MA Chapter

IPSWICH, Mass. – Liam Friedman, PGA (Nashawtuc CC) rattled off four back-9 birdies to shoot 5-under par at Ipswich CC on Thursday and claim the 2020 New England PGA Massachusetts Chapter Championship.

Friedman was unconscious from the start and found himself 3-under par through four holes. A double-bogey on the fifth and a bogey on the eight – sandwiched around his fourth birdie of the front-9 on the sixth – left him at 1-under at the turn with just three pars on his opening nine. His final nine, however, brought the same birdie count as the front, without the setbacks. Friedman birdied the 10th, 11th, 14th and 18th without dropping a shot to post 67 and finish two strokes clear of the field.

Seul-Ki Hawley, PGA (Winchester CC) finished alone in second at 3-under par. After three straight birdies on the fifth, sixth and seventh holes she was 4-under par, but played her final 11 holes 1-over to come up just short of the Chapter Championship.

Robert Bruso, PGA (Blackstone National GC) finished third at 2-under with four birdies and just one blemish – a double-bogey on the par-3 fifth hole – on the card. Ipswich CC’s own assistant professional, Aaron Harper, finished fourth at even-par.

Stephen Clancy, PGA (Granite Links) finished tied for fifth at 1-over after a roller coaster round. He was 4-over through six holes before beginning a three-hole stretch in which he played 4-under par, with birdies on the eighth and ninth holes followed by an eagle on the 10th. He made seven consecutive pars from there before finishing with a bogey on the 18th.

Thank you to Ipswich Country Club, head professional Dan Dwyer, PGA, and general manager Frank LaVacca for hosting the Mass Chapter Championship, and to partners Avidia Bank and Tournament Solutions for supporting the event.

BOYLSTON, Mass. — A man who has held and won many titles within the New England PGA headlines the list of 2020 NEGPA Massachusetts Chapter Award Winners as the MA Chapter Golf Professional of the Year.

Chip Johnson grew up in Pembroke, Mass., and went on to graduate from Limestone College where he was a two-time NAIA All-American, the 1984 NAIA National Individual Champion and a member of the National Champion Limestone golf team. Chip played competitive golf in mini tour events in Florida, the Canadian Tour and the Sunshine Tour in South Africa. He became Head Professional at Pembroke CC in 1993. In 1996, Chip joined Hatherly GC in Scituate, Mass., as Head Professional where he has provided members and guests with the most enjoyable golf experience possible for the past 23 seasons. Chip is a PGA Quarter Century Member and a PGA Certified Professional in the areas of Teaching & Coaching, Golf Operations and General Management. Chip was recognized as NEPGA Teacher of the year in 2003. Chip has served on the NEPGA Educational Committee, Tournament Committee and for the last year, the Tournament Committee’s Co-Chairman. 

Some of list of Chips Accomplishments are as follows: 

• Competed in 2014 Senior PGA Championship
• One of Golf Digest’s Best Teachers in the State 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 & 2017
• Competed in 2005 PGA Championship
• 2003 New England PGA Teacher of the Year
• 2002 NEPGA Champion
• Competed in 1988 U.S. Open (made 36-hole cut)

The complete list of the five talented golf professionals Massachusetts Chapter Award Winners includes:

Golf Professional of the Year: Chip Johnson, PGA (Hatherly CC)
Teacher of the Year:  Matt Zdon, PGA (Belmont CC)
Merchandiser of the Year: Chris Young, PGA (Thomson CC)
Assistant Golf Professional of the Year: Alec Vozzella, PGA (Marshfield CC)
Youth Player Development Award: TJ Valentine, PGA (Harmon Golf)

Congratulations to all of our 2020 MA Chapter Award Winners!

2020 MA Chapter Tournament Schedule

Monday, April 6, 2020 – 6,6,6, – TPC Boston – CANCELLED

Tuesday, April 14, 2020 – Spring Meeting & Pro-Pro – Marshfield CC – CANCELLED

Wednesday, June 10, 2020 – Pro +3Am – Foxborough CC – PPD/Makeup Date TBD

Thursday, September 17, 2020 – Chapter Championship – Ipswich CC

Tuesday, October 20, 2020 – Fall Meeting & Pro-Pro – Haven CC

Monday, November 2, 2020 – Individual Stableford – Thomson CC

Monday, November 9, 2020 – Pro-Pro – Blue Hill CC

Congratulations to the 2019 Mass Chapter Player of the Year Chris Carter (Hillview GC)!

The golf season was not quite over yet for the competitors who made their way to North Reading, Massachusetts’ Thomson Country Club to compete in the MA Chapter Individual Stableford event. This year’s field was comprised of twenty one PGA Professionals who were tasked with tackling the Geoffrey Cornish-designed layout. Featuring narrow fairways and large, undulating greens, the field was challenged not only by the classic New England layout, but the cool temperatures, a sign of the fast approaching winter.

Todd Scarafoni, PGA (Bass Rocks Golf Club) took home the title with a dominant performance over the rest of the field. Starting on the par five first hole, Scarafoni made three birdies on his opening nine holes, ending the front side with 24 points, before playing a solid 18 point back nine to finish with a total of 42 points in the stableford format. His stroke play total of -2 70 was the only under par score of the day. In second place was Christopher Carter, PGA (Hillview Golf Course), who finished with 35 points. Congratulations to Todd for his fine play and thank you to Thomson Country Club for their hospitality!

Fall conditions were out in full force at Boylston, MA’s Haven Country Club where over 50 chapter members attended and competed in today’s MA Chapter Fall Meeting and Pro-Pro. Prior to the noon shotgun start, a number of members received MA Chapter Awards. James Antonelli, PGA of Marshfield Country Club was named the 2019 Professional of the Year, Adam Kolloff, PGA of Pure Drive Golf was named the 2019 Teacher of the Year, Colin Beaupre, PGA of Winchester Country Club was named the 2019 Assistant Golf Professional of the Year, and Michael Griffin, PGA of Weston Golf Club received the 2019 Youth Player Development Award. Additionally, Lou Rivers, PGA of Foxborough County Club was elected for a second term of District Director (Southern). Congratulations to these fine professionals on their accomplishments.

After the morning meeting, twenty teams of PGA Professionals faced cool, cloudy, and misty conditions while competing in the Pro-Pro event. The course provided a stern test as players navigated the 1956 William F. Mitchell design. The team of Eric Barlow (Winchester Country Club) and Kirk Hanefeld (Salem Country Club) took home the title with a round of five under par 67. After a starting on the 422-yard par four ninth hole, the duo played their opening ten holes in five under par, including a stretch of three straight birdies from the fourteenth through sixteenth holes, before holding steady on their closing eight. In all, Barlow and Hanefeld, both coming off of successful MA Chapter seasons, made six birdies, offset by just one bogey, in route to a one shot victory over the team of Matt Zdon (Belmont Country Club) and Todd Cook (Milton Hoosic Club). Congratulations to Eric Barlow and Kirk Hanefeld on their fine play and thank you to those who attended this fantastic event.

Walpole, MA – Kirk Hanefeld, PGA Director of Instruction at Salem CC in Salem, MA won the 2019 New England PGA Massachusetts Chapter Championship today at Walpole Country Club. Hanefeld, a perennial power in the NEPGA section circuit, fired an impressive 1 over par 71 and finished in a four-way tie for first place with Matthew Bradbury, PGA Head Golf Professional at Sterling National GC, Liam Friedman, PGA Assistant Golf Professional at Nashawtuc CC, and Todd Scarafoni, PGA Assistant Golf Professional) at Bass Rocks GC.

The players tied at the top then headed to the first hole, a 369 yard par four, for a sudden death playoff. After tying the first and second hole, Hanefeld emerged victorious with a birdie on the 196-yard par three third.

Players were treated to perfect conditions on the second day of fall with sunshine and warm temperatures greeting the players. Despite conditions being seemingly ripe for scoring, the course played tough as all 48 players in the field finished the day over par. As is the standard, the MA Chapter Championship proved to be a great day of golf, friendships and camaraderie.

Thank you to Walpole CC and its members for hosting our event. A special thank you to General Manager Eddie Iodice and host PGA Professionals, Tom Giffin and Bo Botelho. Also, Thank you to MA Chapter partners Avidia Bank, PGA Tour, Callaway Golf and Tournament Solutions for their support of this event.

The Mass Chapter will be conducting an election for the District Director position representing Southern Massachusetts at our Fall Meeting. We are looking for interested PGA Professionals from the Southern Mass district for the vacant Section Board (District Director) position.

If any Mass Chapter PGA Professional has interest in running for the vacant District Director position, please inform Lou Rivers, PGA (lourivers@pga.com) or Jacy Settles (jsettles@pgahq.com) by Monday, October 14, 2019.

If there are fewer than two nominees for office, nominations will be accepted from the floor at the Mass Chapter Annual Meeting.

MA District Director (Southern MA) of the NEPGA: Vacant
– Candidate: Lou Rivers, PGA (Foxborough CC)

The Chapter Board encourages you to make every effort to attend the Fall Meeting (Tuesday, October 22 at The Haven CC, 9:30a.m.) and cast your vote for this important position.

If you have any questions regarding the election, feel free to contact:
Lou Rivers, PGA
Massachusetts Chapter President
lourivers@pga.com

CLICK HERE TO NOMINATE

We are now accepting online nominations for the 2019 Massachusetts Chapter Awards. Please click the nomination form link to submit your nominations. We will notify all nominees by email that they have been nominated for an award. Only PGA members in good standing are eligible.

The deadline to submit awards nominations is September 27th.

We hope you would please take the time to recognize the hard work, energy, dedication and service of your fellow professionals.

FULL LEADERBOARD

The third event of the NEPGA Massachusetts Chapter season, the MA Chapter Pro+3Am (1G+1N) was played under warm sunshine with a light breeze as the 76-person field descended upon one of southeastern Massachusetts’ finest courses, Foxborough Country Club. Taking advantage best of the scoring conditions were the teams of Cyprian Keyes GC, consisting of PGA Professional Shawn Durocher and amateurs Mark Eldridge, John McGuirk, and Ed Dumphy, and Blackstone National GC, consisting of PGA Professional Patrick Beahn and amateurs Jim Cozza, Joe Agnelli, and Jeff Walker. With eight of the nineteen teams breaking par, these two teams blitzed the challenging layout and played exceptionally en route to winning scores of 8 under par 136.

The Individual Professional competition featured fine play as well. In addition to her team’s victory in the other portion of the event, Shawn Durocher also captured the individual title with a one over par 73. Carding four birdies, three bogeys, and one double bogey, Durocher’s steady play led her to a one shot victory over Hillview GC’s Chris Carter, PGA.

Congratulations to the team of Adam Kollof, PGA (Pure Drive Golf) and Jeff Niejadlik, PGA (Charter Oak CC) on winning the 2019 NEPGA Massachusetts Chapter Spring Pro-Pro on Tuesday, April 23, at Granite Links GC in Quincy, Ma.  The conditions were difficult as Granite Links GC saw to nearly one inch of rain prior to the event.  Not only was the course soft, the brisk and windy conditions also made for a true test of golf. However, Kollof & Niejadlik showed no mercy on the field and course as they carded 8 birdies and ten pars to shoot an eight under par 63 to win the event by three strokes over the team of Frank LaVacca, PGA(Ipswich CC) and Aaron Harper(Ipswich CC) who posted a five under par 66  to finish in second place.

Thank you to all of the MA Chapter participants as we had over 40 attendees for the meeting & 32 players (16 teams) for the Pro-Pro.

A special Thank you host professionals Steve Clancy, PGA, Bobby Iannarone, PGA, Nick Tedeschi, PGA and Andrew Abbott for a wonderful day at Granite Links Golf.  To view the entire leaderboard, please click here.

TPC BOSTON — The official Tournament season for the New England PGA is off to a great start!!  The New England PGA’s Massachusetts Chapter completed its first event of the season today (April 8, 2019) at TPC Boston. The field was comprised of 54 players/27 teams of two playing three different formats- Best Ball, Alternate Shot & Scramble.  Considering the rain and cold temperatures on the day, the course was in phenomenal shape and we witnessed some great golf.

The winners were Eric Barlow, PGA (Winchester CC) and Seul-Ki Park, PGA (Winchester CC) shooting eight under par (64) in the overall contest. Barlow & Park started their round with three pars followed by six straight birdies. They went on to record seven more pars and two birdies to cap a stellar start to their season.

In the Best-Ball contest, there was a four way tie at three under par between the teams of Chris Carter, PGA (Hillview GC) & David Sibley, PGA (Larry Gannon GC), Todd Cook, PGA (Milton Hoosic Club) & Chris Young, PGA  (Thomson CC), Jeff Martin, PGA (Wollaston GC) & Steve Mann (PGA Professional), and Lou Rivers, PGA (Foxborough CC) & Matt Walsh, PGA (Warwick CC) . In the scramble and alternate shot contests Eric Barlow (Winchester CC) & Seul-Ki Park, PGA (Winchester CC) won both at six under par (scramble) & one under par (alternate shot), respectively.

The NEPGA Massachusetts Chapter tournament season came to end with some great play and camaraderie.

Congratulations to the team of Scott Hickey, PGA (Cyprian Keyes GC) and Shawn Durocher, PGA Cyprian Keyes GC) on winning the 2018 NEPGA Massachusetts Chapter Fall Pro-Pro at Blue Hill CC on Monday, November 12th. Hickey, the Director of Golf at Cyprian Keyes GC and Durocher, Head Golf Professional at Cyprian Keyes GC, made only one bogey followed by six birdies to shoot a stellar five-under par 67 to win the event by three strokes. Finishing second at two- under par were the teams of Bob Bruso, PGA (Blackstone National GC) & Patrick Beahn, PGA (Blackstone National GC) and Tim Watroba (Thorny Lea GC) & Jeff Flis, PGA (Black Rock CC). A special thanks to host PGA Professionals, Ian Kelley, PGA and Steve Field, PGA at Blue Hill CC. To view the entire leader board, please CLICK HERE.

On another note, Eric Barlow, PGA (Winchester CC) is the 2018 MA Chapter Player of the Year – Congratulations Eric!

Thank you to all host professionals, sponsors and to all MA Chapter Professionals for a wonderful tournament season. Have a great holiday season!