Swampscott native and Salem Country Club member Steven DiLisio opened the 53rd annual Francis Ouimet Memorial Tournament with a bang Wednesday, shooting a 2-under 70 at Framingham Country Club to put himself in a tie for fifth place after the opening day.
The 54-hole stroke play event, which serves as both a Mass Golf Championship and Women’s Championship, will take place at Framingham Country Club on Wednesday and Thursday and conclude, as always, at Woodland Golf Club in Auburndale (Newton) on Friday.
The exemption-only event is split into three divisions: Championship Division, Lowery Division (Senior Division) and Women’s Division. Past champions who have gone on to play professional golf include Brad Faxon, Fran Quinn, Alison Walshe, Jim Renner and Megan Khang.
DiLisio opened the day with a birdie before playing the rest of his front nine in 1-over par, making one birdie and two bogeys to make the turn at even-par. He cleaned up his card on the back nine, making birdies on both the par-5 12th and the par-5 18th to finish the day at 2-under 70. He is currently two strokes behind co-leaders Mike Calef (Pine Oaks GC) and Brett Krekorian (Indian Ridge CC).
Other local golfers who had solid days in the opening round included St. John’s Prep alum Chris Francoeur (Amesbury G&CC), who shot an even-par 72 to start his tournament. Francoeur, who plays college golf at the University of Rhode Island, made two bogeys and a birdie on the front nine to make the turn at 1-over. He turned it around on the back nine, making eight pars to go along with a birdie on the par-5 12th to finish his day at even-par 72 and tied for 10th place.
Former St. Mary’s star and Swampscott native Christian Emmerich (Kernwood CC) also had a solid day Wednesday, shooting a 1-over 73 to earn a tie for 15th place. Emmerich, who plays college golf at Holy Cross, opened the day with a bogey but quickly recovered. He made six straight pars before a bogey on the eighth hole, but he rebounded with a birdie on the 9th to make the turn in 1-over 37. He played the back nine in even par, making a birdie on the 13th and a bogey on the 15th to finish the day at 1-over 73.
Also tied for 15th place is St. John’s Prep alum Nick Maccario (Bradford CC), who shot an opening day 1-over 73. Maccario’s three birdies on the front nine were unfortunately offset by a bogey and a double bogey, and he made the turn at even-par 36. He made two more bogeys on the back nine, but a birdie on the par-5 12th hole helped him limit the damage and finish at 1-over 73.
The second round of the 53rd Francis Ouimet Memorial Tournament will begin Thursday morning back at Framingham Country Club. DiLisio will tee off at 7:22 a.m., Maccario will tee off at 11:24 a.m., Francoeur will tee off at 12:19 p.m. and Emmerich will tee off at 1:36 p.m.
