SUTTON, Mass. – Despite back-to-back days of temperatures in the 90s, the hottest thing at Blackstone National Golf Club this week might have been Kirk Hanefeld’s putter. Hanefeld blistered the course with 15 birdies over 36 holes to win his third New England PGA Senior Championship by seven strokes.
Hanefeld, the PGA Director of Instruction at Salem Country Club, began the final round with a 4-stroke lead and opened with birdies on his first three holes. By then, playing partners and nearest competitors Steven Hausmann, of Amherst CC and John Hickson, of Chequessett Yacht & CC, who each started the day four shots back of Hanefeld, were battling for second.
“In reality it was early in the round, after the first three or four holes,” Hanefeld said of when he knew he would hoist his third NEPGA Senior Championship, adding “but this is a funny game and there are an awful lot of good players so to let my guard down and coast would have been a big mistake.”
Instead of letting his guard down, Hanefeld kept the pedal down, reeling off a final-round 67 to finish 12 under par. Hanefeld’s rounds of 65-67 were the lowest two rounds of the tournament, and while his putter came up clutch, he displayed an all-around air-tight game over 36 holes to lap the field.
“I know that driving the ball in the fairway, which is typically a strong suit for me, worked well for me,” he said. “I didn’t ever hit it out of play, I couldn’t have missed more than a fairway or two all week.”
Hausmann shot 2-under par 70 on Tuesday to finish second at 5-under for the tournament, while Hickson finished third at 2-under par after shooting 73 on Tuesday. Jeff Seavey, of Goose River Resort and Scott Johnson, of Oakley CC tied for fourth at 1-over par for the tournament.
Hanefeld holds a lifetime exemption into the Senior PGA Professional Championship as a two-time champion (2008, ’11), and Seavey has an exemption into the 2020 event as well. Five additional Professionals earned exemptions to join Hanefeld and Seavey in the Senior PGA Professional Championship on Tuesday. Hausmann, Hickson, Rick Karbowski, of Auburn Driving Range, Michael Dugas, of JW Parks GC and Robert Tramonti, of Triggs Memorial GC each punched their tickets for the tournament, scheduled for Oct. 15-18 at PGA Golf Club in Port. St. Lucie, Fla.
New England PGA Senior Championship
July 27-28, 2020
Blackstone National Golf Club
Sutton, Mass.
36 Holes, Stroke Play
Final Results
1 Kirk Hanefeld, Salem CC: 5-67–132 -12
2 Steven Hausmann, Amherst CC: 69-70–139 -5
3 John Hickson, Chequessett Yacht & CC: 69-73–142 -2
T4 Jeff Seavey, Goose River: 2-71–143 -1
T4 Scott Johnson, Oakley Country Club:72-71–143 -1
6 Rick Karbowski , Auburn Driving Range: 72-73–145 +1
T7 Michael Dugas, JW Parks Golf Course: 75-71–146 +2
T7 Ed Kirby, The Aquidneck Club:72-74–146 +2
T7 Robert Tramonti, Triggs Memorial GC: 71-75–146 +2
T10 Greg Farland, Marlborough CC: 75-72–147 +3
T10 Arthur Wilson, George Wright: 74-73–147 +3
T10 Frank Dully, Kernwood CC : 70-77–147 +3
T13 Michael Powers, Leo J. Martin: 76-72–148 +4
T13 Todd Scarafoni, Bass Rocks GC : 73-75–148 +4
T15 Jon Ellis, Golf Club of New England: 79-71–150 +6
T15 Shawn Durocher, Cyprian Keyes GC : 77-73–150 +6
T17 Bradley Rollinson, Falmouth CC: 78-73–151 +7
T17 Rick Durocher, Cyprian Keyes GC : 79-72–151 +7
T17 Scott Allen, George Wright: 78-73–151 +7
T17 Chip Johnson, Hatherly: 79-72–151 +7
T17 Cory Mansfield, Derryfield CC: 76-75–151 +7
22 Mike Zaranek , Brattleboro CC: 75-77–152 +8
T23 James Burke, Ponkapoag GC – #2: 79-74–153 +9
T23 Brian Owens, North Kingstown GC :76-77–153 +9
T25 Jeffrey Niejadlik, Stow Acres CC: 78-76–154 +10
T25 Brian Smith, Nashawtuc: 81-73–154 +10
T25 Chris Hulme, Newport National- Orchard: 76-78–154 +10
T25 John Paesani, Bay Club at Mattapoisett: 75-79–154 +10
T25 Tom Tobey, Sandwich Hollows GC : 74-80–154 +10
https://nepga.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/nepga20/event/nepga2040/contest/16/leaderboard.htm
(Content for this report was provided by New England PGA media.)
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