For Smith, a winning formula continues

Keith Smith applied quite the exclamation point to his season of excellence when he withstood challenges from a vaunted trio of competitors to win a fourth Massachusetts Senior Amateur championship.

The 63-year-old from Franklin Country Club shot 70-73 to finish at 1-under 143 at Pocasset Golf Club. With rain having shortened the competition to 36 holes, it was no surprise to see a logjam of sorts, with Frank Vana Jr. (73), David Pierce (71), and John Hadges (72) all finishing at 144 and throwing dramatic obstacles at Smith.

First, Pierce. A hole-out eagle from 144 yards at the par-4 eighth help him to the turn in a tidy 33 and early on the back nine he and Smith traded the lead.

Next, Vana. When he mimicked Pierce and holed a wedge to eagle the par-5 ninth, he came to life and continued the surge with birdies at 14, 16 and 17 to pull even with Smith.

Smith, however, never wilted. A crucial birdie at 14 enabled him to regain sole possession of the lead, then at 18 he broke the tie with a two-putt for par while Vana three-putted from the fringe for bogey.

Mixed in with earlier success (a Mass Golf Senior Four-ball win with Steve Tasho; a march into the Round of 32 at the U.S. Senior Amateur; and a share of second in the senior division of the Ouimet Memorial), Smith officially clinched his first Mass Golf Senior Player of the Year honors.

His other State Senior Amateur titles had come in 2013, 2016 and 2017.

Reycroft posts four-stroke win

Rain also played havoc with the Massachusetts Super Senior Championship at the Wianno Club in Barnstable as the competition was reduced to 18 holes. Don Reycroft, who plays out of Bayberry Hills and Bass River in the town of Yarmouth, made the short drive over to the Wianno Club a joyous one as he posted 3-under 67 to win comfortably. Steve Carmara of Ferncroft CC shot 71 to finish second. There was a three-way tie at 74 in the Legends Division between Paul Murphy of Charles River CC, Jack Farrell of Cape Cod National, and Claude Hoopes of The Kittansett Club.

To Alabama, via Niagara Falls

No quality GPS would send you through Lewiston, N.Y., to get to Birmingham, Ala., but that’s the way things sometime work when you’re required to go through qualifying tournaments to reach national golf championships. Joseph Lenane of Dedham and Aidan O’Donovan of Somerville made the long trip to Niagara Falls CC and played beautifully to make sure it wasn’t for naught. With a 5-under 65, the two youngsters shared medalist honors and punched their ticket into the U.S. Amateur Four-ball Championship next May at the Country Club of Birmingham.

College men: Fighting Irish Classic

Davis Chatfield of Attleboro posted scores of 69-67-70 to finish tied for eighth and help Notre Dame to second place in its Fighting Irish Classic in South Bend, Ind. The hosts were upstaged by the University of Washington, which finished at 15-under, three better than Notre Dame. Andrew O’Leary of Norfolk (72-71-70) was T-28 for the Irish. Rutgers, which was sixth in the team race, got solid performances from Xavier Marcoux of Concord (73-69-67, T-14) and freshman Weston Jones of Sudbury (70-72-68, T-15). Boston College was last of 14 teams, led by Nick Cummings of Weston (68-75-72, T-33).

College men: UConn Invitational

A 14-stroke difference after two days was just a bit too much for the University of Connecticut to overcome as the University of Rhode Island held on for a two-stroke win in the UConn Invitational at Greathorse in Hampden. Caleb Manuel, a sophomore from Topsham, Maine, shot 70-68-67 – 205 to win the individual title and nearly lifted the Huskies past the Rams. But with solid efforts from Bryson Richards (216, T-6), a junior from Plainfield, Vt., and Jordan Brajcich (217, T-9), a redshirt senior from Mill Creek, Wash., the Rams at 11-over held on. Siena finished fifth and was led by Brody Yates (217, T-9) of Essex Junction, Vt.

College men: Thorbjornsen shines

Showing the sort of form that carried him to an emphatic win in the Massachusetts Amateur this summer, sophomore Michael Thorbjornsen shot 69-70-66 – 205 to finish second and help Stanford win the Colonial Collegiate Invitational at famed Colonial CC in Fort Worth, Texas. In a battle of heavyweights, the Cardinals totaled 837, beating Oklahoma by one stroke, with Oklahoma State and Wake Forest tied for third, at 843. Patrick Welch, a senior from Providence, shot 227 for Oklahoma, while Jack Boulger of Walpole shot 226 for Southern California.