June 30 — With the men’s U.S. Open recently completed, and the U.S. Women’s Open on tap in just about a week, it’s clearly Open season in golf. Not to be outdone, Massachusetts recently hosted two exciting Open championships that showcased the best in New England golf.
New England golfers finish T-2 at Mass. Women’s Open. Amateur Claire Sheldon from Milton, Mass., fired a 36-hole 1-under 145 Tuesday to earn a tie for second place with Lynne Valentine, a former assistant pro at host course Pleasant Valley Country Club at the 2010 Massachusetts Women’s Open.
Both golfers finished one shot off the pace of former LPGA golfer, Becky McDaid (Long Island, N.Y.), whose 2-under 144 took the trophy at the tourney played at Pleasant Valley in Sutton, Mass. McDaid, who cashed winner’s check for $2,000, is an assistant pro at Friar’s Head on Long Island.
“It was on a rope,” McDaid told the Worcester Telegram & Gazette about her tourney-winning 3-wood shot, “absolute perfect on line with the flag.”
A two-putt birdie later wrapped up the Open for McDaid, who, as Becky Lucidi (her pre-married name) won the 2002 U.S. Women’s Amateur in 2002.
Other scores from the tourney, which involves professionals and amateurs, included a Who’s Who of top women golfers from the Bay State. In addition to Sheldon, amateur golfers from the Hub included:
- Mary Chamberlain (Cummaquid), 148
- Megan Khang (Rockland), 151
- Brittany Altomare (Shrewsbury), Lisa Anderson (Middleton), 152
- Tara Joy Connelly (Pembroke), 153
Susan Bond (Westerly, R.I.), head golf pro at Westerly’s Weekapaug Golf Club, finished at 151, while 2010 Curtis Cup captain and long-time Boston golfer Noreen Friel-Mohler came in at 158.
Move over, Lexi. Khang, by the way, is 12 years old. A golfer since she was five (5!), Khang won the Harmon Club’s women’s club championship at age 10. And while Khang has no near-term plans to turn pro, newly minted LPGA’er Alexis Thompson, 15, may be looking over her shoulder sooner rather than later.
Connelly is a six-time and reigning Women’s Golf Association of Massachusetts (WGAM) player of the year. Altomare, an NCAA All-American as a freshman at the University of Virginia, will tee it up in next month’s U.S. Women’s Open at Oakmont Country Club.
Hazen wins his first men’s Mass. Open. Another New Yorker, James Hazen (Miller Place) came from behind to win the men’s Massachusetts Open earlier this month. Hazen’s 6-under 204 was good enough for a one-stroke victory over Scott Hawley (Shrewsbury), Jim Renner (Plainville, Mass.), Jimmy Lytle (Ocean Ridge, Fla.), and Jeff Castle (Baltimore, Md.) at Wellesley Country Club.
Hazen, who trailed by three shots heading into the final round, won the tourney and a hefty $15,000 purse (see women’s purse, above) for his second career victory. The mini-tour veteran credited his short game with his victory.
“The reason I am sitting here now is that I cleaned up extremely well this week,” Hazen told Massachusetts Golf Association’s (MGA) Becky Blaeser. From five or six feet in, I can count on one hand how many I missed this week.”
Ace! Jon Curran (Framingham, Mass.) did not win the tourney, but he did ace the 211-yard, par-3 13th hole. Curran, the lone Massachusetts golfer in the field to play in the 2010 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, used a hybrid club to notch his hole-in-one.
(Emily Kay is a regular contributor to New England Golf Monthly. She also writes the Boston Golf Examiner and National Golf Examiner blogs.)
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