For all the great stops and wonderful experiences golf has provided him – from success at the high school level, to a win in the Massachusetts State Amateur, to four solid years at St. Thomas Aquinas College – Brendan Hunter will forever cherish the Challenge Cup for his entry into the world of competitive golf.
For all the joy golf has given him – from playing the game with some polish and watching his son’s exploits – Howie Hunter is thankful that the Challenge Cup affords him the luxury to stay involved in the game.
In yet another example of how the game of golf so brilliantly is shared by fathers and sons, the Hunters’ ties to the Challenge Cup – New England’s best circuit for junior golfers – is a feel-good story.
“When Brendan was playing the Challenge Cup in 2007 and 2008, I met Dave (Adamonis, the face and tireless leader of the program),” said Howie. “I enjoyed going to the tournament and to talking to him. I told him that when I retired, if you’re looking for help, I’d love to be involved.”
When the day came to end his 33-year run with the Massachusetts State Police, Howie Hunter reached out and Adamonis said he was thrilled to bring him aboard. When you’re running more than 40 golf tournaments throughout New England and attracting dozens of junior golfers, the more the merrier.
“You name it, I do it,” laughed Howie Hunter. “I’m a starter or a scorer or a forecaddie or rules official. A little of everything.”
Say this about them: They are passionate about their golf, these Hunters, because while Howie still tries to play at least three days a week in addition to this Challenge Cup schedule, Brendan will work in as much golf as possible around his busy schedule as a caddie (Old Sandwich GC in Plymouth in the summers; Grove XXIII, the Michael Jordan gem in Hobe Sound, Fla., in winters).
There was a time, too, that they were united and very much in step with their love of golf. That July week in the summer of 2016 is a memory forever cemented as Brendan Hunter – with his father on the bag – upended John Kelly, 4 and 3, to win the State Amateur at Taconic Golf Club out in Williamstown, Mass.
“He’d caddied a few tournaments for me, but that was a long week, five full days,” said Brendan. “It was great to share it with him.”
Such a memory is especially pleasant these days because it’s been a rather difficult stretch for Howie Hunter. Last October, shortly after he and his wife, Cindy, moved to Florida, Howie was diagnosed with a kidney stone that required surgery. What came next was a shock – his kidneys were failing.
“The kidney disease shook me,” said Howie Hunter. “My numbers were down to 8 percent and I was on dialysis three days a week.”
The process of searching for potential transplant candidates was coordinated and the good news is, both his wife and younger son, Chris, were matches. But right now, “I’m doing pretty good; I’m up to 22 percent,” he said.
In fact, back at Sky Meadow CC in Nashua, N.H., for the summer, “I walked 18 holes (Monday) in the heat,” said Howie, “and I tried to play three, four days in Florida. Right now, I’m slowly doing better, good enough to be taken off the dialysis as a trial.
“I’m having at least a semi-normal life.”
For the Hunters, a fully normal life has always translated into close embrace of golf. Brendan had his schedule of competitive golf at the junior, high school, and collegiate levels, while Howie was a passionate golfer who played to about a 3 or 4 handicap at Sky Meadow. When Howie retired at the end of 2018, it gave him more time to not only play golf, but to work at Sky Meadow mowing grass and working maintenance.
The fact that Howie still likes to mow grass at his club in Florida makes Brendan laugh. Between that work “and helping Dave out with the Challenge Cup, he just loves being around golf,” said the son.
The father’s kidney setback precluded him from playing in the Providence Open, something he’s done for years. Usually, he was paired with Brendan – at least for the first day, before the youngster would post a lower score and earn a later tee time for Round 2.
“I could play with him years ago, but I’ve moved up a few tees,” laughed Howie. “I’m more like a 5 or 6 handicap now, but I’ve not only lost 30 pounds, but distance, too.”
Fact is, it wasn’t too many years ago when Brendan Hunter played at a level that was hard to match. He graduated St. Thomas Aquinas in 2017 and gave the pro game a run. The trouble is, like a lot of young players, it wasn’t possible to commit full-time. “I had to work to make money to pay for the tournaments I wanted to play in,” said Brendan.
Mostly, he worked winters as a caddie (Old Marsh CC in Palm Beach Gardens was his base), then took on an aggressive summer schedule. A couple of times he earned conditional status on the Canadian Tour and he did record a pair of victories on the Minor League Golf Tour – in 2017 when he shot 65 to win the Parkland Winter classic and in 2021 when he played the last five holes in 5-under to shoot 62 and overtake James Driscoll of Brookline, Mass., in the Coral Springs Major Tune-up.
But the opportunity to go the Old Sandwich/Grove XXIII route was something Hunter couldn’t turn down and so the pro golf chase was pretty much over. “No regrets, none at all,” he said. “I still play pretty well, but the work ethic naturally dwindles and I’m loving Old Sandwich, my home away from home, and Grove XXIII is awesome.”
Besides, there will always be that week at Taconic when a father and son who loved golf in their own spaces, were in tandem in a priceless way. “It was pretty cool, that whole week,” said Howie Hunter. “Such a great memory.”
So cool, how the Challenge Cup, where Brendan Hunter got in synch with competitive golf as a kid, is now Howie Hunter’s stomping grounds as a retiree.
“When I first started working for Dave, these kids were 11 or 12. Now they’re 17 or 18 and hitting it 300 yards. It’s so fun watching their improvement,” he said.
And on those times when golf is pushed to the side so that his thoughts can shift to his own health, Howie Hunter maintains perspective. “Right now it’s good,” he said. “We’re just trying to keep positive.”
