BERNARDSTON, Massachusetts – The first round of the 101st Mass Junior Amateur Championship is in the books from Crumpin-Fox Club, as Trevor Lopez is in front after firing a 2-under 70 in his first round.
With a first round 2-under par 70, Trevor Lopez continued to build off a good showing last week at the New England Junior Amateur. Lopez started his day teeing off the back nine at Crumpin-Fox Club, where he recorded two birdies on holes 10 and 14 and two bogeys on holes 13 and 18. Lopez started to do his damage on the front nine, a rarity in Monday’s first round as the front played harder than the back nine in stroke average. Lopez made birdie on holes 2, 3 and 5 to move to 3-under for his round. A bogey at seven would drop him back a shot, to give him a 36-34 for a first round 70.
“I hit the ball very well,” said Lopez. “It worked out. I putted well, hit the tee shots well. My mid-iron game right now is pretty good. If I’m off the tee well I’m going to play pretty good.”
Although the course doesn’t necessarily catch Lopez’s “eye” well, he maintained playing two practice rounds was huge before he teed it up in the Championship Proper. Overall there was only one other player besides Lopez under par, with Max Hutter of Weston Golf Club coming in with a 1-under 71.
“I played two practice rounds coming in,” said Lopez. “I really think that helped. If you didn’t play a practice round here it’s gonna be a lot tougher to go out there and score well.”
“I don’t hit the ball straight,” said Lopez. “Not even remotely straight. Today I hit the ball straight, if you do that here it’s pretty score-able but if your off line you’re going to shoot a pretty high score.”
Crumpin-Fox Head Golf Professional Jamie Ballard had his own moment of pride after Monday. Ballard used to be the Assistant Golf Professional at Winchester Country Club, where Lopez plays out of.
“Five years ago now, would have been about the first time he started going through our junior camps,” said Ballard. “That eventually led on to individual instruction. To see Trevor come out here now with an extra 75 pounds of muscle mass and a plus handicap is a pretty serious moment of pride for myself.”
For the Pre-Junior Division, which is open to competitors in the field that are either 14 or 15, John Broderick of Dedham Golf & Polo Club leads the way. Broderick shot a 1-over par 73 and along with being the low pre-junior of the day is also currently in a tie for sixth place for the stroke play qualifier.
In the Pre-Junior division, all competitors play from the same tees as the rest of the field and still have a chance to qualify for match play, with the lowest score being recognized with the Joseph M. Batchelder Memorial Trophy as the low player in their division.
Molly Smith, fresh off a match play appearance in the Massachusetts Women’s Amateur Championship, is also in attendance at the Massachusetts Junior Championship as the only girl competing in the field. Smith finished with a 9-over par 81 in her first round.
The final day of stroke play qualifying will be Tuesday, August 20th, as competitors continue to battle for the low 16 spots to make it into the match play portion of the Championship.
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