WORCESTER, Mass. – Rich Berberian (Vesper CC) carded a three-under 67 at Worcester CC to take a two-shot lead into the final round of the 101st Section Championship tomorrow at Worcester. Berberian opened a lead on Bob Bruso (Blackstone National GC), who shared the lead after day one and followed with a one-under 69 today at Worcester.
Portland CC’s Dan Venezio sits in third with a two-round score of 139 (-2) and Winchester CC’s Eric Barlow is in fourth with a two-round score of 140 (-1).
RELATED LINKS: Leaderboard | Photo Album | Day 1 Recap
Shawn Durocher (Cyprian Keyes GC) entered today’s round with a four-shot lead in the inaugural NEPGA Women’s Section Championship. Durocher played the front nine at Worcester at one-under par with birdie on holes 5 and 8 and cruised to a 73 and nine shot victory in the event.
Berberian built on a two-under par 69 at Marlborough in round one with his 67 at Worcester. The Vesper pro posted birdie on holes 2, 5, and 9 to turn at -3. On the back, Berberian bogeyed the par-3 10th hole and finished with a birdie on the uphill 18th hole.
Bruso, the local competitor, pushed his score to -3 overall after nine holes at Worcester this afternoon. The Blackstone National teaching pro played the back nine even with a birdie on hole 12 and bogey on hole 13 to turn in his second consecutive 69.
Venezio, the lone Maine professional in the top-10, carded a two-under 68 at WCC to climb into the top-3. The Portland CC professional birdied holes 5, 6, and 7 before a bogey on the par-3 8th to turn at -2. On the back, Venezio traded birdie on hole 15 with a bogey on hole 16 to finish with 68.
Barlow quickly birdied holes 2 and 3 at Worcester to bring his overall score to -2. The Winchester professional made bogey on hole 7 to turn at 34. On the back nine, Barlow made birdie on holes 10 and 16 with bogeys sandwiched between on holes 12 and 14 to card his 69 and solo fourth place position.
Rochester CC’s Brett Smestad carded his second straight even-par round today at Worcester. Smestad began his round at Worcester with birdie-birdie-bogey-bogey-birdie before nine consecutive pars. He finished the final four holes with bogey-par-bogey-birdie to finish at 70 and 141 overall.
Todd Scarafoni (Bass Rocks GC) carded a two-under 68 today at Worcester and sits at +1 for the tournament. He shares sixth place with Jeff Martin (Wollaston GC), who carded an even-par round of 70 at Worcester today, and David Bennett (CC of Vermont), who played Worcester at one-over 71 today.
David Jankowski (Burlington CC) joined the crowd with two-under 68s at Worcester CC to comfortably fall within the cut line at +7 overall (148).
In total, 62 players finished at or below the +10 cut line and will compete in the final round tomorrow. The top 12 finishers tomorrow qualify for the 2022 Professional National Championship at Omni Creek Resort in Austin, Texas. There will also be five alternate spots awarded and a playoff immediately following tomorrow’s round will occur if necessary.
Tee times begin at 8 a.m. tomorrow at Worcester CC.
A tremendous thank you goes out to host professional Greg Farland, superintendent Tim Crane, and the entire Marlborough CC staff for serving as co-host of the Championship.
The 101st Section Championship is presented by Cadillac, Club Car, and Rolex with support from Titleist, Footjoy, Golf Channel, TaylorMade, Nike, the PGA TOUR, Avidia Bank, Dormie Workshop, and Mohegan Sun.