News Release

For Immediate Release: July 10, 2007

Headline: Rainaud, Velardo Lead Field of 32 Players Into Match Play at 2007 State Amateur

Concord, MA – After two days of stroke play at Concord Country Club, the 2007 Massachusetts Amateur Championship field has been reduced from 144 to only 32 players. Those 32 low scorers from the first two rounds have now earned the right to compete in the Match Play portion of the event, which begins on Wednesday morning.

The first match will commence at 7:00 a.m. with all matches to follow at nine-minute intervals. Winners from that Round of 32 will continue on to the Round of 16 which will take place during the afternoon hours. The quarterfinal and semifinal matches are scheduled for Thursday, while the 36-hole final match will be contested on Friday.

In the battle for medalist honors, a pair of young collegiate standouts stole the show as Adam Rainaud (South Hadley - The Ledges GC) and Kevin Velardo (Wilmington - CC of Billerica) both finished at 3-under par 137 following day-low scores of 3-under par 67 today. Rainaud, a senior at the University of Louisville, finished his first nine holes at 1-under par 34. He had no trouble with the more challenging front nine as he made birdie on the 1st, 3rd and 8th holes. His only miscue on that side was a bogey on the 437-yard, par 4 5th hole.

Velardo, a 20-year-old from St. John's University in New York, fired his 3-under par score during the afternoon hours. His spotless round featured three birdies – on the 5th, 12th and 15th holes – and zero bogeys. Both players scored even par 70s on Monday.

Also qualifying this year were the four past Richard D. Haskell MGA Players of the Year – Frank Vana, Jr. (Boylston – Marlborough CC) – 1999-2003, 2005-06, Joseph Keller (Osterville - Oyster Harbors Club) – 1993 and Jack Kearney (Peachtree City, GA – Elmcrest CC) – 1992, and Steven Tasho (North Easton - Thorny Lea GC) – 1981.

Massachusetts Amateur Championship Notes:

This year's cut line fell at 8-over par 148, which represents the third lowest cut-line score since the cut line was established back in 1978.
A total of seven players were sent back out on the course for a playoff to vie for the five remaining spots. All five players who advanced made birdie on the first playoff hole. The other two players made par.
The shot of the day was made by John Hogan (Beverly - Ferncroft CC), who holed in his shot on the 187-yard, par 3 12 th hole. Hogan, who finished at 7-over par 147 and will face Kevin Foley (Easton - Furnace Brook GC) in the Round of 32, used a 6 iron on that shot.
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.