John Gratton of Dedham Country & Polo Club can celebrate. He has made it to the US Amateur, which will be played Aug. 12-18 at The Country Club in Brookline.
Gratton fashioned a 2-over 74 to earn medalist honors at Weston Golf Club last week.
This week, if there is one golfer you might want to root for to qualify, it?s Andy Drohen who is playing the best golf of his career, which is saying a lot.
He qualified for last week?s US Amateur Public Links Championship in Lorton, Va., and advanced to match play.
Problem was he ran into a buzz saw named Austi Smotherman, a 19-year-old standout from Southern Methodist. Drohen lost, 6 and 4.
But he didn?t play poorly.
Drohen shot even par on the front nine, but was down 2 at the turn. Then Smotherman strung four birdies together on the back nine and it was good-bye Andy.
Drohen holds a unique honor in Massachusetts golf circles. He made Massachusetts Golf Association history last summer when he won the MGA?s Amateur Public Links Championship, becoming the first golfer to win all four major non-senior amateur MGA Championships.
Springfield golf writer Russ Held called it the ?Andy Slam.?
Besides the State Publinks, Drohen won the State Amateur, Mid-Amateur and Four-Ball (with his brother, Bill).
Drohen and his brothers (besides Bill, who lives in Easton) there is Jon and Mike, all great golfers, are all trying for the US Amateur this week.
Andy Drohen, 44, has dropped 25 pounds in an effort to get in shape for walking 36 holes.
This year?s U.S. Amateur site holds special significance for Drohen. He won his first and only Massachusetts Golf Association Amateur Championship at TCC 10 years ago. There are other connections that drive Drohen?s pursuit of a spot in the field.
While a student at Northeastern ? on a Francis Ouimet Scholarship ? he caddied at The Country Club.
?My brothers and I actually couldn?t have graduated and got through college without the scholarship,? Drohen told Andrew Blair, the director of communications for the Virginia State Golf Association.
?The whole summer has been spent gearing up for the US Amateur,? said Drohen, who is also battling a torn meniscus. ?The only good thing about going out early is I get some rest from the heat. I want to qualify just to be there, experience the whole thing and who knows what?s going to happen??
While qualifying for the U.S. Amateur remains Drohen?s top priority for the time being, his long-term goal is to play in the Masters Tournament.
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It?s a day
For Dolph
Long-time starter Dolph Aimola has not been seen much at South Shore Country Club this summer. He?s getting up there in years, deep into his back nine. Sure, he?ll tell you, ?I?m old enough to know and young enough to learn,? and denies the rumor he was there when Wayne Stiles laid out the Hingham golf course in the 1920s. But the long-time South Shore CC favorite was there with Roger Barry and Phil Farina & Co., when they started the Southeast Amateur in 1960 when wonderful guys like Fordie Pitts, Bill Foley, Mel Cowe and Allan Doyle were crowned champions. Aimola was there in when they old South Shore Two-Ball was a major event. But when the old South Shore Country Club went dark in the 1980s, the old Two-Ball died. When the town took the land by eminent dominate and restored the golf course, it was only a few years ago when Aimola revived the tournament, Well, on Aug. 3-4 South Shore Country Club is holding the Dolph Aimola South Shore Country Club Four-Ball tournament. This tournament will include a men?s, a women?s and a senior flight. SSCC members and non-membership participation will include a continental breakfast, prizes, green fees, range balls and optional $10 skins pool. The fee is $50 for SSCC member and $75 non-member per player. All proceeds will go to the Hingham Fourth of July Parade Fund. For more information on the tournament, contact Joe Keefe, PGA professional, at jkgolfpro@pga.com?Matt Parziale of Thorny Lea shot an even-par 213 (67-69-77) to finish tied for sixth place in the New England Amateur Championship at Green Mountain National GC in Killington, Vt., last week?Alison Paik of Sharon and playing partner Julia Natale captured first place in the junior-junior division of the WGAM Mowatt tournament at Olde Scotland Links in Bridgewater?In the junior division, Cora Bernier of Taunton and Anna Haynes were second with a 74?At the WGAM Mother-Daughter/Member-Junior tournament held at Highfields GC in Grafton, Pamela and Erin Kiley of Braintree Municipal GC captured first place in Div. 3. Aimee and Karen Dubois of Black Rock CC in Hingham took low net.
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Khang in
Hoosierland
Keep an eye on Fort Wayne, Ind., this week. Rockland?s Megan Khang is at Sycamore Hills Golf Club in Hoosierland, vying for the US Girls Junior Amateur Championship. And she is a legitimate contender to win the darn thing. The precocious 15-year-old Rockland High School junior-to-be, who is ranked by Golf Week weekly magazine among the top 15 girls in the US, is a veteran of this event. She has played in it three times and has qualified for match up. Before heading to Indiana, Khang captured medalist honors in an international field at the US Women?s Amateur sectional qualifying tournament at Oak Hill Country Club in Fitchburg. Khang fashioned a 3-under 68. Indonesian Tatiana Wijaya and Mexican Maria Fassi tied for second with even par 72s and qualified for the Aug. 5-11 US Women?s Amateur at the Country Club of Charleston in South Carolina.
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Clapp leads
POY race
Doug Clapp of Old Sandwich Country Club in Plymouth solidified his hold on the point parade for the Massachusetts Golf Association?s Player of the Year honors. His finish at the State Amateur (quarterfinals, before being ousted by Brockton?s Matt Parziale, 3-2) gives Clapp 538 points. State Amateur champion Mike Calef is second with 350 and Thorny Lea?s John Hadges has 325. There are still points to be won. There is this week?s Ouimet Memorial tournament, the State Mid-Amateur at Marshfield CC in September, and, of course, the Southeast Amateur in October. Both Hadges and Clapp are eligible for all three tournaments. Both are in the field today at Wollaston GC in Milton when they play the first round of the Ouimet. Both are exempt into the State Amateur and both are previous champions of the Southeast Amateur, with Hadges winning more titles (nine) than anyone in tournament history and Clapp winning in 2011, setting the record for the lowest score. It should be quite a race to the finish . . . Congratulations to Julie Stanton, winner of Scituate Country Club?s Grandmother Tournament. Stanton is a two-time champion. Julie Chapman won low putts?Keira Joshi of MGA Links at Matampat a participant of The First Tee of Massachusetts, has advanced to regional qualifying for the 2013 Drive, Chip & Putt Championship at Pinehills Golf Club in Plymouth next month. She finished first in her age division (7-9 years old) at Granite Links Golf Club. ?The event was a lot of fun and I am very happy to have won my division,? said Joshi. ?I get to play a lot of golf with my family and we all enjoy it.?
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