When Chris Francoeur teed off at Renaissance Golf Club in Haverhill on June 18, his round didn’t start out as anything special.
Although the former St. John’s Prep star and current professional golfer birdied the first hole, lost balls on both the third and fourth holes led to bogies and he stood at 1-over after five.
Then something magical – otherworldly, even – happened. Francoeur, now a professional golfer, birdied holes 7, 8 and 9 to make the turn at 33, two under par.
From that point on, Francoeur, who grew up in Amesbury, was nearly flawless, shooting an astonishing 26 on the back nine. That’s not a typo. 26! That’s 11-under-par for nine holes. 13-under for 18.
“It’s not about how you start… 2 lost balls and one albatross later, a 59,” Francoeur posted on his Instagram, which had generated more than 3600 “likes” at the time NS Golf went to the printer.
An albatross? Yes, Francoeur made a 2 on the 558-yard par 5 finishing hole.
He also eagled the 508-yard par 5 14th hole and his scorecard is littered with 11 3s in the round. His only “misstep” on the back was one lowly par 4.
It should be noted that Renaissance, a par 72 designed by Brian Silva, is one tough course. It measures 7031 yards from the black tees and has a 75.2 rating/144 slope.
And this is not Chris’ lowest score ever. He fired a 58 at Port Judith Country Club in Rhode Island in the fall of 2022.
Francoeur, 26, turned pro in 2022 and had success on the Korn Ferry Tour, making the cut in 21 of 33 events, with four top-10 finishes. He was a standout at both the University of Rhode Island and University of Louisville. He won the 2021 Ouimet Memorial tourney Before that, he shined at St. John’s Prep where he (and teammates Steven DiLisio and Mark and James Turner of Bass Rocks GC) helped lead the team to four straight Catholic Conference Championships and two state championships.
