West Coast Show

Doyle, Martin finish on top after the first round at the Professional National Championship

-Seaside, Calif. 

Matt Doyle, PGA (Misquamicut Club), 2016 NEPGA Section Champion, carded a 70 (-2) on the Byonet  Course at Bayonet and Black Horse in Seaside, CA on Sunday, finishing T3 after the first round in the PGA Professional Championship. With the projected cut line at +2, many New England PGA Professionals are off to a good start to play all four rounds.

Doyle began his quest for the Walter Hagen Cup from the back nine on Black Horse. He got off to a great start, making birdies on the 10^th and 11^th par-4 holes. He’d make a bogey on 14, but kept playing consistent golf, moving to the front nine. He picked up two more birdies on one and three, moving to three-under-par before making a last bogey on the ninth hole. He finished T3 with a pair of 35s for a final score of 70 (-2). He tees off in his second round at 12:50 PST from the Black Horse Course.

Jeff Martin, PGA (Wollaston GC) was the only other Section professional in red numbers, shooting a 71 (-1) on the Bayonet Course. He finished T12 and is set to begin his second round at 2:25 from the Bayonet Course, one he thinks he might play a little better on.

"It feels good to get off to a good start, especially here," he said to PGA.com. "The last time I was here I did not play well at all on either golf course. There's some tee balls -- this course in particular -- that I'm not comfortable with. It was good to get this one out of the way, because I actually like Bayonet a lot better. I can bang my driver and it suits my game better than Black Horse.” Martin will tee off for his second round at 2:25 PST on Monday.

Shawn Warren, PGA (Falmouth CC) and reigning Section Champion Liam Friedman, PGA (Nashawtuc CC) also began from the Bayonet course and sit above the +2 projected cut line. Warren carded a 73 (+1) and finished T35. Friedman came in with a 74 (+2) and sits at T 59. Warren begins round 2 at 7:45 a.m. and Friedman begins at 7:40 a.m.

Matt Zdon, PGA (Belmont CC), and Rich Berberian Jr. (Vesper CC) both began on the Black Horse course, carding scores of 73(+1). Berberian Jr was the 2016 PGA Professional National Champion winning in a come-from-behind fashion over Omar Uresti at Turning Stone Golf Resort in Verona, NY.  Zdon begins his next round at 8:05 a.m. and Berberian is at 1:45 p.m.

The Sunday-Wednesday Championship is just in the beginning stages, and is shaping up to be an exciting finish for our NEPGA Professionals!

Tee Times for Rounds 1 & 2 can be found here.  The NEPGA Leaderboard will be live on our homepage during the tournament, and full scoreboard can be found here.

(Photo Credit: PGA of America)

Going Back to Cali

14 NEPGA Professionals Prepared to Contend for PGA Professional Title

Carmel, CA

While the world’s best touring Professionals finish up the year’s 2^nd major on the east coast, the country’s top playing PGA Professionals are set to begin competition on the west coast in the 51^st PGA Professional Championship at Bayonet/Black Horse Resort in Carmel, CA.  While the area is known for courses such as Pebble Beach and Cypress Point, the picturesque and challenging Bayonet & Black Horse is no slouch and will test the skills of 14 New England PGA Professionals, along with almost 300 other PGA Professionals from around the country who qualified to be there.  The top 20 finishers will advance to the 100^th PGA Championship being held in August at Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis.

The New England PGA is represented by 2017 Section Champion Liam Friedman, PGA (Nashawtuc CC), in addition to 13 others who qualified through the NEPGA Championship last August at Renaissance GC in Haverhill, MA.  Joining Friedman are: Eric Barlow, PGA (Winchester CC), 2-Time NEPGA Champion and 2-Time defending NEPGA & PGA of America Player of the Year Rich Berberian Jr., PGA (Vesper CC), 2017 & 2018 Hudson Cup Champion Bob Bruso, PGA (Blackstone National), 2016 NEPGA Champion Matt Doyle, PGA (The Misquamicut Club), 2018 Pro-Assistant Champion Boomer Erick, PGA (Boston GC), 3-Time NEPGA Section Champion & 2-Time PGA Senior PGA Professional Champion Kirk Hanefeld, PGA (Salem CC), 2-Time NEPGA Champion John Hickson, PGA (Bath CC), 3-Time NEPGA Player of the Year Jeff Martin, PGA (Wollaston GC), Sean McTernan, PGA (Brae Burn CC), 2007 NEPGA Champion Troy Pare, PGA (Ledgemont CC), Jeff Seavey, PGA (Samoset Resort GC), 3-Time NEPGA Player of the Year and 2013 NEPGA Champion Shawn Warren, PGA (Falmouth CC) and Matt Zdon, PGA (Belmont CC).

Tee Times for Rounds 1 & 2 can be found here.  The NEPGA Leaderboard will be live on our homepage during the tournament, and full scoreboard can be found here.

Best of luck to all of our NEPGA Professionals!