50th Annual Hornblower Memorial - Putting Display

May 30-31: A bit to my surprise, I was accepted to play in the 50th annual Hornblower!  It has been at least 5 years since I tried to play in the event.  What was I thinking!?  This event is top-notch.  The field attracts the best amateurs in the state, top ranked collegiate team players, and out-of-state competitors.  You see school bags from Texas, Wake Forest, UConn as well as Mass Amateur champions.  Golf course is fantastic with greens that will drain all your energy and focus.  At 6,300 yards, you think the course will be very scorable, but it plays long with only one par-5 (par-69).  We had warm weather with healthy winds and the winning score was +5!  Not a single player in over 150 rounds played in two days broke par!

My goal coming in was to make the cut.  I made the cut and I finished T19!  This is one of my top amateur finishes and I can't wait to come back.  My ball striking was okay, but my putting was pro-like.  Over the two days, I had 58 putts including 27 putts on Day 2.  The way I was putting on Day 2 I should have shot par.  I made putts of 10ft, 15,7,12,8,15,16,10.  I stood over every putt thinking I could make.  I'm not sure the reason, but I attribute a lot of it to taking time to practice on the putting green after Round 1.  When you play greens this slick, you have to find such a fine tuned rhythm that gives you full confidence in your ability to match speed and break.  I got it and the hole looked like a bucket.

Good to see J. Burke and good to see fellow Bentley players A. Jeffers and J. Stoddard finish near the top of the leaderboard.  Bentley represented well !

Thanks to my Dad for caddying on Day 1.  Can't wait for next year!  Below are pictures of random scores, a flag they had all the participants sign, and Top 20 scores.  Cut after Day 1 was 76.

BETTS, William - Longue View Club 72 4 5 3 4 4 3 5 3 4 35 3 4 5 4 4 3 5 5 3 36 71 143 

MCLAUGHLIN, Nick - Wentworth BTS 70 4 4 3 4 3 4 5 3 5 35 2 4 7 6 4 3 5 4 4 39 74 144 

CLAPP, Doug - Old Sandwich GC 76 5 4 3 4 4 3 3 4 4 34 2 4 4 4 4 3 6 4 4 35 69 145 

SPITZ, Ben - Unaffiliated 76 4 5 3 5 4 3 3 3 4 34 3 3 5 5 4 3 5 4 3 35 69 145 

AIKENS, Herbie - The Pinehills GC 71 4 4 4 4 5 3 3 5 4 36 4 5 4 4 4 4 4 4 5 38 74 145 

PARZIALE, Matt - Thorny Lea GC 74 4 5 3 3 4 3 4 4 4 34 5 5 4 3 4 3 5 4 4 37 71 145 

STODDARD, Jonathan - Plymouth CC 74 5 4 3 4 4 3 4 3 4 34 4 4 5 5 3 4 5 4 4 38 72 146 

JOSEPHSON, Kevin - CC of Farmington 73 4 5 3 4 4 3 4 4 4 35 3 5 5 4 4 4 4 4 5 38 73 146 

WILLOCK, Michael - Cohasset GC 72 4 4 4 3 5 4 4 3 4 35 4 4 6 4 4 3 5 5 4 39 74 146 

GRENUS, Evan - TPC River Highlands 70 4 4 3 4 5 3 6 4 5 38 4 4 4 4 5 4 5 4 4 38 76 146 

HIGGINS, Brian - Franklin CC 74 4 3 3 4 4 4 3 3 5 33 4 4 5 5 4 3 5 5 4 39 72 146 

WALTHOUSE, Billy - Longmeadow CC 73 5 5 4 4 4 4 4 3 4 37 3 5 5 4 4 4 3 4 5 37 74 147 

PELLETIER, Ryan - Pawtucket CC 72 3 4 4 5 4 4 5 3 4 36 5 4 5 3 4 3 5 5 5 39 75 147 

HEFFERNAN, Paul - Oyster Harbors CC 74 4 4 4 3 4 3 4 3 4 33 4 5 6 4 4 3 6 5 4 41 74 148 

BURAK, Steve - Thorny Lea GC 72 4 5 3 4 5 4 4 4 4 37 4 6 5 4 5 3 5 4 3 39 76 148 

JEFFERS, Alex - Woodland GC 75 4 3 3 4 3 3 5 3 5 33 4 3 5 4 4 5 6 4 5 40 73 148 

LACAMERA, Paul - Plymouth CC 74 4 4 4 5 4 4 4 3 5 37 3 5 5 3 5 4 4 4 4 37 74 148 

HADGES, John - Thorny Lea GC 73 3 4 3 4 5 5 4 3 5 36 5 5 5 4 4 3 5 5 4 40 76 149 

KUHN, Stephen - Plymouth CC 73 5 5 4 4 4 5 3 3 5 38 3 4 5 5 4 3 4 6 4 38 76 149 

GUISE, Danny - Griffith Harris 73 5 5 3 3 4 4 5 4 5 38 3 3 5 4 5 4 5 4 5 38 76 149

CARLSON, Brian - Clinton CC 72 4 6 3 4 4 4 5 3 4 37 3 5 4 4 5 3 5 5 6 40 77 149 

FLIONIS, Kurt - Lexington GC 75 5 4 4 5 3 4 5 4 4 38 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 5 36 74 149 

GATELY, Kevin - Unaffiliated 70 4 4 4 4 5 4 7 3 4 39 3 4 5 4 7 3 5 4 5 40 79 149 

CAREY, Kevin - Dennis Pines 74 4 4 3 6 4 4 5 2 4 36 5 5 4 4 4 4 4 4 5 39 75 149