Headline: Day 5 of Massachusetts Amateur Qualifying Highlights Strong Play and an Even Stronger Bay State Golf Community

For Immediate Release: June 7, 2017

Waubeeka GL (above) and Vesper CC hosted MGA Amateur Sectional Qualifiers on June 7.

Tyngsborough, MA — Although the Bay State is up there as one of the smaller states on a United States map, the MGA continues to be one of the largest in the nation. Of the 94 state golf associations under the USGA umbrella, Massachusetts stands as the seventh largest with 87,000 members holding their GHIN handicap index through the MGA’s various services.

The continued success of the MGA is due in large part to the strong golf community that exists right here in the Bay State and long relationship that the state golf association has with each of its 360 Member Clubs dating back nearly 115 years.

Ahead of Wednesday’s two Massachusetts Amateur Championship qualifiers taking place at opposite ends of the state, the strong golf community that exists here was ever present when an unforeseen change led to a last-minute switch of venues to Tyngsboro’s Vesper Country Club – an 18-hole Donald Ross design located on the Merrimack River and just upstream from the site of the Industrial Revolution in mill city Lowell.

While others may have panicked when a new venue was needed with qualifying having already started, a few phone calls were all that was necessary for the quick change.

On the same course where the inaugural Massachusetts Open Championship was won by the architect Donald Ross himself, a course which has hosted five MGA Open Championships, three MGA Amateur Championships and a handful of USGA Sectional Qualifiers, 73 hopefuls teed off eyeing a desirable spot in the 109th playing of the MGA Amateur Championship Proper, taking place at Newton’s Charles River Country Club next month.

So while the players qualifying fate was in their own hands, the last minute site change to Vesper Country Club wouldn’t have been possible without the fantastic staff that changed around their schedules to make it all possible.

“Today was a perfect example of the strong community bond that exists between the MGA and its Member Clubs,” said Kevin Eldridge, the MGA’s Director of Rules and Competition. “Last minute changes due to weather, course conditions, or other unforeseen reasons is something that does happen in the golf industry, but because of the wonderful people at Vesper, we were able to avoid any major headaches that may have resulted. We are grateful to have them as a great partner as we continue to promote amateur golf here in Massachusetts.”

On Wednesday at Waubeeka Golf Links and Vesper Country Club, 18 more golfers advanced to next month’s Championship Proper in what was the sixth and seventh qualifiers of the Massachusetts Amateur Championship schedule.

At Waubeeka GL, one stroke separated the four competitors who will be advancing to July’s Championship Proper. Shooting a 2-over par 73 for the 18-hole qualifier, Ronald Laverdiere (Hickory Ridge GC) earned medalist honors and will see his name among the 144 players who will be challenging for the Massachusetts Amateur Championship title at Charles River Country Club next month.

At Vesper CC, 14 amateur players tallied scores that ranged from 1-over par 73 to 3-over par 75 en route to punching their tickets to the Championship Proper, including four competitors who tied for medalist honors with their 1-over par mark.

An additional seven golfers between the two sites tallied one stroke above the final qualifying spot at each of the two sites and were added as alternates and will be placed on the alternate list per the alternate policy that is available on the MGA Policies and Procedures Page.

The annual five-day tournament will begin with stroke play on July 10-11 before the top 32 in the field move on to three days of match play, concluding with a 36-hole contest with the remaining two players to crown the 2017 champion.

CLICK HERE for results from the Vesper CC qualifying site.

CLICK HERE for results from the Waubeeka GL qualifying site.

Qualifiers (Waubeeka GL):
Ronald Laverdiere (Hickory Ridge GC) 73
Cameron Sheedy (Vesper CC) 74
Andy Drohen (The Ranch GC) 74
Jesse Morgan (Amherst GC) 74

Qualifiers (Vesper CC):
Brett Krekorian (Indian Ridge CC) 73
Gregory Poor (Haverhill CC) 73
Riley Whitman (International) 73
Andrew DiPetrillo (Blue Hill CC) 73
Matt Schena (Haverhill CC) 74
Matt Johnson (Charter Oak CC) 74
Dan Koerner (Merrimack Valley) 75
Athan Goulos (Ferncroft CC) 75
Nick Maccario (Bradford CC) 75
Phil Miceli (Sagamore Spring GC) 75
Zach Ungvarsky (Bradford CC) 75
Joseph Iacona (Brookline GC) 75
Andrew Howard (Norfold GC) 75
Keith Orlen (Framingham CC) 75

Alternates (Waubeeka GL):
Aaron Corn (Brookline) 76
Connor Phillips (Longmeadow CC) 76
Mark Millay (Highfields G & CC) 76

Alternates (Vesper CC):
Jake Kramer (Kernwood CC) 76
Bobby Manion (Nashawtuc CC) 76
Andrew Young (Granite Links GC) 76
Victor Galvani (Framingham CC) 76

Notes:
Athan Goulos (Ferncroft CC) registered a Hole In One on Vesper CC’s 17th hole, a 190-yard par-3. The Peabody, Mass. native finished at 3-over par 75.

UP NEXT:
After today, there are only three more qualifiers ahead of this year’s Championship Proper. The MGA will be at Marlborough CC tomorrow, June 8 and following completion of the Massachusetts Open Championship next week in Falmouth, the two final qualifiers will take place at CC of Wilbraham (June 20) and Presidents GC (June 21). 

For continued information regarding the Massachusetts Amateur Championship, visit mgalinks.org or follow the MGA on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using #MassAm.