QUECHEE, VERMONT – The Quechee Club will play host to the 43rd edition of the New England Open June 5 – 6.
The 2018 tournament is sponsored by the New England PGA with a field consisting of 66 PGA professionals and 18 amateurs, some traveling from Texas, Florida and Quebec, Canada.
Last June The Quechee Club was pelted with torrential rain for several days and the event was cancelled. The Quechee Club first hosted the New England Open in 1980 and this year will mark the 22nd time as host. With 36 holes of stroke play determining the champion, The Highland Course will be a rugged test from 6,765-yards with par of 72.
Jeff Curl, PGA of Birmingham, Alabama captured the 2016 title with a 10-under par (134) total which bested Matt Hutchins, (a) of Falmouth, ME and Rich Berberian, PGA of Hookset, NH by three strokes. Curl showed consistency firing a 5-under par 67 both days. Hutchins showed fight in round two when he birdied the par-5 18th while Berberian carded an eagle-3 on the par-5 15th. Curl finished day one at the top of the leaderboard and never looked back, matching his 5-under par 67 on day two, winning the prestigious title wire-to-wire.
“After a one- year hiatus due to inclement weather, we are happy to be back to Quechee, Vermont which has hosted 22 of the past 42 New England Opens,” executive director Michael Higgins stated in a press release. “The field is set, the sponsors are in place and now it’s time to play some championship golf.”
Rich Berberian is returning this year looking to bounce back from his 2016 runner-up finish. Joseph Harney (West Roxbury, MA), the 2015 Massachusetts Open Champion and amateur Alex Jamieson (Duxbury, MA.) ranked No. 1 golfer in Massachusetts according to Junior Golf Scoreboard will also be competing for a piece of the total purse estimated at $25,000.
Notable New England PGA entries include: Bob Bruso, PGA (Blackstone National GC) the 2018 Hudson Cup Champion, Shawn Warren, PGA (Falmouth CC) is a three-time OMEGA Wogan Player of the Year for the New England Section and Kirk Hanefeld, PGA (Salem CC) who has over 40 Professional victories on his resume. Former PGA Tour player and Boston native James Driscoll won the event in 2015.
The New England PGA will be posting results and updates from the Twitter account @NEPGA, on Facebook at New England PGA and on Instagram @NewEnglandPGA.
For real-time scoring updates, check www.nepga.com.
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