Individual stroke play. It’s golf in its simplest form.
That’s exactly what the New England PGA Stroke Play Series brings to NEPGA Professionals each year. Five 18-hole individual stroke play tournaments with attractive purses draw some of the Section’s best professionals to each field, with the lure of a spot in the Avidia Cup Finals at stake.
Liam Friedman (Nashawtuc CC) caught fire at the end of 2018 to win the Avidia Cup Finals, taking home more than $4,000 in prize money from the Stroke Play Series alone along the way. After playing in just one of the first three Stroke Play events in 2018 – tying for 26th in the second tournament – Friedman finished T2 at the penultimate event and won both the fifth event and Avidia Cup Finals to take home the hardware.
Players will be looking to build an early cushion in just a couple weeks, with the first Stroke Play Series event on the docket for April 22 at Newport National Golf Club in Middletown, R.I. The 7,200-yard championship course, considered by some to be the top Public Access golf course in New England, will give NEPGA Professionals a links-style challenge with its swirling winds and fescue-lined fairways, tees and greens. PGA.com ranked Newport National as the 8th-best Links Style Golf Course in America.
The 2019 Stroke Play Series runs through September, with the fifth and final event Sept. 3 at Presidents Golf Course. Points accumulated through each event, along with Chapter Championships, will be used to determine the 54 professionals who qualify for the Avidia Cup Finals, Sept. 30 at Nashawtuc. Stroke Play Series events are limited to the first 75 NEPGA Members and Associates who have passed Level 1.