By ANNE MARIE TOBIN
Every golfer at every private and public course dreams of becoming a champion.
The club championship is one event where that is possible. Members turn out in droves to root on the final combatants, be they seniors, juniors, men or women. For many golfers, winning the club
championship is the highlight of their golf career.
The trend at many clubs is to showcase the event with “club championship weekends,” with the men’s and women’s championships played concurrently. And on the North Shore, every club champion,from age 12 to 86, has a unique story to tell.
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At Winchester Country Club, Chris Towle finally won the men’s title that had eluded him for more than
three decades. Towle had tried and failed 31 times, but this year, he finally found the winning formula. Down by one shot on the final hole, Towle chipped in from 50 feet for birdie to stay alive. Opponent Jake Peer had a 20- foot putt to win, but ran the putt 10 feet by. The Holy Cross sophomore sank the putt to force extra holes. Towle two-putted the third playoff hole to win the match. Towle had entered the final round trailing Peer by three shots, but shot 73 to Peer’s 76.
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In the Winchester women’s championship, Tracy Welch of Boston won her 13th title and needs three more wins to tie her mother, Jane Faxon Welch. Steve Maskell won the senior title and Alan MacDonald won the super-senior title.
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While Towle waited an eternity before breaking through, Tyngsboro’s Molly Smith won two titles in her inaugural attempts. The 12-year-old is women’s champ at both Vesper Country Club and Mount Pleasant.
At Mount Pleasant in Lowell, Smith (154) beat her 13-year-old sister, Morgan Smith, by six shots; at Vesper in Tyngsboro she defeated Jessica Hughes.
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Cam Sheedy won the Vesper men’s title over Rich Campiola, while George Popp won the senior men’s title over Danny Brown.
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At Gannon Municipal in Lynn, Ben Friedman (285) won his second straight championship by seven strokes over runner-up Tim Calvani. Mike Timmons took the net title at 278, seven strokes better than runner-up Jeff Nardone. Tom Ferraro (314) made up a 2-stroke deficit with a final round 78 to win the senior title by one over John Morris.
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The Amesbury Golf Club men’s club championship had a Hollywood-like finish for 55-year-old Norman Jutras. Jutras trailed 54-hole leader Christina Crovetti by seven shots going into the final round, but shot a final round 72 to win by one. Crovetti had cruised through the first three rounds and, with nine holes to go, still led by five. But a quadruple bogey on the 11th hole opened the door for Jutras. Crovetti finished one shot back in a 3-way tie at 303 and captured the women’s title, while Kevin Jenkins won the men’s net title and Max Boland won the junior championship.
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At Tedesco Country Club in Marblehead, Brad Tufts won his second straight title — and his fifth title overall— defeating Bill Cunningham. Tufts, who ousted medalist George Zolotas (71) in the semis, was one up at the turn, thanks to a birdie on the 6th hole. Cunningham squared the match on the 10th, but Tufts won two of the next four holes to go 2-up and won it on the 17th.
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Meadow Brook Golf Club honorary member Mary Ellen Hurton is proof-positive that golf truly is a game for all ages. At age 80, the 17-time ladies champion added a senior net title to her resume. In the men’s
championship, it was a real dogfight with only three shots separating the top four players going into the final nine holes, but Matt Casavant broke out of the pack on the back nine to win by four over Charlie Johnson and Jimmy Murphy. Marilyn Boyle won the women’s club championship for the third straight year.
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At Wenham Country Club, 86-year-old Jack Kennedy was the talk of the town, winning the Gold Senior B division in 19 holes over Dave Leonard. Brian Feldman defeated John Hinchion, 2 & 1 in the A division. In the men’s 36-hole final, Pat Scanlon defeated JohnWinskowicz 6 & 5, while Martha Field won the women’s title over Marsha Veale, 3 & 2.
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Fifty-four-year-old Matt Field (233) lapped the field at Four Oaks Country Club in Dracut, winning the men’s title by 20 strokes over Mike Andre and also winning the senior title. Dean Joyce was also a double winner, taking the men’s net and senior net titles. Tim Picard won the junior club championship.
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Salem Country Club’s Kevin Daly (221) also won in a rout, winning by 16 shots over Greg Badger, while
Andrea Bruno won her fifth women’s title, defeating Amy Vivotto, 7 & 5.
At The Meadow at Peabody, youth ruled the day with recent Bishop Fenwick graduate Matt Garofalo (155) winning the men’s title by two strokes over recent Peabody High grad Nolan Franey. Josh Sykes won the net championship (136).
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Brian O’Hanley (239) won the Thomson Country Club men’s championship by three shots over
Sean Andrews and Christian Sullivan, while Janice Lamb (278) took the women’s title by five over Joy Santoro.
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Jenny Ceppi won the women’s club championship and Mark Turner won the men’s club championship at Bass Rocks in Gloucester.
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At Sagamore Spring in Lynnfield, Dan Tucker won the men’s championship, while Donna Diieso captured the women’s title.
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Tony Montalto and Karen Richardson won titles at Ould Newbury, while at the Golf Club at Turner Hill, J.S. Rancourt won the men’s championship and Ned Yetten won senior title.
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Rick Ramsey defeated Hollis French to win the men’s title at Essex County Club in Manchester by-the-Sea, while Darby French defeated Annie Barton in the women’s final, both at match play. At Ipswich CC, Joe Stella defeated Scott Ganson to take the men’s title, while Janet Barbookles prevailed over Mary Ann Davis in the women’s championship.
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Mac Cavanaugh defeated Mark Souliotis to win the Haverhill CC men’s title, while Helen Tubrett won the women’s title.
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At North Andover CC, Michael Flanagan won the men’s title, while George Vozeolas won the net championship.
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Joe Granese is the Championship Flight winner at Nahant Golf Club. His 27-hole total of 96 was two shots better than Al Lindsey. In the Silver Flight, Keith Tetrault’s 107 was one shot better than runner-up Rick MacDonald. In the Bronze Flight, Dan Fiori’s 114 was six shots better than that of Mark Simpson and Carmen Mattuchio, who tied for second.
When North Shore Golf magazine went to press (Aug. 4), club champions had yet to be crowned at many area courses. Those results will be printed in the next issue and will be posted on
northshoregolfmagazine.com once they become available.
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