Headline: The Bay State's Top Mid-Amateur Talent Set to Compete for the 34th Massachusetts Mid-Amateur Championship Title at Franklin Country Club
For Immediate Release: September 23, 2017
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At Franklin CC next week, Matt Parziale will look to become only the second person in MGA history to win three straight Mid-Amateur Championships |
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Norton, MA — Reigning Massachusetts Amateur champion Matt Parziale (Thorny Lea GC) looks to become only the second person in Massachusetts Golf Association history to win three straight Mid-Amateur Championships this week when the 34th Massachusetts Mid-Amateur Championship kicks off at Franklin Country Club.
The three-day, 54-hole stroke play tournament is the 12th and final MGA Championship of the season and will see the top-120 competitors from across the Bay State who have reached their 25th birthday by the start of competition.
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34th Massachusetts Mid-Amateur Quick Links
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Six qualifiers were held across the Commonwealth in an 11-day span in late August, in which 92 players advanced to the Championship Proper. Those qualifiers will join the group of players who were exempt based on previous success in the tournament and any alternate players based on finishes in each of the six qualifiers.
Qualifiers were held at Green Hill MGC (August 21), Merrimack Valley GC (August 22), Thorny Lea GC (August 23), Weston GC (August 24), Chicopee CC (August 29) and Olde Barnstable FGC (August 31).
The 2017 Massachusetts Mid-Amateur Championship features winners of 17 of the last 18 MassachusettsMid-Amateur Championships, including Boxford’s Frank Vana, Jr. (Marlborough CC), who has won the event an unprecedented nine times since 1999. There are also eight former champions are in the field.
This week’s Massachusetts Mid-Amateur Championship marks the first of its kind here at the Franklin course.
In addition to the club serving as a popular host site for USGA Championship qualifiers, MGA Member Days and local qualifiers for state championships, Franklin Country Club also played host to the 1999 and 2008 Massachusetts Four-Ball Championships. Dean Godek (’99), Brian Higgins and Brad Stewart (’08), who won the respective Four-Ball Championships held at the Franklin Country Club, are also in this week’s field.
It will be a home match for seven competitors in this year’s field, who hold their USGA GHIN Handicap Index through Franklin Country Club. Included in that list of seven is Keith Smith, who won the Massachusetts Senior Amateur Championship for the third time in five years on Tuesday, September 19.
This year’s Championship Proper will be the last stop for two Massachusetts natives before they compete in the USGA U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship being contested at Capital City Club in Atlanta, Georgia from October 7-12.
Both Tommy Parker (Thorny Lea GC) and Austin Smith (Concord CC) advanced from the Berkshire Hills CC and Framingham CC qualifiers, respectfully. A third competitor, J.C. Guthrie, who earned alternate status for the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship, is also in the field.
Former MGA Mid-Amateur Champions in the Field:
Age Breakdown:
Youngest in the Field:
Two competitors are eligible for the first time in 2017. Brian J. Sears (Highfields G&CC), who was exempt into the field, is six months younger than the only other 25-year-old in the field, Jesse Zorfas (Framingham CC), who qualified from the Weston Golf Club qualifier.
Oldest in the Field:
64-year-old Michael Kaloyanides (Walpole CC) is the oldest competitor in the field, one of only four competitors who have reached their 60th birthday.
Round 1 & 2 Tee Times:
https://www.golfgenius.com/pages/1129018
Past Champions:
http://www.mgalinks.org/championships/archives/pastchampions/pastchamps_midamateur.html
Player Information Sheet:
http://www.mgalinks.org/championships/midamateur/PIS_2017MidAmateur_Franklin1.pdf
Follow:
Stay up to date with everything regarding the 2017 Massachusetts Mid-Amateur Championship by visiting mgalinks.org or following the Massachusetts Golf Association on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using #MassMidAm
