PEABODY, Massachusetts (September 23, 2024) – With Autumn upon us, the grey skies of September sat as the perfect backdrop to Salem Country Club’s classic witch-logoed weathervanes. On Monday, a field of 126 teed it up in Round 1 of the 64th Massachusetts Senior Amateur Championship.
As expected, the greens at Salem, which many argue are the best collection of Donald Ross putting surfaces in the country, protected the course and held the number of players to break par to just two.
The two to post scores in the red figures were Mark Souliotis (Haverhill Golf & Country Club) and John Hadges (Thorny Lea Golf Club), both of whom shot 71 (-1). With a congested leaderboard behind them, Tuesday’s Final Round is shaping up to be a memorable one.
Leaderboard Through Round 1
T1 – Mark Souliotis; 71 (-1)
T1 – John Hadges; 71 (-1)
T3 – Andy Drohen; 72 (E)
T3 – Steven Tasho; 72 (E)
T3 – Jack Kearney; 72 (E)
Being a co-leader of a state championship is special enough, but holding that position at a place like Salem Country Club is even better.
“Well, it’s the first time I played here, so it was really exciting,” said co-leader Mark Souliotis. “And then you start looking at the history of this place. It’s incredible.”
Playing in his first Mass Golf event of the season, Souliotis made wave of birdies to close out his opening nine. On his second nine (the front nine), Souliotis added a few more birdies before ultimately closing out his round with a double-bogey.
“Up until the last hole, the only bogeys I made were with three-putts,” added Souliotis. “The greens are just that difficult. The pin positions were pretty tough.”
Holding a share of the lead is John Hadges, who like Souliotis, made five birdies in the opening round. Also starting his round on the back nine, Hadges was able to take advantage of a couple of gettable holes late in his round, making back-to-back birdies on holes four and five.
Unfortunately the treacherous ninth, a hole that didn’t offer up a single birdie on the day, also claimed a victim in Hadges. Just like Souliotis did in the morning, Hadges hit his approach shot over the green and was unable to negotiate a nearly impossible chip from above the hole. Even with the closing bogey, Hadges is still in position to add a Massachusetts Senior Amateur Championship to his trophy collection.
Just a shot back of the co-leaders is a trio of champions in their own right – Andy Drohen (The Ranch GC), Steven Tasho (Thorny Lea GC), and Jack Kearney (Westover GC).
Drohen comes into the event having just won the New England Senior Amateur Championship last week at Quinnatisset CC (CT). Tasho, a past champion of several Mass Golf events is looking to grab his first Mass Senior title, just like Drohen. Tasho credited ball striking and putter behavior for his fine round.
“It played tough with the wind and the conditions,” said Tasho. “I just happened to drive it good and hit a lot of greens, and the putter behaved today, which it hasn’t in a long time.”
Meanwhile, Kearney, a two-time champion of this event, is looking to make it lucky number three. Kearney was victorious back in 2010 at Plymouth CC and then again in 2019 at Cohasset GC.
A few others near the top of the leaderboard to keep an eye in in the final round include: Doug Clapp (Old Sandwich GC) who had a strong showing at the New England Senior, Kevin Daly (Salem CC) with his local knowledge, and Dean Godek (Agawam Municipal GC) who finished T2 at the New England Senior.
A total of 71 players made the cut. The final round will get started at 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday, with the leaders teeing off at 10:20 a.m.
One of the best Donald Ross designed golf courses our country has ever seen, Salem Country Club is unique in the sense that it has never been changed. Updated, yes, with necessary green expansions and bunker re-builds. But changed, no. The layout, architectural design, and character have all gone untouched.
The green complexes are widely regarded as the defining feature of the course and have been described as “Ultimate Ross.” With a storied history of major events, both of the local (Mass Golf) and national (USGA) nature, the theme has been the same – how a player handles the greens at Salem defines their round.
In total, Salem has hosted six USGA Championships.
In Volume I of Mass Golf’s new print publication, The Massachusetts Golfer, a tale about the day a schoolteacher conquered the greatest athlete in the world at Salem Country Club is retold.
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