News Release

For Immediate Release: July 9, 2007

Headline: Bill Drohen Grabs Early Lead at Day 1 of Massachusetts Amateur Championship

Concord, MA – The quest for the 99th Massachusetts Amateur Championship title began today as 144 players made their way to Concord Country Club. Following the first round of 18-hole stroke play, Bill Drohen (Danvers - Bradford CC) leads the way with a day-low score of 1-under par 69. Drohen, who advanced to the semifinals of this event in 2005, leads 1999 Massachusetts Open Champion Kevin Quinn (Needham - Charles River CC) and youngsters Adam Rainaud (South Hadley - The Ledges GC), Kevin Velardo (Wilmington - CC of Billerica) and Chris Anderson (South Easton - Thorny Lea GC) by one stroke.

Drohen, Quinn and Velardo – along with the rest of the field – will return to Concord Country Club on Tuesday to compete in a second round of stroke play. Following Tuesday's round, the starting field of 144 will be cut down to the low 32. Only those players will advance to the match play portion of the event, which begins on Wednesday with the Round of 32 and the Round of 16. The quarterfinal and semifinal matches will take place on Thursday, while the 36-hole final match will be contested on Friday.

Drohen, who last year finished as stroke play medalist and advanced to the Round of 16 before being ousted by Jordan Burke (Needham - Needham GC), started his day on the 10 th tee and made birdie on two of his first three holes. He ran into trouble with a double bogey on the 422-yard, par 4 14th hole and bogies on the 15 th and 18 th holes. On the more challenging front nine, Drohen showed championship poise as he made three birdies – on the 5th, 6th and 8th holes – to finish at 1-under par for the day.

Quinn, the 2005 New England Amateur champion, was solid all day long as he registered three birdies, one bogey and one double bogey for an even par 70. Velardo, a standout at St. John’s University who also started his round on the 10th hole, was on track for a low score as he was 4-under par through his first 10 holes. He made birdie on the 13th, 14th, 17th and 1st holes. Trouble arose down the stretch as Velardo made bogey on three of his final four holes. Rainaud, a junior at the University of Louisville, posted two birdies and two bogeys on the day, while Salem State College's Anderson used a 2-under par 33 front nine to spearhead his even par round.

Eight-time Richard D. Haskell MGA Player of the Year and two-time Massachusetts Amateur Champion Frank Vana , Jr. (Boylston - Marlborough CC) is still very much in the hunt as he posted a 1-over par 71. Alongside Vana at 1-over par are three players including 2005 Massachusetts Senior Champion Joseph Keller (Osterville - Oyster Harbors Club) and 2005 Massachusetts Public Links Champion Phil Miceli (Bradford - Sagamore Spring GC).

Massachusetts Amateur Championship Notes:

Four past Massachusetts Amateur champions are competing in this year's event. Past champions include Vana – 2004, 2005; Andy Drohen (Granville - St. Anne CC) – 2003; Flynt Lincoln (Somers, CT - Longmeadow CC) – 1993; and Steven Tasho (North Easton - Thorny Lea GC) – 1981, 1985.
This year's event is a true family affair as three sets of brothers are competing in this year's Massachusetts Amateur Championship – Aaron Ungvarsky (Wilmington - CC of Billerica) and Zack Ungvarsky (Wilmington - CC of Billerica), Kevin Velardo and David Velardo (Wilmington - CC of Billerica) and Andy and Bill Drohen.
A total of 727 applications were received for this year's Massachusetts Amateur Championship, which is the most-subscribed event on the MGA Championship schedule.