Headline: Defending Champion Keith Smith Makes Statement on Day 1 of the 2017 Massachusetts Senior Amateur Championship; Fires 6-under 65 and Leads by Four
For Immediate Release: September 18, 2017
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Defending Champion Keith Smith - who was introduced on the 1st tee by honorary starter John Gargalianos (below) - made a strong statement during day one of the Massachusetts Senior Amateur Championship being held at Oakley Country Club. |
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Watertown, MA — If you looked at the scorecard of Keith Smith (Franklin CC) from Monday’s first round of the 57th Massachusetts Senior Amateur Championship, it’d be easy to understand if you thought you were looking at his winning card from a year ago, a time in which he finished with a 1-under par score of 144 over two days at Turner Hill Golf Club last September.
But for the reigning Massachusetts Senior Amateur Champion Smith, it seems to appear that his scores continue to get lower as his age increases. After winning his first Massachusetts Senior Amateur back in 2013 with a 2-over mark, Smith put himself in a position on Monday to pick up his third Massachusetts Senior Amateur title.
The 59-year-old shot a day low 6-under par 65 to jump out to a four-stroke lead after round one of the championship and set himself up for another championship run come Tuesday.
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57th Massachusetts Senior Amateur Quick Links
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Opening his first round with a birdie, his first of four on the day, Smith made the turn at 5-under par, which set the pace for the remainder of his morning.
“I hit it close a couple times and made those,” said Smith. “I made an eagle putt on four that was a real bender that might still be rolling if it didn’t hit the hole. Every time I had a good look, I made it.”
After making the turn at 5-under, Smith made birdie on the par-4 10th hole to extend his lead by an additional stroke, then played par golf for the remainder of his round.
“On the back, I had some really good looks too,” said Smith.
Having hit the green on every hole until 17, Smith said he was playing the best golf of the year in what was only the second time he played the course. He took advantage of a practice round on Saturday that added to his preparation for the event.
Coming off a T25 finish at last week’s New England Senior Amateur Championship, Smith said that being a two-time championship in this event was an added bonus, as it relieved some added pressure that he said others might have been feeling playing for the first time.
He said, “It’s nice to know that you’ve done it before. It kind of gives you a little bit of confidence, but you still have to put it in the hole. I haven’t really performed that well in some of the events this year to include last week at the New England Senior so it was nice to see the ball go in the hole today.”
2007 Senior Amateur Champion Doug Crawford (Sandy Burr CC) and 2014 Senior Amateur Champion Dave Houghton (Captains GC) tallied matching cards at 2-under par 69 while Steve Tasho (Thorny Lea GC), Michael Arter (LeBaron Hills CC) and Don Foberg (Plymouth CC) all finished in the red.
John Gargalianos of Lynn remembers it like it was yesterday. The year was 1987 and the 55-year-old remained in contention on his final nine at the 27th playing of the Massachusetts Senior Amateur Championship, which took place at Oakley Country Club – the first senior amateur of its kind at the Watertown club.
The Salem Country Club member Gargalianos hit his tee shot on the 15th hole – a downhill par-3 over a pond that plays between 140 and 160 yards depending on the tee. Instead of hitting the green on his tee shot like he had planned, Gargalianos, who was in the midst of his first senior amateur championship, found a challenging bunker that could have put a damper on his Championship aspirations.
“I hit the ball in the bunker and it was right up against almost the lip of the bunker and two of the MGA people were watching and they were saying to themselves, this is it,” recalled Gargalianos. “I hit the ball and it went in and out of the cup and stopped like that. I made three and then they turned around and said they could have bet $1,000 that I would’ve never got out of that bunker.”
He knocked that shot in for par on that 15th hole and went on to win that Championship, the first MGA Senior Amateur Championship. 30 years later, now aged 85, Gargalianos was back at the same site where he won the event 30 years’ prior – this time serving as an honorary starter at Oakley’s first tee, responsible for introducing the nearly 60 men who began their rounds Monday morning off the first tee.
“It’s the 30th anniversary of winning the championship here. It’s a thrill of my life. At 85 years old, I never thought that I’d have this kind of an opportunity and when I found out that Oakley was hosting the championship, I was like I have to go back” he said. “They invited me to come back and it’s a real pleasure.”
Joined by his son Peter and located mere feet from the trophy that bore his name and the 1987 Championship, Gargalianos was back at work introducing each player and their club affiliation at the starters box for all in attendance.
“The toughest job I’ve had in my whole life,” joked Gargalianos. “It really is a thrill to actually meet new people and to see some of the people I competed with who are still playing.”
As part of a pre-round celebration at the club, Gargalianos was introduced to all competitors ahead of the day’s first groups and was presented with a plaque from the club honoring the 30-year milestone.
In addition to his 1987 Massachusetts Senior Amateur Championship, Gargalianos was the 1986 Salem Country Club Champion and a five-time Salem CC senior champion. He finished third in the 1990 and 1992 MGA Senior Championship, and fifth in the 1989 and 1999 MGA Senior Amateur Championship, the latter of which he was super senior division champion.
Additionally, John Gargalianos was a member of the Massachusetts squad that competed at the 1987 Tri-State matches.
Oakey Country Club has long been considered one of the top places to play in Massachusetts. On Monday as it played host to its second ever Massachusetts Senior Amateur Championship, the 11th MGA Championship of its kind, memories of past players who have taken to the links here at the Watertown club were rekindled.
Originally opened in 1895 as Cambridge Golf Club before being incorporated as Cambridge Golf and Country Club in February 1898, then changing its name to Oakley Country Club nine months later, the course was designed by the famous architect Donald Ross. It was the first club that he employed at, holding various roles at the club from 1899-1910. In addition to serving as the course architect, Donald Ross served as a greens keeper, golf professional and club maker for more than a decade at Oakley.
His younger brother, Alex Ross, won his sixth and final Massachusetts Open Championship in 1912 here at Oakley Country Club in what was the only MGA Open Championship the club has hosted. Alex Ross was the 1907 US Open Champion.
Oakley Country Club was founded by Joseph Gilbert Thorp, Jr. – a significant politician in the City of Cambridge. He was a finalist at the 1896 US Amateur and has recorded club championships at The Country Club, Vesper Country Club and Oakley Country Club in the span of his golfing career.
Many female competitors who have enjoyed success in both the Massachusetts and USGA golf circles have called Oakley home.
The following are just some of those competitors:
The MGA Senior Amateur Championship recognizes the lowest-scorer following the 36-hole competition as the champion. The winner of the Tournament has their name added to the Frederick J. Wright Trophy. Wright, also a former Oakley Country Club member, was a seven-time winner of the Massachusetts Amateur Championship and to this day holds the record for the most victories in the summertime classic. Wright sits in the Massachusetts Golf Hall of Fame after a brilliant career, which also included a victory in the 1956 US Senior Amateur Championship.
Last month in Minneapolis, Minnesota, five Bay State natives were among the 156 in the field at the 63rd playing of the USGA Senior Amateur Championship. Making the trip westward to The Minikhada Club were Mike Arter, Jack Kearney, Ronald LaVerdiere, Brian Secia and Frank Vana.
After Kearney, LaVerdiere and Vana advanced to the match play portion at the USGA Championship, including Vana, who advanced to the semifinal round, all five were scheduled to be back in the field this week at another Donald Ross gem, looking for the opportunity to capture a championship trophy.
All of them were scheduled to compete in this week’s MGA Senior Amateur Championship.
For Jack Kearney, who advanced to the Round of 64 in Minnesota before jumping on the bag for his longtime friend Frank Vana, competing in this week’s championship provides a different taste than playing in the USGA event. Both are exciting and an accomplishment to advance to, but for Kearney, who has advanced to more than a dozen USGA Championships in his career, both are exciting for different reasons.
“You point to those events so much and you put so much pressure on yourself to make match play or for whatever your goal is that when you back to something like this, where you know everybody and know the courses, you’re not as nervous,” said Kearney, who won this event back in 2010 and is one of 11 former champions in the field. “On the flip side, there are guys who haven’t played in this who are going to be more nervous when they get here. Depending on how many of these you’ve played in and coming from the US Senior to this, you’re more relaxed.
Of the five Bay Stater’s who advanced to the USGA Senior Amateur Championship, Michael Arter led the way at finishing at 1-under par 70 while Kearney and Vana both finished at 1-over par 72. Brian Secia finished at 9-over par 80 and Ronald LaVerdiere was a withdrawal.
Longtime MGA competitor and current Babson College golf coach Jeff Page, who plays out of Wellesley Country Club, recorded an albatross on the par-5 10th hole at Oakley on Monday. He holed out from the fairway following his tee shot. The 18-time Wellesley Club Champion Page finished the afternoon at 6-over 77.
Off the first tee in Monday’s first round was Bob Reni. The 64-year-old Reni, of Ashland, was one of several former MGA Champions in the field. Reni was the 1970 Massachusetts Junior Amateur Champion. That’s year’s Massachusetts Junior Amateur Championship was held right here at Oakley Country Club. It was the third of six times that the MGA Junior was held here and the 11th time overall that it has played host to an MGA Championship.
Other MGA Championships Held at Oakley Country Club:
Massachusetts Amateur - 1909
Massachusetts Open – 1912
Massachusetts Junior – 1914, 1920, 1970, 1980, 1998, 2012
Massachusetts Father Daughter – 2007
Massachusetts Senior – 1987, 2017
