be playing golf at Wagner College in the fall, shot a 95 in the first round while Gabrielle Shieh (Carlisle), who advanced to the Drive Chip and Putt National Championship this past year, carded a matching 95 in 18-hole play. Both were five strokes off the cut line.
In the Boys Championship, Alex Yun of Weston and a rising senior at Buckingham Browne & Nichols led all Bay State competitors, finishing tied for 25th with a two-day score of 6-over par 150. Collin Fitzpatrick (Marion) finished T67 after shooting 81-76-157 (+13) while James Tyer, a rising senior at Cardinal Spellman High School, finished T73.
At the 48th playing of the Senior Amateur Championship, taking place at Sunningdale Golf Club, the R&A-run championship featured longtime MGA competitor, Brian Secia, of Nantucket. The 59-year old Secia, who holds his handicap index at Miacomet Golf Club, shot 90-80 -170 in 36-holes. He was one of 56 competitors from the United States in the field.
Vesper Country Club assistant golf professional Rich Berberian, Jr. and Adam Rainaud, a South Hadley native who works as an assistant professional at New York’s Winged Foot Golf Club, once again took to the national stage, this time at North Carolina’s Quail Hollow Club for the 2017 PGA Championship. After both finished tied for fifth at the 2017 PGA Professional Championship in June, the two were apart to begin the four-day tournament. In the first round, Berberian shot a 8-over par 79 while Rainaud carded a 10-over par 81. In Friday’s second round, Berberian scored a 3-over par 74, while Rainaud capped off his experience with a 7-over par 80.
A total of 17 competitors were among the field of 96 in the Boys Championship at the 16th playing of the Northern Junior Championship, a two-day contest taking place at New Haven Country Club in Hamden, Connecticut. Mark Turner took home the trophy Wednesday while a crop of Bay State juniors finished in the top-12. Chris Francoeur and Alex Jamieson, both heading to Division I programs in the fall, finished T2 at 3-under par 137 while Jonathan Elkins, Brendan Cronin and Andrew DiPetrillo all finished in the top-12.
In the Girls Championship of the Northern Junior Championship, Winnie McCabe of Dover, Massachusetts was the lone representative amongst the field of 38. In Round 1, McCabe shot a 3-over par 73 to enter the second round in fifth place. In the second and final round, the 2017 Dover Sherborn graduate McCabe shot 7-over par 77 to finish the tournament at T7 in the tournament. Madeline Jin of Belle Mead, N.J. finished her two rounds at 2-over par 142 to win the Girls Championship.
Max Ferrari of Framingham, Mass., a rising sophomore on the Saint Mary’s College of California was the lone Bay State native in the field at the 113th Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship, held at Toronto Golf Club this past week. Ferrari shot 74-77-151 (+11) in the first two rounds and missed the cut by six strokes. The Championship was won by Zach Bauchou (Forest, VA), who carded a 4-round score of 8-under par 272.
Longmeadow Country Club and GreatHorse member Billy Walthouse will compete in next week’s U.S. Amateur Championship at Bel-Air Country Club and Riviera Country Club in California. He will begin the stroke play portion of the Championship on Monday, August 14 at 1:18 pm local time in what will be the 2017 University of Rhode Island graduate’s last major championship before turning professional. He qualified for the USGA Amateur Championship on July 25 at Crestview Country Club in Agawam where he finished as co-medalist.
Joining him at the U.S. Amateur Championship will be Mike Calef, the two-time Massachusetts Amateur (2012, 2013) and 2011 Massachusetts Mid-Amateur Champion. A West Bridgewater resident, Calef was co-medalist at the Alpine Country Club (RI) qualifier on July 6.
Continue to check mgalinks.org or follow #MassGolf on Twitter (@mgalinks), Instagram (@mgalinks) or Facebook (Massachusetts Golf Association).
