Hitting the Links
Matt Jenkins
Kevin Rourke called it "the perfect storm of everything going right."
The way he was hitting the dimpled ball around Salem Country Club a couple of weeks ago in a member-guest best-ball tournament, Rourke's playing partners were treating him like he was pitching a perfect game.
Kevin and his younger brother Keith Rourke were in the process of winning the tournament for the third time, but the wave of good fortune that was crashing into Kevin during that two-day tournament trumped any team accomplishment.
As Kevin Rourke walked the 18th fairway approaching a birdie putt that could give him the outright ownership of the club's amateur course record, he might as well have been sitting in solitude at the end of the baseball dugout, towel draped over his shoulders, focusing on the final three hitters of a perfect game.
"We were playing with (Salem CC member) Matt O'Keefe and Rick Cohen from Kernwood, and there was no mention of anything," Kevin Rourke said. "Seriously, no one wanted to talk about anything. Everyone just did their own thing and kept away from me."
Rourke dropped the birdie putt — a tricky 12-footer from above the hole — to finish with a 65, one shot better than the previous course record 66 that he achieved two years ago and shared. He and Keith also closed the deal as a team with a 63-63 gross score.
It should be mentioned that Kevin's first-round 70 also included a hole-in-one — his second of the season and third of his career — with a 145-yard wedge on the third hole.
Even though Kevin had a piece of the previous record, he never really thought about topping his 66.
"Honestly, no I didn't (think about beating it). You just go out and try to play the best you can," Rourke said. "When putts start rolling in what happens is that you get to the 14th or 15th hole and you start thinking, 'I'm having a good round. Maybe I can do something here.' For me to shoot the 65, I had to birdie 18. That 18th hole is not an easy place to putt."
Kevin credited his caddy, Jimmy Burns, for helping him rewrite the Salem Country Club record books.
Even Burns was giving Rourke a bit of the silent treatment, though. "He was quiet and confident," Rourke said. "He read the putt (on 18) and he read it perfectly. My hat's off to him."
Kevin's hole-in-one on the third was his first at Salem. He recorded an ace at Charles River Country Club in late June, but before that hadn't carded one since he was a 16-year-old pup playing at Middleton Golf Course.
The Rourke family is deeply involved in golf. Kevin and Keith's sister, Kathleen Natale, finished first and second in a Mother and Son tournament earlier this summer with her two boys and — believe it or not — Kevin tries to emulate Keith's swing.
"He's really good. I forget what his handicap is, but it's a 1 or a 2," Kevin said of his brother. "When I watch him I wish I had his swing. It's the most beautiful swing, and he has a great putting stroke. I emulate his swing and he emulates the mental part of my game."
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The United States Senior Amateur Championship qualifier held at Tedesco Country Club earlier this month had been on Cy Kilgore's radar for some time.
Kilgore turned the minimum age of 55 years old just a couple weeks before the event and didn't disappoint, shooting an even-par 70 at his home course to advance to the Senior Am on Sept. 20-25 at Shady Oaks Country Club in Texas.
Kilgore started with bogies on hole Nos. 1, 2, 5 and 7 before rebounding with birds on 8, 9, 10, 11 and 14.
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Joanne Steadman defeated Kim Pappathanasi to win the Tedesco Country Club women's championship recently. A 1-over-par front nine helped Steadman dispatch Pappathanasi, who is a three-time club champion.
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Nine locals recently qualified for the 2008 Massachusetts Mid-Amateur Championship, which will be held at Berkshire Hills Country Club on September 15-17.
Steve St. Amand, who plays out of The Meadow at Peabody, shot a 74 and tied for fifth at William J. Devine Golf Course. John Sadowski (Turner Hill), Steve Swedberg (Beverly Golf & Tennis), Brian Cawley (The Georgetown Club and Salem State), Michael Zmetrovich (Tedesco) and Jeff Kiernan (Salem Country Club) each qualified at Renaissance Golf Club.
The trio of Wayne Guyer (Salem), Jay Halloran (Ipswich Country Club) and Joe Desalvo (Salem) rounded out the local qualifiers by getting it done at Haverhill Country Club.
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The 7th Annual Samantha's Harvest Charity Golf Open will be held on September 15 at Andover Country Club. Proceeds from the tournament will benefit several local organizations and provide scholarships for people entering the field of education to further enhance the lives of people with Down's syndrome.
Lunch and registration for the tournament will begin at 11:30, with the 18-hole scramble format tourney beginning at 1. Those interested in registering for golf or making a donation should call 781-354-0544 or visit www.samanthasharvest.org.
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Hitting the Links, a column on North Shore golf, runs each Thursday during the spring and summer in The Salem News. Contact staff writer Matt Jenkins at 978-338-2648 or by e-mail at mjenkins@salemnews.com with any results, notes or upcoming tournament information.
