News Release

For Immediate Release: July 12, 2007

Headline: Vana & Houston to Meet in Finals of 2007 Massachusetts Amateur Championship

Concord, MA – After 36 holes of stroke play and 32 matches over four days, the final match for the 99th Massachusetts Amateur Championship has been set.

Eight-time Richard D. Haskell MGA Player of the Year Frank Vana, Jr. (Boylston – Marlborough CC) will face last year's runner-up Burgess Houston (Wellesley - Maplegate CC) in a 36-hole final match on Friday at Concord Country Club. That match will begin at 8:00 a.m. Following the first 18 holes, the players will take a brief lunch break and then return to the course to complete the match.

Vana, who won this event in 2004 and 2005, was the first to advance to the finals as he knocked off 1993 MGA Player of the Year and 2005 Massachusetts Senior Champion Joseph Keller (Osterville - Oyster Harbors Club) by a score of 5 & 4. Following a grueling match against John McNeill (Stow - B.A.G.S.) in the morning, Vana responded well by making three birdies and only one bogey to jump out to a 3 Up lead through nine holes. Despite a bogey on the 396-yard, par 4 11th hole, Vana sealed the victory by making two straight birdies – on the 12th and 13th holes – and a par on the 14th hole. Vana was 3-under par through the 14 holes, and on the day he registered 11 birdies in two matches.

In the second semifinal match, memories of last year came flooding back as Houston was masterful with the putter en route to a 6 & 5 win over Dan Ladd (Weston - Weston GC). Just one year ago, Houston made headlines as he advanced all the way to the finals where he was defeated by Ben Spitz. This time around, Houston made sure that he earned a ticket back to the final match as he registered 10 birdies on the day including five against Ladd. He broke the match open on the 8th and 9th holes by making two long birdie putts.

This will be the second trip to the Massachusetts Amateur Championship finals for Houston and the fourth for Vana. Vana advanced to the finals for the first time in 2003 where he fell to Andy Drohen at The Country Club.

Quarterfinal Highlights:

In his morning match, Joe Keller used a 1-under par 34 front nine to soar ahead of Todd Ezold (Westfield - Hickory Ridge CC) by a margin of 6 Up at the turn. Keller made a key birdie on the 435-yard, par 4 3rd hole to take a commanding 2 Up lead. Ezold struggled, making five bogeys through his first nine holes. Keller went on to close out the match on the 13th hole with his second birdie of the day to win 7 & 5.
It took 18 holes for Frank Vana to defeat John McNeill (Stow - B.A.G.S.) in the Quarterfinals. McNeill held a 1 Up lead through the first six holes before Vana evened the match with a par on the 7th hole. Vana snatched the lead back with a birdie on the 11 th hole and held on for the 1 Up win.
Burgess Houston broke open his morning match against John Hogan (Beverly - Ferncroft CC) on the back nine by making a string of four birdies beginning on the 12th hole. To that point, Houston had been struggling as me made four bogeys, one double bogey and one birdie to find himself 2 Down through 11 holes. The four-birdie run put him 2 Up, and he then held on for the 1 Up victory.
In an up-and-down battle, Dan Ladd outlasted young A.J. Oleksak (Agawam - Crestview CC) by a score of 1 Up. Oleksak grabbed a 1 Up lead with a par on the 15th hole. The wheels came off the bus as Oleksak made two straight bogeys. Ladd stood strong with two pars to close out the match.