July 10, 2009 12:23 am Hitting the Links Matt Jenkins As if the match-play arrangement of the Massachusetts Amateur Championship wasn't difficult enough, the 144 golfers who qualified will be asked to maneuver through The Country Club of Brookline's Open Course, which boasts over 7,000 yards of finely manicured, yet extremely challenging turf. The Mass. Am. begins with 18 holes on the Open Course on Monday, then moves on to 18 holes at the Main Course on Tuesday before heading into the three-day, match-play portion of the tournament. It features several local players who will be looking to collect the 101st title. Winning or even contending for the title will be extremely difficult, but the lure of playing at The Country Club — the oldest country club in the United States — was too much for some to overlook. "This will be my 11th Mass. Amateur, but I have zero in match play," The Meadow at Peabody's Steve St. Amand said. "It's a big golf course. I just hope to get it in front (of the green), then chip and putt. It's a little lengthy for me, but it's nice to be back in the big show." St. Amand, who is 54-years-old and can't remember the last time he competed in the Mass. Am., played a practice round on Monday somewhat at the expense of advancing in the Public Links Championship held at The Meadow on Monday. St. Amand failed to move on in the Public Links, but he made it to Brookline in time for his 4:30 tee time. "I finished with the big summer moon behind me on the 18th hole," St. Amand said. "I'm playing with the big guns, but it's just the venue. It's hallowed ground. I was sad not to make it (to the Public Links Championship) on my home course, but sometimes you're the windshield and sometimes you're the bug." Fifteen-time Tedesco men's club champion Cy Kilgore faces a similar dilemma with his defense of his club championship. The Tedesco club championship will be held this weekend, concluding on Sunday. Kilgore will be hard-pressed to come right back and compete at The Country Club. Salem Country Club's Kevin Rourke also qualified and even though he didn't have an opportunity to fit a practice round in, he's confident that he can advance as long as his putter doesn't abandon him. "I think this is my fourth time in the Mass. Am. I played last year, but I didn't do very well, particularly in the first round," Rourke said. "(Playing The Country Club) is really neat. There's a lot of history on the Open Course, so the first day will be a new experience for me. I feel good about my game and feel good about playing there." In addition to St. Amand, Rourke and Kilgore, locals John Hogan (Ferncroft), Nick Zolotas (Ferncroft), Anthony Dilisio (Salem Country Club) and Brad Tufts (Tedesco) will also be competing. ¬¢¬¢¬¢ Course knowledge played a huge part in who qualified for the 2009 Massachusetts Public Links earlier this week at The Meadow at Peabody. Three players who call The Meadow home — Peter Cunningham, Fred Clark and Tim Benedetto — qualified and a few others with strong familiarity of the course also advanced, including Bob Avellino who was playing out of Far Corner but plays the Peabody course frequently. Perhaps the biggest advantage of course knowledge came on the playoff hole. Four players finished the round with a score of 78 and only three spots remained. Avellino, Benedetto, Sagamore Spring's Dan Tucker and Cam Kneeland of Ould Newbury Golf Club went to a playoff for the final spots. The designated playoff hole was the No. 2 hole at The Meadow, a 376-yard par-4 with danger lurking left and right, as well as a small hazard area in the center of the fairway. A long drive down the left side can clear all danger and set up for a short approach to a back-to-front sloping green, but that's a high risk/reward play. The conservative approach is to hit an iron to the top of the hill on the right side of the fairway, which leaves a longer approach but takes away the danger off the tee. Avellino, Benedetto and Tucker played it conservative and it paid off. "On the second tee earlier in the day Cam hit driver over the hazard into the second fairway area," The Meadow at Peabody manager and golf professional Peter Cronan said. "During the playoff he tried the same thing, but the wind had shifted. The wind was heading right down two toward the first hole. Cam's tee shot ended up near the maintenance garage. He made double bogey and lost out to become the first alternate." ¬¢¬¢¬¢ The North Shore had a tremendous showing in all divisions of the 2009 Massachusetts Mother & Son Tournament recently. North Shore pairings captured both the Division 1 and 3 tourneys and had a second-place showing in Division 2. Kernwood's Tami and Harrison Bane posted a 72 at Kernwood to win Division 1 by four strokes. Meanwhile, in Division 3 Kathleen Natale and son Colin, out of Ferncroft, shot a 42 to win Division 3 at Kernwood. Kathleen Natale also paired with son Aidan for a 50 and a fifth-place finish in Division 3. In Division 2, Michelle and Maxwell Kane of Kernwood shot an 85 for second place. ¬¢¬¢¬¢ Peabody's Matt Price, who has been eyeing a career in golf for years, has settled in as an assistant golf professional at Bass Rocks in Gloucester. Price, who trained at the International Junior Golf Academy in Hilton Head, South Carolina after high school, is working under former assistant Dan Dwyer, who was recently promoted to head pro. ¬¢¬¢¬¢ Hitting the Links, a column on North Shore golf, runs each Friday during the summer in The Salem News. Contact staff writer Matt Jenkins at 978-338-2648 or by e-mail at mjenkins@salemnews.com.
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