The air was cool and the sky was cloudy Monday morning at both Tedesco Country Club and Myopia Hunt Club, but that didn’t put a damper on the opening day of the 100th New England PGA Section Championship. After ceremonial opening tee shots at both locations, 200 PGA professionals from all the New England states began to battle it out for the coveted section championship.
Former longtime Tedesco head professional Bob Green got the action going at his home course, hitting the ceremonial opening tee shot in front of friends, family and competitors. Former NEPGA champion Charles Volpone hit the ceremonial opening tee shot at Myopia.
As for the action on the course, Bill Andrews, PGA (Portsmouth CC) and defending champion Shawn Warren, PGA (Falmouth CC) were the only two players in red figures after the first round. Andrews shot 2-under par 68 at Tedesco with birdies on the 9th and 10th holes, Tedesco’s only par-5s, and another birdie on the fifth offset by just one bogey on the day to lead the championship by a stroke.
Warren, who has two NEPGA Championships on his resume (2013, ’19) posted back-to-back birdies at Tedesco as well, getting to 2-under par with birdies on the fifth and sixth holes and finished one behind Andrews after making his lone bogey of the day at the 11th.
Dan Venezio, PGA (Portland CC) is two strokes off the lead after shooting even-par 70 at Tedesco on Monday, but will bring some local knowledge to Myopia, where he spent time as an assistant, on Tuesday. Steven Daly, PGA (Cape Club of Sharon) is tied with Venezio at even-par.
The eight lowest scores of the day all came from Tedesco, while 2-over par was the lowest round posted at Myopia. Scott Johnson, PGA (Oakley CC), Ryan Kesten, PGA (Concord), John Sheehan, PGA (Boston GC) and Dieter Wiedmayer, PGA (Sankaty Head) each shot 2-over par at Myopia and sit in an 11-way tie for 9th place, with Tedesco, which played an average of four strokes easier on Monday, on tap for round two.
Three-time NEPGA Section Champion Kirk Hanefeld, PGA (Salem CC) is part of that tie at 2-over par but will head to Myopia for round two on Tuesday without much experience on the tricky track.
“I’ve played there probably once in the last 25 years,” Hanefeld said. “It’s quite a golf course, really impressive. I don’t have a lot of local knowledge and I don’t know that anybody really does. It’s going to be a little bit of a learning experience each day we play.”
As for local professionals who were competing on the day, there were plenty. The highest local finishers after Day 1 were Hanefeld and Kernwood Country Club’s Frank Dully — who is currently sitting in a tie for ninth place after opening his tournament with a 2-over 72 at Tedesco. Also competing were Ronald Coiro (Tedesco CC) in a tie for 54th place (6-over 76), Nick Desjardins (Tedesco CC) in a tie for 74th place (8-over 78), Steve Bramlett (Kernwood CC) in a tie for 93rd place (9-over 79), David Sibley (Gannon GC) in a tie for 126th place (12-over 82) and Kevin Wood (Salem CC) in a tie for 169th place (19-over 91).
The field will alternate courses for the second round of the 54-hole championship on Tuesday. Following the second round, the top 60 players plus ties will advance to Wednesday’s final round at Myopia Hunt Club.
