A Tradition Unlike Any Other...

The Drive Chip and Putt Championship kicks off a new Masters Tradition

In 2013, The Drive Chip and Putt Championship was created in an effort to promote interest and participation in the game of golf, the Masters Tournament Foundation, United States Golf Association (USGA) and The PGA of America. This free, nationwide junior skills competition was concluded at Augusta National Golf Club this past Sunday.

Participants in the inaugural Drive, Chip and Putt Championship advanced through local and regional qualifiers conducted throughout the United States.  Competitors were comprised of boys and girls ages 7-15, and represented and competed in separate divisions in four age categories. The regional champions in each of the boys' and girls' divisions from the four age categories advanced to the finals held at Augusta National this past Sunday.

The Golf Channel had coverage of the entire competion, and their audience was treated to the best and brightest junior stars in the country. The New England PGA Drive Chip and Putt representitves were:  John Honeywell of North Fayston,VT; Connor Willett of Wellesley, MA; Partick Welch of Providence, RI; Sritha Vemuri of Wayland, MA; Meghan Lane of Wilton, CT; Alexandra Chicharro of Fall River, MA; and Jacqueline Gonzalez of West Roxbury, MA.

New England qualifiers were represented well with two players finishing in the Top 3 in their division, including Patrick Welch who was crowned the 2014 Drive Chip and Putt Champion for Boys 14-15 years old. Welch is a decorated golfer from New England, and was the youngest player in the field at the U.S. Junior Championship at The Golf Club of New England in 2013. Patrick began playing golf at age 2 when his father would play golf at either Lincoln Park or Harding Park in San Francisco and would take his son with him. He has played golf cross-handed ever since he first picked up a club and despite receiving advice to change, does not plan to do so. Patrick returns to his home club of Metacomet Golf Club with his first National Title.

Full results for the 2013 Drive Chip and Putt Championship can be seen at HERE.

Thank you to all players and volunteers who participated in the New England Drive Chip and Putt Qualifiers in New England in 2013. Registation for 2014 is now open, and you can register at www.drivechipandputt.com

Back to School

The 2014 NEPGA Teaching Summit gets PGA Professionals ready for the 2014 Season

Rockland, MA -

The 2014 New England PGA Teaching Summit was held this past Monday at the Harmon Club in Rockland, MA. The theme for the 2014 Teaching Summit was “Teaching with Technology” and over 80 PGA Professionals in attendance learned from the presenters from Orange Whip, PING Golf, FlightScope, KVest and Quintic Putt Lab. NEPGA Professionals had the opportunity to test the latest technology available in golf instruction.

Thank you to our sponsors: PING Golf, Orange Whip and FlightScope as well as our host facility The Harmon Club and PGA Professionals: Tom Cavicchi, PGA; Jay Durfee, PGA;and TJ Valentine, PGA for helping us put on an outstanding event.

Presenters Included:

Jim Hackenberg – Orange Whip

David Nel – Flight Scope

Tony Morgan – Kvest

Jim MacKay – Quintic Putt Lab

Shannon Johnson – PING Golf

A full video recap can be seen on The New England PGA YouTube Channel