Headline: Two Bay State Youngsters Enjoy Drive, Chip & Putt Regional Qualifying Experience at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamoroneck

A Drive, Chip & Putt Regional Qualifier was held at Winged Foot Golf Club in New York.

For Immediate Release: October 4, 2017

Mamoroneck, N.Y. – Two Massachusetts junior golfers earned alternate status at the Drive, Chip and Putt Regional qualifier on Sunday at the famed Winged Foot Golf Club, keeping their hopes of competing at the national final next April at Augusta National Golf Club alive.

Brookline’s Caroline Schernecker, competing in the Girls 14-15 division and Worcester’s John Pagano, competing in the Boys 12-13 division, were just two of the 14 total Massachusetts residents competing for the opportunity to advance to the Drive Chip and Putt National Final at Augusta National Golf Club on the Sunday before the Masters.

It was the third stage of qualifying for both competitors. Each of the four divisions for both boys and girls had 12 competitors in the field, and each competitor was judged on scores received for the driving, chipping and putting aspects of the game.

Schernecker accumulated 106 points between the driving, chipping and putting contests and was behind only New Jersey’s Megha Ganne, who earned the lone qualifying spot with 120 total points, and Tiya Chowdary, a fellow New Jersey native, who garnered alternate accolades with 110 points.

In the boy’s division, Pagano netted 109 total points across the three areas of competition and found himself only behind qualifier Lance Hollingshead (135 points), of New Jersey, and New York’s Henry Devaney, who tallied 115 points. Fellow Massachusetts native Riggs Catlin, of Dedham, placed fourth in the same division with 101 points.
 
Sunday’s DCP Regional Final was the 10th and final qualifier of its kind to be contested ahead of next spring’s championship final. At the site of the 2006 US Open as well as the 2020 US Open, Sunday’s regional final at Winged Foot Golf Club was conducted by the Metropolitan Section of the PGA.

Complete results from Sunday’s regional final qualifier: https://www.drivechipandputt.com/results

A joint initiative founded in 2013 by the Masters Tournament, United States Golf Association and The PGA of America, the Drive, Chip and Putt Championship is a free nationwide junior golf development competition aimed at growing the game by focusing on the three fundamental skills employed in golf.

By tapping the creative and competitive spirit of girls and boys ages 7-15, the Drive, Chip and Putt Championship provides aspiring junior golfers an opportunity to play with their peers in qualifiers around the country. Participants who advance through local, sub-regional and regional qualifying in each age/gender category earn a place in the National Finals, which is conducted at Augusta National Golf Club the Sunday before the Masters Tournament and is broadcast live by Golf Channel.