Headline: World Golf Hall of Famer Colin Montgomerie Makes a Special Visit to Renaissance on the Eve of the Start of the 2017 U.S. Senior Open Championship

For Immediate Release: June 29, 2017

Colin Montgomerie made a special visit to Renaissance in Haverhill on June 28.

Haverhill, MA — If becoming one of the winningest golfers in history is supposed to make you too big to sit around and talk golf with a bunch of enthusiasts, someone should probably tell Colin Montgomerie because that’s exactly what he did Wednesday evening at Renaissance Golf Club in Haverhill.

Following the Southworth Invitational Tournament held at the course earlier in the day, the 54-old Scotsman in town for the U.S. Senior Open Championship at nearly Salem Country Club was the featured guest at a meet-and-greet and question and answer session with tournament participants that lasted nearly two hours at the same site of the 2017 MGA Amateur Four-Ball Championship.

Montgomerie, the 2014 U.S. Senior Open Champion who finished runner-up in 2015 and has won more European Tour events than anyone else, ever, spent the night before his first round of this year’s U.S. Senior Open mingling with the competitors and talking everything from his own golf experience to his thoughts on the current state of the game and his recollections of the 1999 Ryder Cup to the standing room only audience.

Joined by Director of Marketing for Southworth Development David DeSmith, who served as the event’s emcee, Montgomerie went into exquisite detail about his experience playing professional golf since turning professional in 1988 and the many experiences he has had as a result of the game in a career that spans nearly 30 years.

He recalled being paired with Tiger Woods in round three of the 1997 Masters Tournament – where Tiger won his first major championship – and knowing that the young star was in for a stellar career and even lamented on his experience as a member of Team Europe at the 1999 Ryder Cup – to the laughter of more than a few who recalled the European’s collapse in the final day of competition in what is still known as one of the biggest upsets the game has ever seen.

As one of the last competitors to ever play against the late Payne Stewart, Montgomerie also discussed the impact that the American golfer and his friend had on himself and the game as a whole before his tragic death in October 1999.

A three-time senior major champion and a member of the 2013 World Golf Hall of Fame class, Montgomerie also discussed how the game has changed over the years, the differences he sees between the US and European golf scenes and even what he hopes to see as the game continues to take shape in the years to come.

Prior to the start of the evenings event, he also posed for pictures with all participants and joined them for the hors d'oeuvres.

Montgomerie will be competing in the U.S. Senior Open Championship June 29-July 2 at Peabody’s Salem Country Club. He is paired with Scott McCarron and Miguel Angel Jimenez in R1 and R2 of the Senior Open Championship beginning at 8:03 am Thursday morning.

Southworth Development specializes in the creation of residential resort and hospitality branded real estate communities and clubs. They oversee the management of Renaissance Golf Club.