A quick news round-up now that things are humming along in the Bay State:

• The PGA of America’s PGA Professional Championship finishes on Wednesday. Top 20 players earn a spot in the PGA Championship later this month. As I type this, Chris Tallman of GreatHorse is inside that cut line. Here’s the live leaderboard.

• US Women’s Open Qualifying was held at Winchester CC on Wednesday. No Bay Staters made it through. Mass Women’s Am champ Rebecca Skoler was the top finisher from Massachusetts. Scores.

• Tracy Martin and James Pleat won the MassGolf Mixed Four-Ball for the Stone Cup. The childhood friends both played college golf and shot 6-under par at Granite Links. Read here.

• Concord CC and Worcester CC are two of my favorite courses in the state. I have many memories at both. They are both hosting MassGolf events next year. Concord will have the Women’s Am, and WCC will have the Senior Amateur. Read here.

• Worcester CC has been partially closed since August because Gil Hanse is restoring the Donald Ross design. As of right now, 14 holes are open, and they look awesome. Read here.

• Michael Thorbjornsen finished T8 in the Pac-12 Championship this past weekend. He was the leader after the first round and trickled down the leaderboard over the next three rounds.

• Make plans… New Seabury is hosting the MassGolf Four-Ball on May 8-9. The event is full (with a meaty waitlist). But if you’re interested in seeing the course and seeing some excellent golf, so check it out!

ICYMI… Rory McIlroy sings Journey after winning Zurich Classic in New Orleans on Sunday.

Miacomet in a Day

Like many adventures these days, it started with a text message. Jameson texted me about possibly heading to Nantucket to play Miacomet.

It would be a day trip.

Why now? Well, the off-season price for Miacomet is quite low.

$70 before May 1. So we were working on a tight schedule because on May 1, the rate jumps to $145. After May 23, it’s even higher - $245.

My only experience with Miacomet was walking it in 2021 when I caddied in the U.S. Mid-Am. That’s how good this course is. It was the cohost with Sankaty Head for the Mid-Am.

I remembered it being awesome, but my memory was disjointed because fog crushed our playing schedule. Between starting on the tenth hole, playing two holes before it got dark, and returning to finish the following morning, Miacomet was a blur in my memory. I could conjure up little memories, but nothing more than dashes of bunkers and small stretches of holes.

After our trips, it’s firmly imprinted on my memory.

Our ferry from Hyannis on Thursday morning was at 8:15 am so we could catch our 10 am tee time.

If you’ve ever driven to Cape Cod, you play the stupid game to figure out how much time it’s really going to take. You never know when The Cracken will swallow up the Sagamore Bridge and halt traffic. Even on a Thursday morning in April, the fear exists. Missing the ferry is not an option, so we hit the road from Boston at 5:30 am and I don’t think Jameson needed the brake pedal for the entire drive. We arrived early and found a spot to grab breakfast.

Big shoutout to Old Kings Coffeehouse on Main St. in Hyannis. Delicious breakfast burrito and coffee. I was immediately jealous of Jameson’s donut purchase. Pro move.

Riding the ferry on a Thursday in April was different than a summer Friday. On the way to and from the island, many of the people on the ferry were heading over to work a shift. Work boots and paint-crusted pants outnumbered Patagonia vests and pastels.

It’s an easy cab ride from the ferry landing to Miacomet—maybe 15 minutes—and taxis are aplenty.

The round-trip ferry ticket was $60, and the taxi round-trip was $54 dollars.

Remember, you’re on Nantucket. Things are going to be a touch pricey.

That’s why the off-season price at Miacomet is delicious. I’d go so far as to say even the $145 shoulder season price is worth it.

The course was predictably quiet for a blustery, chilly morning, aside from a few hearty locals. The jovial staff apologized for the northeastern wind, but Jameson and I were unbothered as we rummaged through our bags for tees and balls and tried to make our bodies forget about the long pre-dawn journey with a few quick stretches. We chose the one-up tees that measured about 6,300 yards. We weren’t super interested in 6,900 yards of brisk Miacomet.

It’s immediately clear that Miacomet is built for windy weather. It’s open, allowing crosswinds to blow balls off course but not under trees. Bunkers line some of the holes to keep balls from going too far afield; however, out-of-bounds lurks on a handful of holes, including down the right side of the first hole.

If you would like to loosen up before the round, there is a range and good putting green. Jameson and I skipped the range and instead decided to aim as far left as possible - away from the out-of-bounds down the right - and allow the left-to-right wind to push the ball back into the middle of the fairway.

We were off.