Rumford, RI. – The New England PGA hosted the first round of the 2025 Senior Championship on Monday, July 28 at Agawam Hunt. With temperatures touching 90 degrees and greens running perfectly, 62 PGA Professionals took the road to East Providence, Rhode Island to compete for the cup.
Frank Dully, PGA (Kernwood Country Club) shot a 4-under, 65 in round 1, propelling himself to the leader of the clubhouse. He started his day strong with a birdie on hole 2, including a 30-ft putt for the finish. Dully continued his performance with a birdie bounce back on hole 8 after a bogey on 7, ending his front nine shooting 1-under. His back nine prevailed, as he went bogey-free, 3-under to keep him in the lead with clutch iron shots and putts.
“I had a lot of vibes going into today with the golf course,” said Dully. “I birdied on 12 and kind of hung in there, and then birdied on 17 and 18…It’s going to be a good finish, and it’s going to take a lot to win this thing because the course is definitely playable and it’s there for scoring.”
Jeff Martin, PGA (Wollaston GC) shot an impressive 3-under, 66 to take solo second place through round 1. Martin’s bogey-free round stood out on his scorecard, and is feeling very motivated heading into tomorrow’s 18 holes.
“I didn’t hit that great today but I didn’t really hit it off line too much,” said Martin. “Nothing crazy, I hit a couple of nice iron shots… this is my second year competing in the Senior Championship, last year was the first one for me so I’m one of the young guys out here, it’s kind of cool.”
Martin played his game steady and collected, hitting one shot at a time and keeping poise by sinking his par putts and elevating his round with birdies on 4, 9, and 14.
Greg Yeomans, PGA (Bay Club Mattapoisett), 2021 and 2022 Senior Champion Dale Abraham, PGA (Cape Arundel GC), and Robert Tramonti, PGA (Triggs Memorial GC) tied for third place at 2-under, 67 following Round 1.
Yeomans was part of the first group to tee off, and set the tone early with 3 birdies during his round, including an eagle on the par-4 10th hole. Abraham showed out once again, hitting back-to-back birdies on holes 3 and 4 and finishing 1-under on both nines. Tramonti stayed strong with 4 birdies during his round 1 scores, highlighting 3 of them in his first 7 holes.
James Burke, PGA (Ponkapoag GC), Kirk Hanefeld, PGA (Life Member), and Boomer Erick, PGA (Harbor Lights Golf & CC) round out the top 6, being tied for the 6th spot shooting 1-under, 68 through the first 18 holes of the Championship.
The NEPGA implemented the Forward Tee option for players 65 years and older for the second time. The Forward Tee Division is not eligible for the overall Championship or PPC Qualifying.
Seven qualifying spots at the 37th Senior PGA Professional Championship are up for grabs tomorrow. Hanefeld, the 2008 and 2011 Senior PNC Champion, is exempt from qualifying. Tomorrow’s round will determine the seven qualifiers as well as five alternates for the senior PNC to be held from October 23-26 at PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Florida.
The NEPGA would like to thank Agawam Hunt Head Professional, Louis Rivers, PGA and the entire Agawam Hunt Golf staff for hosting the two-day Championship.
The 2025 NEPGA Senior Championship is supported by the Golf Channel, RJ Shepherd, Cobra Puma Golf, BayState Financial, PXG, and the PGA Tour.