Headline: Colin Brennan and Matt Parziale to Headline Wednesday's Final Round of the 2017 Massachusetts Mid-Amateur Championship at Franklin CC
For Immediate Release: September 26, 2017
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Colin Brennan (above) and Matt Parziale will make up the final group on day three of the 2017 Massachusetts Mid-Amateur Championship. |
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Franklin, MA — For two days and another to come on Wednesday, Colin Brennan (Indian Ridge CC) and Matt Parziale (Thorny Lea GC) have been walking the same path.
After being paired together through the first two rounds of play at the 2017 Massachusetts Mid-Amateur Championship being held at Franklin Country Club, the two competitors finished with the lowest two scores of the event and will thus play together one more time.
Brennan leads the way with a two-round score of 5-under par 137, while Parziale – the two-time and defending champion of this event – is two back at 3-under par 139.
Following Tuesday’s round the starting field of 120 was trimmed to the low 31 scorers. Those competitors will return to Franklin Country Club on Wednesday for a third and final round beginning at 8:00 a.m.
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34th Massachusetts Mid-Amateur Quick Links
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In addition to performing well this week and despite living 50 miles apart (Brennan resides in Andover, while Parziale hails from Brockton), the pair have much in common as golf has paved a similar route to Wednesday’s showdown.
Brennan is making his 2017 debut as an amateur after months of waiting for reinstatement by the United States Golf Association. He received official notice on July 29.
“After the Open I was on the sideline for a bit. I couldn’t play in anything because I was waiting for my status back,” said Brennan, who advanced to this week’s Championship Proper by posting a 1-under par 69 at a qualifier held at Merrimack Valley GC on August 22. “It was a little weird at times, and I didn’t feel super motivated to peak for anything. Once I qualified for this and had something on the calendar it made me try and go get ready.”
Brennan proved that he was ready from the start as his first round at Franklin Country Club on Monday featured four birdies and zero bogies. He backed that up on Tuesday with a 1-under par 70 to place him atop the leaderboard.
“I played similar golf. I was steady and hit a lot of fairways and greens,” said Brennan, whose lone bogey of the tournament came today on the 14th hole - his fourth hole of the day. “It was nice to get a bogey out of the way early. It got that off my mind. I only made two birdies [today], but I felt that I had a lot of good chances and just couldn’t get the ball in the hole.”
Playing alongside him all day and standing just two strokes back is Parziale, who was also once in Brennan’s shoes. After pursuing a professional career for three years following his college graduation, Parziale went through the amateur reinstatement process. His “magic” day came on June 5, 2012.
“We were talking about it yesterday and how we are having way more fun now,” said Parziale. “It’s not that we weren’t having fun doing it before, but it’s different now. He feels the same way. This is his first tournament back, so he is getting the juices flowing again.”
Since his reinstatement nearly five years ago, Parziale is not only enjoying his full-time position on the Brockton Fire Department but also a stellar golf career. He was named the 2016 Richard D. Haskell MGA Player of the Year and just this season has won two MGA Championships (Four-Ball & Amateur) as well as the Ouimet Memorial Tournament and a handful of other regional events.
“I have always enjoyed competing, but I enjoy life more now,” said Parziale. “It stinks not having any money … but now having the chance to hang out with the guys after is a lot of fun and you are able to make really good friends.”
Less than two months into his second life as an amateur, Brennan is already enjoying the experience.
“I am competitive and like to play well, but at the end of the day I am going back to my girlfriend and my job like everyone else which is kind of nice,” said Brennan. “I couldn’t be happier to be back. It’s a blast.”
While the past two days have been fun for the pair with much in common there will no doubt be less chatter about the days of old and more focus on the mission ahead… which for both would be a Massachusetts Mid-Amateur Championship title.
It would be the third for Parziale and the first ever for Brennan.
“I have to play good,” said Brennan. “Matt’s behind me, so I have to go out and keep making birdies, I think. He is pretty tough, so I don’t think that you can par him to death.”
For Parziale, tomorrow’s conclusion will continue what has been a whirlwind of golf over the past few weeks.
Twenty four hours before hitting his first tee shot at Franklin Country Club, Parziale capped off his first-ever appearance at the George A. Crump Memorial Tournament held at Pine Valley Golf Club (NJ), a marquee invitational reserved for only the top mid-amateurs from the United States and United Kingdom.
“It has been fun,” said Parziale, who next month will travel to Capital City Club in Atlanta, Georgia to compete in the 2017 U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship. “It was a great experience down in Pine Valley. I was a little tired yesterday, but once you get out here you just go about it.”
While Matt Parziale has been the dominating "face" of the Massachusetts Mid-Amateur Championship in recent years, the one competitor who continues to hold the record for most victories at this event is Frank Vana, Jr. (Marlborough CC), who will once again be advancing to the third and final round of play. He stands T5 with a two-round score of 2-over par 144.
Vana, a 55-year-old Sudbury native who now resides in Boxford, has won a record nine Massachusetts Mid-Amateur Championship titles over his career.
He won his first Ted Bishop Cup in 1999 and went on to win five straight times. His streak of five straight ended following a rain-shortened event in 2004, but Vana went on to win the title in 2005 and 2006 and then again in 2012 and 2013. No other competitor has come close to winning so many titles. In fact, only two others have won three since the event’s introduction in 1984.
"Every year this event gets more competitive and the quality of play gets better and better," said Vana. "Competing against strong players day in and day out is what motivates us all and helps to elevate our games."
In addition to his unmatched reign at the Massachusetts Mid-Amateur Championship, Vana has collected more hardware than any other competitor in MGA history. He has captured a total of 14 MGA Championship titles, including two Massachusetts Amateur Championships in 2004 and 2005. He was also inducted into the Massachusetts Golf Hall of Fame in 2016.
Earlier this month, Vana added to his playing resume when he advanced to the semifinals of the 2017 U.S. Senior Amateur Championship. After turning 55 years old just days prior to the start of Championship Proper, Vana was the youngest competitor in the field at The Minikahda Club in Minnesota.
"It was an incredible experience, and I was happy to advance as far as I did," said Vana, who earned a spot in Championship Proper after finishing as medalist at a sectional qualifier held at Charter Oak CC on August 1. "As you get older, you appreciate every opportunity to play in a USGA Championship and this was no exception. I savored every moment from start to finish."
That performance marked his 32nd USGA championship appearance, but his first since the 2010 U.S. Amateur at Chambers Bay.
Perhaps even more mind boggling than his national qualifying record is the fact that Vana holds the record for the most appearances in match play at the Massachusetts Amateur Championship.
This past July, Vana advanced to match play at the Massachusetts Amateur Championship for the 27th time in his career. It is a mark that is unmatched and includes a stretch of 23 straight appearances in match play at that event from 1991 through 2012. He is also the only competitor to have advanced to the Amateur final six times in a span of nine years.
"I’m not sure if that says more that I am old than I am good, but I’ll take it," said Vana. "I have said this before, but we are all very lucky to play golf in this state. We are spoiled by the courses and their hospitality as well as the high level of competitors and events that are run in this state. It’s a great place to be a golfer."
The pristine conditions of Franklin Country Club for this week’s playing of the Massachusetts Mid-Amateur Championship should come as no surprise.
The conditions that the 120 players in the field have experienced over the course of the first two days of what is the last MGA Championship Proper of the season is the result of a vision that Greens Superintendent Mike Luccini has had marked on his calendar for more than three years – the time when the MGA and Franklin Country Club administrators, including Luccini, announced plans internally to host the 2017 Massachusetts Mid-Amateur Championship.
But when this week’s first rounds went off at 8:00 a.m. on Monday morning, it was Luccini and his dedicated staff of more than a dozen who had already been hard at work for several hours putting the finishing touches on their masterpiece.
A former president of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of New England (GCSANE), Luccini says this week’s conditions are the combination of several things – including the pressure he and his staff put on themselves as well the needs of his members throughout the season. He proudly tells people that Franklin Country Club is always in tournament condition because that is where the demand is.
"The membership has the bar set pretty high in regards to the green speed and the way everything is cut so we didn’t have to change anything from that standpoint," said Luccini, a 1993 University of Massachusetts graduate who studied in the turf management program in the Stockbridge School of Agriculture.
With more than 100 members of Franklin Country Club who are single-digit handicap golfers, it is extra important the course is always in top notch condition for the several events held there throughout the year.
Each month from May until October, Franklin Country Club plays hosts to its member-guest tournaments and then hosts the men’s four-day invitational at the end of July, the most popular event of the season. Additionally, members host various events throughout the season and the Thursday night leagues are one of the most popular events in the region.
It’s that mindset that actually made set up for this week’s MGA Championship Proper that much easier, as the field of competitors play a similar style to what the Franklin is used to having.
"The good thing is that we didn’t really have to change anything," he said on the staff’s routine of rolling the greens, cutting the holes, placing the tee markers and raking the bunkers. "The club has a standard that is pretty consistent with what the MGA is looking for. We didn’t have to really change anything."
With a two tee start, Luccini, his assistants, which includes first year Justin Gagne, and the rest of the staff started ahead on both sides and were able to perform top-notch work before many of the competitors started their rounds.
While the professional standard that Luccini sets for the preparedness of the course is standard practice, there is also an added determination to get it right.
His late father, Gary Luccini, was the longtime superintendent here at Franklin Country Club and his childhood home was once located in the area where the maintenance shed and the club house are located nowadays. Having been working on a golf course his entire life, both alongside his father and now on his own, Mike says that keeping up the conditions to what his father would have wanted is also another motivator behind his crafted skill.
"I can say this was [my dad’s] golf course," explained Luccini. "He was here when they expanded and built all the new golf holes. He was kind of here from ground zero. He kind of fathered the course and raised the course. To take that on as a responsibility after he passed is a big deal to me because you want to preserve his legacy and everything he worked for too. You have a level of ownership that is beyond just coming off the street of someone who has not ever been a part of the club. Your whole life is right here."
Luccini came back to the course in his current position in 2002 after the passing of his father the year prior. Before serving on the staff at Franklin, Luccini did a six-year stint at Canton’s Brookmeadow Country Club.
This is the third major MGA Championship the club has hosted following the 1999 and 2008 Massachusetts Four-Ball Championships, the latter of which was won by Franklin Country Club members Brian Higgins and Brad Stewart.
"This is the major all of all three majors," added Luccini. "It’s a really big deal and to be able to have these people at the club, it says a lot about the club and the way they do things. The way they prepare. The quality and the product inside and out. When someone like the MGA comes up and says they want to have an event like this here, it says a lot as a club."
The Massachusetts Golf Association and its Championship staff would like to particularly thank the work of the Franklin Country Club in providing expert conditions for all competitors this week.
The more than 360 golf clubs scattered across Massachusetts provide true breeding and training grounds for the state’s most elite competitors.
This week’s host – Franklin Country Club – is a proven feeder for top talent as the club had six members in the 2017 Massachusetts Mid-Amateur Championship field. Five of those competitors had to advance through qualifying, while one was exempt after winning an MGA Championship in 2016.
Included in that list were Brad Stewart, Brian Higgins, Keith Smith, Ryan Johnston, Kyle Kelly, Brett Pimental, and Anthony Costa.
“We have such a great golfing membership it’s incredible,” said Stewart, a 20-year member at Franklin CC who was T3 following round 1. “For our club championship, we will have anywhere from 50 to 100 people come out to follow the finals. We have a men’s league on Thursday that is anywhere from 50 to 100 guys. We have a golfing club … and it’s all people who care about golf and love it, so it’s great.”
After posting a score of 1-under par 70 on Monday, Stewart spoke about the unique challenges that the Franklin layout poses to both newcomers and longtime members.
"Out here I don’t really think that there are too many spots after playing here for 20 years that I haven’t been in," said Stewart. "I have hit almost every shot that is out there and I have seen almost every pin position. I am still trying to read the greens after 20 years, and I still misread my fair share."
Another member who has not only many fond memories but also a stellar past at this event is Higgins, who claimed the title in 2008 and again in 2009.
After capturing his first title in a playoff with Phil Smith in 2008, Higgins repeated with utter dominance one year later at Haverhill Country Club where he posted a three-day total of 14-under par 196. It marked – and still stands as – the largest margin of victory ever recorded at this event.
Higgins was one of 92 competitors who advanced through qualifying to earn a spot at this year’s Championship Proper.
"There are a lot of layup shots you have to hit. You just can’t hit driver everywhere on this course," said Higgins. "Knowing where to position the ball off the tee is critical. The greens, although they don’t seem to have a lot of slope, they do have very subtle breaks that that most people won’t see if they haven’t played here often."
Another Massachusetts Golf Association champion – Keith Smith – had this date marked on his calendar since the news surfaced last season. Just last week, Smith delivered a repeat (and third overall) victory at the Massachusetts Senior Amateur Championship, which was held at Oakley Country Club. Smith fired a 6-under par 65 on day 1 to set the stage for eventual victory.
It proved to be perfect timing for his pursuit of a Massachusetts Mid-Amateur Championship title on his home course this week. Smith moved up into the T9 position on Tuesday after a second-round score of even par 71. Smith - along with Kyle Kelly - will be the lone two members representing the club on the final day.
"It has been great to be able to do the same commute you do all the time," said Kelly. "You get to show up at the golf course, hit some balls and just go play. It's been great and the course is in great shape."
Kelly, a member of Franklin Country Club since 2009, followed up his 2-over par 73 on Monday with a 4-over par 75 this afternoon to make the cut on the number. This year's cut line fell at 6-over par 148.
"A goal this year was the State Am and this was a big one because it was at my home course and I wanted to get in," said Kelly. "I got in on the number at Thorny Lea, so I have been sneaking in the whole time."
