Mass. Junior field down to 16

After two days of stroke play at Indian Pond CC in Kingston, the Massachusetts Junior Amateur field was whittled to 16 competitors for match play, which will get under way Wednesday.

Joseph Lenane, who plays out of the Kohr Golf Center in Natick, shot 69-71 – 140 to share medalist honors with Weston Jones (73-67) of Charter Oak CC. A pair of golfers out of Kernwood CC – Aidan Emmerich (68-73) and Sean Dully (70-74) finished third and fifth, respectively. Colin Spencer of Cummaquid (72-71) was fourth.

Those five golfers, plus 11 others – including Nolan Skaggs of Plymouth CC, who survived a five-for-one playoff for the 16th spot – will start the Round of 32 at 8 a.m. Wednesday. Lenane will take on Skaggs in the leadoff game.

In the Pre-Junior Division, Ryan Downes of GreatHorse is at 75-70 –145, leading by four over Chad Tordone (77-72) and by five over Zach Pelzar (74-76) of Weston Golf Club.

 

Right back at it – Curtin, Lee march on

Some substantial resiliency was on display when Sue Curtin of Westwood and Danielle Lee of Concord got through a U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur qualifier at Marshfield Country Club. Each competitor was coming off an emotional high at last week’s U.S. Senior Women’s Open where they missed the cut, Curtin at 162, Lee at 163.

But each woman rebounded nicely at Marshfield to earn their way into a second USGA championship this summer. Tracy Welch led the parade of five qualifiers with a sparkling 3-under 70, followed by Curtin (76) and Lee (79). Anna Morales of Peru (80) and Kristen Henderson of Auburn (81) earned the other two berths.

The U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur will be held Sept. 10-15 in Alabama. For Welch, it will be her 21st USGA Championship.

 

Making their way into U.S. Senior Am

Marshfield CC was also the site of a men’s U.S. Senior Amateur qualifier, and the four spots went to Daniel Harding of Wellesley (72), Keith Smith of Franklin (72), Darrin Eddy of the host club (73) and Frank Vana, Jr. (73). Eddy and Vana got through a three-for-two playoff that left Joe Walker Jr. as the first alternate.

Another qualifier for the U.S. Senior Amateur was held at Manchester CC in Vermont, where Mike McKenna of Danvers and Danny Arvanitis of Manchester, N.H, both shot 72 to share medalist honors. Jack Kearney shot 74 and will be first alternate.

The U.S. Senior Amateur will be held Aug. 28 to Sept. 2 at the Country Club of Detroit.

 

US Women’s Am competitors

One of the three players who got through qualifying at Boston Golf Club in Hingham – Bridget Ma, a high school junior from Florida – fared well in the U.S. Women’s Amateur. She shot 70-76 to finish T-29 and breeze into the match play portion at Westchester CC in Rye, N.Y. Things did not go as well for the other qualifiers out of BGC, Hanako Kawasaki (77-78), a senior at BU, and Tracy Lee (80-74), a senior at the University of Wisconsin. They both missed the cut. So, too, did 16-year-old Molly Smith (77-76) of Westford.

 

Whitney leads qualifying field

Former NHLer Ryan Whitney shook off a bumpy end to his front nine Monday to shoot 1-under 35 on the inward holes and earn medalist honors in a Mass Golf Mid-Amateur qualifier at The Ridge Club in Sandwich. Whitney birdied both par 3s on the second nine, the 189-yard 11th and 178-yard 14th and finished at 1-over 72. Four players were next, at 74 – Brian Bassett of Oyster Harbors, Jason Clary of Thorny Lea, Peter Hartmann at Blue Hill CC, and Rugo Santini of Oakley. The State Mid-Am will be Sept. 9-11 at Weston GC.

 

His summer fun continues

Chris Francoeur had played nicely most of the summer, but he took it to another level when he shot 67-69 at Charles River CC, then closed it out with a 71 at Woodland Golf Club to successfully defend his title in the Ouimet Memorial Tournament. At 4-under 207, the young man from Amesbury finished two ahead of Kevin Gately (70-70-69) of The Harmon Golf & Fitness Club and Dillon Brown (68-69-72) of the Country Club of Halifax.

Earlier this summer, Francoeur had finished T-8 at the Massachusetts Open, lost in the semifinals of the Massachusetts Amateur, competed in the Northeastern Amateur, and finished as second alternate in a qualifier for the U.S. Amateur. All solid efforts, but what he did at the 54th Ouimet Memorial was totally satisfying.

In the women’s division, 16-year-old Molly Smith rebounded emphatically from an opening 77 to shoot 68-71 and finished at 216 to win by 10. And in the Lowery Division for senior men, Steve Tasho earned the title on the strength of 72-72-76 to win by five.

 

Challenge Cup’s Wampanoag Classic

The Wampanoag Classic at the heralded Donald Ross course in West Hartford, Conn., is an annual highlight to the Challenge Cup schedule. It was held last week, and the competition produced some impressive winners.

Emily Nash of Lunenberg (79-82) won the women’s collegiate division, holding off Margo Osterman of Scituate (84-81) by four. In the girls’ division, Victoria Veator of Bridgewater shot 78-77 to defeat Grace Farland of Sturbridge (78-79) by two.

In the men’s collegiate division, Nick Cummings of Weston (67-65) finished at 132, with Liam Gill of Wayland (68-70 – 138) second. Meanwhile, Christopher Pieper of Woodbury, Conn., finished at 7-under (69-68) and win by six over Matt Williams of Hingham (72-71).

 

Crawford closes deal on NH Open

Christopher Crawford of Bensalem, Penn., shot 68-66-72 – 206 to win the New Hampshire Open at Manchester Country Club. Shawn Warren finished one shot back at 68-70-69, while a three-way tie at 208 involved Mark Brown, John Felitto and Matthew Campbell.