HAVERHILL, Mass. – Renaissance Golf Club showed its teeth on Monday September 21 in the first round of the National Car Rental New England PGA Assistant Professional Championship, playing to an average of 11.3 strokes over par. After 18 holes three-time champion (2011, ’16, ’17) Shawn Warren, (2011, ’16, ’17) of Falmouth CC, was the only player to break par, shooting 3-under 69, to build a three-stroke lead heading into the final round.
Warren got off to a smooth start with eight pars to go with an eagle on the par-5 third hole on the front-9. He stumbled with back-to-back bogeys to open the back-9, but rebounded with birdies on three of the final six holes, including the last two, to finish 3-under.
“I just kept the ball in front of me. This is the type of golf course you can’t overpower, you just have to play where the golf course asks you to play and hit it into the fat side of the fairways,” Warren said after his round. “We’re playing in a championship this week and the pins were definitely different than a normal stroke play event. Having some of those pins a little bit more tucked. You can’t get too cute with them because you can short side yourself and make a mess.”
Liam Friedman, of Nashawtuc CC, is alone in second, three strokes behind Warren, after shooting 72. Friedman made five birdies at Renaissance, where he won the 2017 New England PGA Section Championship. Jake Kramer of Bass Rocks GC, will join Warren and Friedman in the final group after shooting 2-over par 74.
Just 19 players in the 76-player field managed to break 80 at Renaissance, where the average score was 83.3. The 419-yard par-4 8th hole played the most difficult, averaging 1.21 strokes over par.
The final round will is Tuesday September 22 at Renaissance, where one player will take home the championship, and six will earn a berth into the upcoming National Car Rental Assistant PGA Professional Championship, Nov. 12-15 at PGA Golf Club’s Wanamaker Course in Port St. Lucie, Fla.
https://nepga.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/nepga20/event/nepga2044/contest/5/leaderboard.htm
National Car Rental Assistants Championship
Sep 21 – Sep 22, 2020
Renaissance GC (Haverhill, Mass.)
Par 36-36–72
1 Shawn Warren, Falmouth CC: 34-35–69 -3
2 Liam Friedman, Nashawtuc: 37-35–72 E
T3 Jake Kramer, Bass Rocks GC: 38-36–74 +2
T3 Ryan Moseley, Manchester CC: 35-39–74 +2
T3 Malcolm Oliver, Weston GC: 38-36–74 +2
T3 Kyle Puzzo, Hyannisport Club: 36-38–74 +2
7 Todd Scarafoni, Bass Rocks GC: 39-36–75 +3
8 Rick Durocher, Cyprian Keyes GC: 39-37–76 +4
T9 Sean Fellows, Abenaqui: 36-41–77 +5
T9 Brian Owens, North Kingstown GC: 39-38–77 +5
T11 Andrew Abbott, The Kittansett Club: 39-39–78 +6
T11 Robert Bruso, Blackstone National GC: 40-38–78 +6
T11 Nick Desjardins, Tedesco CC: 39-39–78 +6
T11 Kyle Dobbs, Bay Club at Mattapoisett: 38-40–78 +6
T11 Connor Dupont, Hopkinton: 39-39–78 +6
T11 Michael Griffin, Weston GC: 40-38–78 +6
T11 Aaron Harper, Ipswich CC: 37-41–78 +6
T18 Tommy Lucko, Winchester CC: 39-40–79 +7
T18 Connor Mulcahy, The Country Club: 40-39–79 +7
T20 Daniel Calderwood, White Cliffs CC: 40-40–80 +8
T20 Kelly Hunt, Manchester CC: 37-43–80 +8
T22 Griffin Andrews, Abenaqui: 41-40–81 +9
T22 Eric Fernandez, Sandbaggers Practice Range: 44-37–81 +9
T22 Tyler Noske, The Kittansett Club: 43-38–81 +9
T22 Jeff Seavey, Goose River: 39-42–81 +9
T22 Dan Shepherd, Newport CC: 38-43–81 +9
T27 Jon Ellis, Golf Club of New England: 41-41–82 +10
T27 Stephen Galanis, Weston GC: 42-40–82 +10
T27 Nick Hallowell, The Country Club: 43-39–82 +10
T27 Greg Kelly, Myopia Hunt Club: 45-37–82 +10
T27 Cody Sweeney, Thorny Lea GC: 41-41–82 +10
(New England PGA media provided content for this report)
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