GLOUCESTER, Mass. – The New England PGA Section hosted the fifth Stroke Play Series event of the season at Bass Rocks Golf Club in Gloucester, Mass. on Wednesday, September 18th. 65 New England PGA of America Golf Professional came out on a foggy mid-September day to battle out the terrain of Bass Rocks.
The day started with just over a two-hour delay due to fog and the 8:00 a.m. starting time teed off at 10:05 a.m. Visibility proved to be a challenge throughout the course of the day as the fog rolled in and out around the fairways and greens of Bass Rocks.
James Burke, PGA (Ponkapoag GC) led the way, shooting a 3-under, 66 to capture the victory at SPS #5. Burke teed off with the second group of the day at 10:15 a.m. He made a birdie on the par-4 3rd hole and traded a bogey on 7 for a birdie on the par-4 9th hole to make the turn at 1-under. He played steady, parring the next six holes and finished the round with birdies on 16 and 17, and one more par on 18 gave him the 3-under final for the top spot on the leaderboard.
Joe Rocha, PGA (Golf Country) and Matt Arvanitis, PGA (SNHU) posted the second lowest scores of the day, both coming in at 1-under-par in a tie for second place.
Rocha made the turn at 1-over with two birdies on his scorecard and went on to birdie two holes on the back nine to capture the second-place finish. He birdied the par-4 12th and 15th holes to finish the round with 4 birdies on his scorecard.
Arvanitis made the turn at 1-under with two birdies on his scorecard, back-to-back on the par-4 4th and 5th holes. A bogey on the par-4 15th hole moved him to even-par, but one last bogey on 17 lifted him to the 1-under finish in a tie for second place overall.
Rounding out the top four were Jim Schouller, PGA from Abenaqui CC and Seul-Ki Hawley, PGA (Winchester CC) who shot even-par, 69s.
Schouller birdied three holes and bogeyed three holes on the front to make the turn at an even-par, 35. He parred the first five holes on the back nine before a bogey on the par-4 15th hole put him at 1-over. He clinched his tie for the fourth place spot with one last birdie on the last hole, a par-4.
Hawley started the round strong with a birdie on the par-4 1st hole. She made the turn at 1-over. She birdie holes 12, 14, and 15 to move to 2-under before bogeys on the par-4 16th and 18th holes moved her to the final even score in a tie for fourth place overall.
The day was also highlighted by a hole-in-one on the par-3 17th hole made by the well-known Ed Kirby, PGA from the Aquidneck Club. In the clouds of fog, coming off a bogey on 16, Kirby hit a stellar shot, just left of the hole and a few yards away, allowing the ball to roll into the hole. The group wasn’t sure where the ball landed, but when they found the ball in the hole, Kirby was thrilled to tally his 14th hole-in-one of his career and tack on another milestone in the 2024 season.
This was the final installment of the 2024 Stroke Play Series. The 2024 NEPGA Avidia Cup finals will be held at Pinebrook Country Club on September 30th. The Avidia Cup, presented by Avidia Bank, is a season-long points race based upon finishes in Stroke Play Series events and Chapter Championships. The top 54 point-earners will qualify for the Avidia Cup Finals on September 30th.
Thank you to Bass Rocks Golf Club host PGA Professional, Todd Scarafoni, and the entire Bass Rocks GC staff for hosting the Stroke Play Series event. The NEPGA would also like to thank its presenting partners: AHEAD USA, Avidia Bank, Bushnell Golf, Maui Jim, SCNS Sports Foods, New England Golf Cars, Comparion Insurance, and the PGA TOUR.