PGA Jr. League All-Star Team Massachusetts 4th in the Country!
Team Massachusetts recently returned from the PGA Junior Golf League National Championship in Atlanta, Georgia played at the famed TPC at Sugarloaf. The team was made of all-stars from the South Shore League which was comprised of players from Acushnet River Valley, LeBaron Hills, Halifax and the Bay Club. The Bay Club was represented by Jason Gamache, Jake Yeomans and Collin Fitzpatrick.
Similar to that of the Ryder Cup, teams of two played a 9 hole Match Play competition against their opponents playing a scramble format. Four matches were contested at the same time with each match worth 3 points with 1 point being awarded every three holes called “Flags.” For each three hole segment won, the team receives a flag and the coveted point and the team with the most points wins the match.
Slotted in the East Bracket with Virginia and Georgia, Team Massachusetts opened up against Virginia and it was clear early on that the match would come down to the last hole. A strong closing three holes for each Massachusetts pair lead to victory 7 ½ – 4 ½ . Team Massachusetts had a session II break but returned later that afternoon to take on Team Georgia for a chance to play in the National Championship. It was clear right from the get go that Team Georgia had a stacked team only to find out later from their coach that 6 of the 10 players finished in the Top 25 of the US Kids World Championship in their respective age brackets. But you still have to “play the games.” Match 1 with Collin Fitzpatrick and Jake Yeomans managed to score 2 points playing the 9 hole scramble in 3 under par. Jason Gamache playing in the final match stuck his opening shot on the par 3 to eight feet but the team failed to make the putt and take the 1 up lead. When all was said and the done Team Massachusetts fell to Team Georgia 9-3.
Team Massachusetts still had a chance to play for 3rd place in the Country against Team Texas. The Coaches opted to change some of the pairings up for the final match to equal out the number of holes played for each team member making sure each participant had memories for a lifetime. In the early going, things looked good for Massachusetts in matches 2-4 while Match 1 with Jason Gamache and Collin Fitzpatrick halved the first flag and lost the second flag. They needed to rally and that they did winning the last flag comfortably to start the scoring at 1½ – 1½. Match 2 was also very close but Team Massachusetts won 2-1. Match 3 is where the team unfortunately struggled on this final day earning only a ½ point. Match 4 with Jake Yeomans made a critical save to gain a ½ point early; unfortunately they needed 1½ of the 2 points available to win and they couldn’t quite do it. Final Score Team Massachusetts 5½ – Team Texas 6½.
When you consider there were close to 200 all-star teams and 9,000 Juniors throughout North America, 4th in the country is a pretty amazing accomplishment. Congratulations!
