FALMOUTH, Maine – Dedham’s Joey Lenane (George Wright Golf Course) is no stranger being at or near the top of the leaderboard. This year alone, he led Round 1 of the Mass Open and made a deep run in the Mass Amateur last week. Now the 19-year-old North Carolina State standout finds himself in a solid position after the first 18-hole round of the 94th New England Amateur Championship on Tuesday at The Woodlands Club (6,722 yards, par-72).
Lenane, who was first in the clubhouse under-par, shot 2-under with five birdies to find himself two strokes off the lead held by Michael Arsenault of (Val Halla GC-ME). Just one behind Arsenault is Thomas Harrison (Old Sandwich Golf Club), who shot 3-under in the afternoon. Five of the players sitting T6 or better are representing Mass Golf member clubs, including 2020 New England Amateur champion John Broderick (Dedham Country & Polo Club).
Lenane, playing on softened greens from rains from the previous days, made birdie on four of his first 11 holes. He got up-and-down for birdie early in the round (par-5 11th), but his best came on the sixth (his 15th of the day) when he made a 30-footer. On the tree-lined course, Lenane picked his spots using driver on the fairways, but most importantly, his putter got going at the right time.
“There are not many holes I hit driver, it’s pretty tight,” Lenane said. “However, on the 11th, I took the aggressive route and hit driver, which is one of the rare times to get aggressive on this course. It paid off.”
Harrison burst onto the scene earlier this year with an outstanding victory in the Mass Four-Ball Championship with Steven Tasho. On Tuesday, he got himself in the conversation again with a 69, featuring a bogey-free 3-under on the back nine to start the day and finishing even-par on the front.
Nick McLaughlin, who won the New England Amateur Championship in 2015, also finished under-par with a 1-under 71. McLaughlin was 2-over at the turn, but caught fire with birdies on holes 11, 12 and 13, to get back on track. Broderick started with two bogeys but bounced back to shoot even par, as did Holy Cross’s Matt Williams (Boston Golf Club).
Round 2 will begin at 8 a.m. Wednesday. At the conclusion of the second round, the field of 144 will be reduced to the 60 low players and ties for the final round Thursday.
Located just minutes outside of Portland, The Woodlands features an 18-hole championship golf course designed by Jim and George Fazio that has hosted everything from state amateur events to Korn Ferry Tour events (formerly the Hogan Tour & Nike Tour).
The course debuted in 1988, with the project involving breaking and moving more than 35,000 cubic yards of rock.
This is the second time the New England Amateur is being held at Woodlands, the first being 2006 when Rhode Island’s Brad Valois won by two strokes, shooting 1-under 287 over the 72-hole tournament. The format has since been converted to 54 holes.
The New England Golf Association will continue to provide content and updates from the New England Amateur Championship on Instagram and Twitter.
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