News Release

For Immediate Release: July 20, 2004

Headline: 75th New England Amateur Championship Begins at Race Brook Country Club

Orange, CT – Bill Drohen (Bradford CC) and Kevin Quinn (Charles River CC) set the tone during the first round of the New England Amateur Championship by firing a pair of 6-under par 64s. These two Massachusetts-based golfers are part of a 162-player field that is competing in the 75th New England Amateur Championship this week at Race Brook Country Club in Orange, Connecticut.

Drohen, who is coming off a semifinal defeat in last week’s Massachusetts State Amateur Championship and who earlier this year advanced to the first round of Match Play at the British Amateur Championship, started his round on the 10th tee and proceeded to make birdie on three of his first four holes. After making par on his next seven holes, Drohen jumped on the birdie train once again with birdies on the 3rd, 4th and 8th holes. He posted zero bogeys on the day.

Quinn, who also started on the 10th tee and was champion of this event in 2002, did most of his damage down the stretch. After making the turn at 1-under par 34, Quinn caught fire and registered birdies on six of his final nine holes for a front nine score of 5-under par 30. The only blemish on Quinn’s scorecard was a bogey on the 166-yard, par 3 3rd hole. Just two strokes back of the leaders is another Bay State golfer, Steve Alminas (Elmcrest CC). Much like Quinn, Alminas started his round on the 10th tee but waited until the front nine to make his move. After making the turn at 1-over par 36, Alminas made birdie on five of his final nine holes, which included four consecutive birdies on holes 3 through 6.

One stroke back of Alminas at 3-under par 67 are Danny Arvanitis (Derryfield CC), John Drohen (Alpine CC), Jesse Larson (Lakeside CC), Jeffrey Hedden (Fox Hopyard GC) and Brett Stegmaier (New Haven CC). Also still very much in the hunt is defending champion Mike Welch (Furnace Brook GC), who turned in a score of 2-under par 68. On the day, Welch finished with three bogeys and five birdies.

The entire field will return to the course on Wednesday to compete in 18 holes of stroke play. Following Wednesday’s round, the field will be reduced to the low 40 scorers and ties, and only those individuals will return to Race Brook CC on Thursday for a final day of 36 holes of stroke play.

Day 1 Highlights:
- A notable withdrawal from today’s round was George Pirie (Valley CC), who dropped out after nine holes due to a back injury. Pirie has been playing some of the best golf of his career over the past few weeks as he qualified for the 2004 U.S. Senior Open Championship and was victorious at last week’s Rhode Island Amateur Championship.
- This year marks the first time in the event’s 75-year history that Race Brook Country Club has hosted the New England Amateur Championship. The state of Connecticut last hosted this event in 1998 when J.J. Henry captured the title at New Haven Country Club.