Lynn’s John Boland has been working his way back to competitive golf for some time now, and last weekend the longtime Gannon Golf Club member came back with a bang.
Boland, who has been battling back from multiple surgeries over the past few years, outlasted Rob Thomas over 34 holes to win 3&2 and capture the Gannon men’s club championship last Sunday. It’s Boland’s third Gannon club title, having also won in 2010 and 2018.
“It’s been a long journey and it feels so good to have finally come back and won,” said Boland, who has been playing at Gannon for 30 years. “I’m obviously very proud to have won it three times, but this one might be the sweetest.”
The sweet feeling for Boland comes from his successful recovery from a number of recent surgeries to come back and play at top form. He had a shoulder surgery several years back and had his right knee replaced three years ago. Just in February, right before the COVID-19 pandemic struck, Boland had his left knee replaced.
“It’s been a lot to work through, that’s for sure,” said Boland. “But at the same time that’s why you work so hard in recovery, to come back and be able to play golf. Coming back and being able to win against a group of great players like I did really gives me validation for all the work I put in.”
Boland not only had to survive a 36-hole battle against Rob Thomas to win the club title, but he also had to battle through a number of other qualified members during the initial match play rounds.
“The club changed the format (of the club championship) a little bit this year and changed it from eight players starting out in match play to 16 players in match play, which was great,” Boland said. “I think it was great for the membership because it kept a lot more players engaged and it was a lot of fun watching everyone battle it out.”
Boland eventually made it through the 16-man field and got paired up in the final with Thomas for a 36-hole battle. The match went back-and-forth for the entire length, with Thomas taking several 2-up leads before Boland kept battling back to keep it even. Eventually, Boland got ahead and was able to stretch his lead to 3-up. From there, he simply held Thomas at arm’s length to capture the 3&2 victory.
“Rob is a tremendous player and it was such a great battle with him the whole way,” said Boland. “There were a lot of big swings on both sides, but eventually I was able to just hang on for long enough.”
And while the Gannon club title is the highlight of Boland’s summer to this point, it’s not the last competition he’ll be playing in at Gannon. Next up for Boland will be the Massachusetts Amateur Public Links Championship, which is set for Gannon on August 10 and 11. Four Gannon members — Boland, Thomas, Alex Fiste and Dave Stevens — qualified for the tournament, a big point of pride for Boland.
“I think it’s great for the club and it’s really special for everyone there,” said Boland. “We’re a big family at Gannon, and it’s a pretty big deal for us to be hosting a tournament of this caliber. (Head professional) Dave (Sibley), (course superintendent) Pat Manning and everyone involved has been working so hard on this event and I know we’re all incredibly proud of the work they’ve done.
“As far as qualifying with the other three, I think it’s awesome,” Boland said. “It’ll be excited to play a big tournament on our home course and it will also be nice to have people from all over get a look at what a great course Gannon is.”
