DUXBURY, Massachusetts – On a hot, sunny day along the coast of Massachusetts, 33 junior golfers competed in the 10th Young Golfers’ Amateur Championship Powered By KOHR Golf. North Hill Country Club, a hilly 9-hole course owned by the town of Duxbury hosted the championship for these enthusiastic players.
The young golfers did not let the humidity slow them down in their 18-hole round where they used the Modified Stableford format. Wes Paine (Longmeadow CC) posted a score of 8-under (64) to give him 44 points to win the Young Golfers’ Amateur Championship Powered By KOHR Golf.
Coming down the final two holes, it looked like there would be a playoff for 1st place, but Wes Paine (Longmeadow CC) jumped to the top of leaderboard with a 3 point lead through 17. On the final hole, a 294 yard par 4, Paine beautifully drove his ball to the green where it rolled just off to the fringe. This put him in great position to solidify his win. Paine’s eagle chip went just 3 feet past the hole where his birdie putt fell to post his score of 44 Stableford points.
After the round, Paine said “I’m pretty happy. I’ve been playing some pretty good golf going into this and I played pretty solid today.”
Starting off strong, Paine, eagled the first two holes and followed that up with a birdie on the third. For the rest of the round, Paine carded another four birdies which put him at the top easily. “I started off with two eagles, and I felt like that just lifted me and I was able to play pretty solid the rest of the time.”
At 13 years old, Paine, dreams big for his golf future, winning this championship just like former champ, Michael Thorbjornsen, who has now made it to the PGA Tour. He added “I would love to make it to the PGA Tour and hopefully win some tournaments, but starting with the rest of year, just keep playing good golf and see where we go from there.”
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The Young Golfers’ Amateur Championship Powered By KOHR Golf is open to junior golfers who have an active Mass Golf Membership and did not reach their 14th birthday before July 6, 2023. The event is played as an 18-hole Modified Stableford where points are awarded for Eagle (4), Birdie (3), Par (2), and Bogey (1). Any score double-bogey or higher receives no points.
This championship uses the same format as the Barracuda Championship (the only PGA Tour championship that does not use the traditional format). While this format encourages risk-taking to rack up big points, it also rewards players for making pars and bogeys.
One of today’s competitors, Charlotte Rollins, teed it up in the 2024 Mixed Four-Ball at Granite Links Golf Club, and was the youngest competitor in the field that day. She and her playing partner, Dustin Rollins, finished 23rd out of 76 teams in the Net Division in the Four-Ball.
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Special thanks to staff and volunteers who helped make this outing an exciting day for our future up-and-coming golfers in Massachusetts and beyond. Despite the weather, these kids were unfazed and eagerly watched the last few groups to figure out where they stood on the leaderboard and who would claim a spot for the 2025 Massachusetts Junior Amateur Powered By KOHR Golf. The top 5 finishers and ties from the Young Golfers’ Am are now exempt from qualifying for the Junior Am.
In April of 2022, Mass Golf announced a multi-year partnership, making KOHR Golf the official sponsor of all three Mass Golf junior golf championships: The Junior Amateur, the Girls’ Junior Amateur and the Young Golfers’ Amateur.
Since 2018, KOHR Golf Center in Natick has been a program location for First Tee Massachusetts. But the facility has also developed and coached several of the top players, 18 years and younger, in Massachusetts, many of whom compete in Mass Golf’s junior championships. All three of those events will now be “Powered By KOHR Golf.” With 62 hitting bays, 14 target greens and 12 USGA Greens & Bunkers, KOHR Golf Center is open 7 days a week and has been regarded as a premier golf training center in the Northeast.
1. Wes Paine (Longmeadow CC); 44 points
2. Riley Donovan (Youth Member/MIAA); 40 points
T3. Luke Russell (Brae Burn Country Club); 39 points
T3. Lucas Flynn (Youth on Course/Mass Golf); 39 points
T5. Matteo Faggiano (Youth on Course/Mass Golf); 38 points
T5. Jeremy Zhang (Youth on Course/Mass Golf); 38 points
T5. Ian Kennedy (Student Member/MIAA); 38 points
T5. Michael Rogers (Black Rock Country Club); 38 points
A regular stop on the Mass Junior Amateur Qualifying route, North Hill Country Club is a public nine-hole layout that opened in 1966. A participating course for Youth on Course in Massachusetts, this course encourages & welcomes junior play.
For today’s event, the following holes were changed up: hole 2/11 was changed to a par 5, and hole 6/15 was shortened to a par 4. The yardage for the 9-hole course was played at 2,573 yards par 36 with golfers playing it twice.
North Hill CC was designed by William F. Mitchell who was responsible for over 150 course designs over the years. From the tips, North Hill CC plays to a par 36 and 3320 yards. From the forward tees, the course plays as short as 2573 yards.
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