Hitting the Links

Matt Jenkins

Keeping the ball in play, avoiding bogeys and double bogeys, and staying ahead of an older group of golfers were not the most difficult parts of Nick McLaughlin's Massachusetts Junior Amateur Championship last week at Framingham Country Club.

The hardest part was the waiting.

McLaughlin, a 15-year-old sophomore-to-be at St. John's Prep, is technically a pre-Junior and teed off hours before the Juniors hit the Framingham Country Club course.

After posting a 4-over 76 in the final round, McLaughlin had to wait almost two hours before learning of his victory.

His three-day total was a 6-over 222, three shots better than the runner-up. The victory also secured his spot in Massachusetts Junior Golf history by making him just the third pre-Junior to win the title.

James Driscoll, a two-time Massachusetts Junior Amateur champ who is currently competing on the PGA Tour, accomplished it in 1993, while Nat Hoopes did the same in 1996.

McLaughlin felt confident in his golf game leading into the tournament, but he didn't really get an opportunity to feel like he was going to win the tournament while he was on the course because he wasn't playing with his closest competitors.

"I really never did because I was in the younger division," McLaughlin said. "It was two hours of waiting around and I didn't know (I had won) until the very end. That was definitely the hardest part."

Typically a steady player who avoids trouble and makes putts, McLaughlin had all the right things going during the tournament.

"I didn't make one double (bogey). I was hitting it really straight. I hit a lot of fairways and greens," McLaughlin said. "I made a lot of easy pars and made some birdie putts. I kept the big numbers off the card."

McLaughlin's victory came on the heels of an impressive showing in the New Hampshire State Amateur, in which he advanced to the quarterfinals.

McLaughlin is a resident of New Castle, New Hampshire, but maintains handicaps out of both Far Corner Golf Course in Boxford and Wentworth by the Sea, which allows him to play tournaments in both states.

McLaughlin has already competed in an American Junior Golf Association tournament in Pennsylvania this summer and he still has trips to Pennsylvania again and Virginia on the horizon.

He keeps a busy golf schedule because he is aiming at his goal of playing Division 1 college golf.

He seems to be on track, and he has the University of Virginia on his radar.

"I'm working on a few things with my swing and I'm always checking on it," McLaughlin said. "I want to keep playing consistently. I'm definitely on track (for my goal)."

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Harry Garabedian, one of the 125 golfers who play in The Meadow at Peabody's senior league on Wednesday mornings, recorded his fifth career hole-in-one recently. The 72-year-old Garabedian used a 7-wood for the 173-yard eighth hole, which is generally regarded as the most difficult of The Meadow's four par-3s.

Garabedian's ace was witnessed by Harold Demeule, Rick Benea, and Ron Fournier.

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Other aces from around the North Shore over the past few weeks:

At Wenham Country Club, Steve Powers used an 11-wood for an ace at No. 13, Ed Winslow needed only one shot with his 6-iron at No. 7, and George Burt knocked one in at No. 5 with a driver.

Ellen Bishop aced No. 16 at Middleton Golf Course, while Middleton also reported hole-in-ones for Marilyn Miller (No. 2) and Doug Ballantyne at No. 3.

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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.