Spencer: Stamp of validation on solid summer

You didn’t exactly have to pin your ear to the ground to hear the approach of Colin Spencer. The young man had been knocking on the competitive golf door much of the spring and summer, so it’s no surprise that he finally broke through. Saving some of his best golf for the end, the 17-year-old from Mashpee made a pair of birdies and six pars over his final eight holes to beat Jack Moy, 3 and 2, to win the Massachusetts Junior Amateur Championship at Indian Pond CC in Kingston.

Spencer, who plays out of Cummaquid CC where his father, Stephen, is the head professional, and Moy, who plays out of Pleasant Valley in Sutton, had reached the final with impressive semifinal wins over the co-medalists. Spencer ousted Joseph Lenane of Kohr Golf Center, Moy dispatched Weston Jones of Charter Oak CC.

Moy, who shot 148 to finish T-12 and just get one of the 16 spots in match play, might have been a surprise finalist, but Spencer was not.

Having finished T-4 alongside fellow Cummaquid golfer Aidan O’Donovan in the Massachusetts Four-ball Championship back in May, Spencer made the cut at the Massachusetts Amateur, only to lose in Round 1 to the esteemed Ben Spitz. He also qualified for the U.S. Junior Amateur at Pinehurst and played two days at the Ouimet Memorial.

So, watching Spencer march through match play (3 and 2 over Nolan Skaggs, and 3 and 1 over Sean Dully preceded the Lenane and Moy matches) confirmed what had pretty much been established. The senior-to-be at Mashpee High School has some serious game.

Uihlein pushing to finish Top 25

Peter Uihlein’s spirited run to win last week’s Utah Championship on the Korn Ferry Tour fell just short. But at 22-under 262 Uihlein, 31, was T-2 and pushed to No. 25 on the KFT points list. There are just four tournaments left to the 2020-21 season, after which the top 25 players will earn PGA Tour cards for 2021-22. Uihlein, a New Bedford native and former U.S. Amateur champon, is entered in this week’s Pinnacle Bank Championship in Nebraska.

Morgans prevail; Curtin team wins again

Michelle Morgan and her son, Jesse combined for 5-under 67 at Brookmeadow CC in Canton to win the Mass Golf Mother-Son Modified Scotch Div. 1 championship. Michelle plays out of Amherst CC, Jesse out of Northfield Golf Club. A dynasty of sorts continued when Sue and James Curtin shot level-par 72 to capture the Div. 2 title. It was the ninth straight year Curtin and her 16-year-old son have won a divisional crown. In Div. 3, Cindy and William Remis (Andover CC) shot 40 to win the nine-hole title . . . . . Dean and Alia Godek, a junior at Franklin Pierce College, shot level-par 72 at Shaker Hills CC to win the Championship Division in the Mass Golf Father-Daughter Championship. Todd and Sydney Ezold of Twin Hills CC won the forward division.

Berberian with emphatic victory

There are finishing touches, then there’s what Rich Berberian of Vesper CC did in a NEPGA Stroke Play Series event at Green Hill Municipal in Worcester. Meandering along at level par, Berberian played his final five holes in four birdies and an eagle to shoot 66 and edge Liam Friedman (Nashawtuc CC) by two . . . . . In the NEPGA Pro-Senior Invitational at Sky Meadow CC in Nashua, N.H., Mitch Johnson of Rochester CC shot 72 for low pro honors. Dan Gillis of Nabnasset Lake finished second with 73.

James’ summer roll continues

Ben James of Milford, Conn., continues to add to his sparkling resume. A senior-to-be at Hamden Hall Country Day who has verbally committed to attend the University of Virginia in the fall of 2022, James fired rounds of 68-66 to win the Northern Junior Championship at New Haven CC. Tyler Lee of New Jersey (66-71) finished second, three shots back. Aiden Azevedo of Haverhill shot 141, tied for fifth. Jieming Yang of China (72-74) won the girls’ division. Gianna Papa (149) of Foster, R.I., tied for sixth, Lillian Guleserian of Westwood (152) was T-12, Victoria Veator of Bridgewater (153) was T-16, and Emma Abramson of Sandwich (154) was 19th.

Cullinan edges Chisholm for title

Mass Golf held its seventh annual Young Golfers Amateur at Sassamon Trace in Natick. Using the modified stableford system, Tucker Cullinan (Mass Golf, Youth on Course) led the way with 36 points, one ahead of Ben Chisholm of Ipswich CC . . . . . At the U.S. Kids Golf World Championship in Pinehurst, N.C., Logan Burton of Foxboro finished T-6 in the 7-year-old division. He shot 7-over for three nine-hole rounds . . . . . Brian Adams shot 77-70-72 – 219 at Breakfast Hill GC in Greenland to win the New Hampshire Junior Championship by one over Josiah Hakala (77-71-72) . . . . . Maine Junior Championships in the boys and girls 16-to-18 age division were won by Parker Hilchey (71-76 – 147) and Ruby Haylock (66-75 – 141.