News Release

For Immediate Release: July 30, 2007

Headline: Thimble Shoots 3-under par 69 to Lead Field at 89th Massachusetts Junior Championship

Bernardston, MA – Just one month after falling short of qualifying for the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship, young Ian Thimble (George Wright GC) made his presence felt as he fired a 3-under par 69 to take a two-stroke lead following the first round of play at the Massachusetts Junior Championship. The 89th playing of this historic event – which debuted in 1914 – is being held this week at Crumpin-Fox Club in Bernardston.

Thimble – along with the entire field that includes 60 Junior Division, 40 Pre-Junior Division and 22 Boys Division competitors – will return to Crumpin-Fox Club on Tuesday to compete in a second round of 18-hole stroke play. Following the first two rounds of stroke play, the low 30 Junior, 20 Pre-Junior and 10 Boys Division scorers and ties will continue on to Wednesday’s 18-hole final round.

Heading into that second round, Thimble stands two shots ahead of Josh Salah (Bass Rocks GC). One month ago, Thimble finished as first alternate at U.S. Junior Amateur Qualifying held at Ledgemont Country Club. This time around, it didn’t take the Boston College High School junior long to make a statement as he made a birdie on the 386-yard, par 4 1st hole. He went on to make two more birdies – on the 4th and 9th holes – and two bogeys to make the turn at 1-under par 35. On the back nine, he started strong with his fourth birdie of the day on the 394-yard, par 4 10th hole. Following five straight pars he finished with a bogey and two birdies to cap off his 3-under par 69 performance.

Salah, who finished fourth in the Pre-Junior Division in 2006 and is making his Junior Division debut this year, registered two birdies and two bogeys on the front nine to make the turn at even par. On the back nine, Salah made three straight pars before posting one bogey and two birdies down the stretch for his 1-under par 71.

One name that is farther down than the leaderboard than expected is defending champion Antonio Grillo (Farm Neck GC), who stands in a four-way tie for 14th place after posting a 4-over par 76. One year ago, Grillo dominated at this event en route to his 10-stroke victory. Grillo, along with Taylor Fontaine (Pleasant Valley CC), were the two junior golfers who bested Thimble at last month’s U.S. Junior Amateur Qualifying. Fontaine sits five strokes off the lead with a score of 2-over par 74.

Pre-Junior Division:
Topping the Pre-Junior field was Richard Werenski (The Orchards GC) with a score of 2-over par 74. A topsy-turvy front nine that featured four bogies and two birdies was followed by a bogey, double bogey start on the back nine. Just when things started to look bleak for Werenski, he rebounded by making three birdies on the 13th, 14th and 15th holes. He capped off his round with a bogey-birdie-par finish. Werenski holds a four-stroke lead over Josh Feinberg (Stow Acres CC) , who posted a 6-over par 78. Feinberg was a dominating force on the par 5s as he was 2-under par on those holes.

Boys Division:
Peter French (Maplegate CC) leads all Boys competitors by three strokes after firing a 4-over par 76. Michael Werenski (The Orchards GC) and Colin Whitney (Longmeadow CC) registered scores of 7-over par 79.