Bring the Boom

Bruso leads Assistant's Championship after Round 1

-Haverhill, MA

Bob Bruso, PGA (Blackstone National) shot an opening round 70 (-2) at Renaissance Golf Club in Haverhill to lead the Assistant’s Championship on Monday. He was the only player in the round to shoot an under par score.

Bruso’s day was highlighted by consistent performance. After a few pars, he made two birdies on the fourth and fifth holes, but bogeyed the sixth. He made the turn at one-under-par. On the back, he got off to some early trouble with a bogey on the tenth. However, he avenged his mistake by making a birdie on the challenging par-4 12^th hole and on the 14^th. He came into the clubhouse with a stretch of pars to finish at 70.

The rest of the field did not fare as well on the course. Brian Silva’s first design, the Renaissance GC gave some PGA Professionals more of a challenge than expected. Even though most players had competed in the 2017 NEPGA Section Championship held between Turner Hill GC and Renaissance, and had experienced the course before, Monday’s scoring average was an 81 (+9). Even with a field as talented as the one in New England, the golf course came out on top to hold scores on the higher side.

C.J. Konkowski, PGA (Keene GC) put up a strong performance on Monday as well. The Assistant PGA Professional hit the ball well and made two birdies on the first and second holes to jump out to a two-under-par start. He hit the ball so well that the combined distance between his first two putts was about five feet.

NEPGA Points Update

Check out the updated standings on the NEPGA points races!

The NEPGA season might be starting to wind down, but the Section’s point races are just beginning. The Section has three major opportunities for Professionals to participate in events other than just golf on the course.

The SCNS Sports Foods 1^st Tee/ 10^th Tee Challenge takes a snapshot of the Avidia Bank Stroke Play Series that’s beyond scores in individual events. It takes a Professional’s score in relation to par on the first and tenth holes only. At the end of the Stroke Play Series, scores from the first holes and tenth holes are then aggregated and the lowest PGA Professional from either contest is crowned champion. Currently, 12 NEPGA Professionals are tied at -1 in the first tee challenge, including Rick Karbowski, PGA and Chip Johnson, PGA. Find the results in the first tee tenth tee challenge here.

In the ‘Race to the Avidia Cup”, PGA Professionals whom participate in any of the Stroke Play Series events accumulate points for high finishes. The top 54 point finishers after the five Stroke Play Series events will participate in the Avidia Bank Cup finals. In 2017, Kirk Hanefeld was the Avidia Cup Champion after a great performance at The Misquamicut Club in Watch Hill, RI. This season the Avidia Cup Finals will be at Montcalm GC on October 2nd.  Montcalm will provide a scenic background and a great challenge to the field as many have never played the Enfield, NH course . Click on the logo to the left for the updated list of points standings in the Avidia Cup Finals!

The OMEGA-Wogan Player of the Year tallies points based on New England PGA Member finishes in New England Section, State and National events throughout the year.  At the end of the season, the NEPGA Professional with the most points is declared the OMEGA-Wogan Player of the Year.  The award’s namesake, Eugene “Skip” Wogan, was an accomplished New England Section player as well as one of the founders of the PGA of America while serving as the Section's first President. Skip was also active on a national level with the PGA of America’s Board of Directors.  Over the past five years, Shawn Warren, PGA and Rich Berberian, Jr., PGA have won it three and two year respectively. This season, Warren has a 2,000 point lead on Berberian at over 12,000 points with the Avidia Cup Finals left to play. Click here for full results!