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The Value of Teeing it Up and Fighting the Demons
+ News, Notes, and weekly favorites
Sean Melia
June 27, 2025
Hey Everyone,
Well, summer is officially here after an incredibly hot week that even forced some tournaments to play nine holes on Tuesday. I walked 18 holes at Far Corner in Boxford on Monday. Might have been a mistake… one of the toughest walks I’ve experienced…
Championships are coming thick and fast. The New England Women’s Amateur concluded yesterday, and over the border, the Rhode Island Amateur wraps up tomorrow. Mike Calef and Jake Bauer, two guys with some Bay State connections, will duel in the championship match at Rhode Island CC.
Your support helps me attend events, and I plan to be at GreatHorse the week of July 7 to take in some of the Mass. Amateur.
If you’d like to join the growing community of Bay State Supporters, I am offering a discount on membership until July 1. You can read my course reviews early, get access to extra posts (like this one about junior phenom Miles Russell at the Northeast Amateur), and bonus videos. I will also have some Mass. Amateur preview materials next week about the players and the course.
🥂 Get $15 off the Supporter Tier ($35) for a year. Link here.
🥳 Use code BSG20 for 20% off in the Bay State Shop.
News and Notes
Pro Golf
🚀 Keegan Bradley won the Travellers Championship for the second time in his career last week. He’s back to the grind (and trying to earn a Ryder Cup Spot) in the Rocket Classic at Detroit GC. He shot an opening round 68. Michael Thorbjornsen is a bomber, and this week’s course suits his style. He shot 65. Live Scoring
🏌️♀️ The LPGA is rocking a team event this week. Megan Khang is teamed up with “retired” Lexi Thompson; they shot 67 (-3) and are T2. Alexa Pano and Dani Holmqvist shot even par. Live Scoring
⛰️ The U.S. Senior Open is out at the Broadmoor - a Donald Ross course in Colorado. Jason Caron, Boomer Erick (Boston Golf Club Head Pro), and Doug Clapp (a) are both in the field. Live Scoring.
🌽 The Korn Ferry Tour is in Springfield, Illinois this week. The usual suspects are teeing it up. Live scoring
Amateur Golf
🐺 Joey Lenane of N.C. State shot 71-69 in the North South Championship at Pinehurst to reach match play. He lost 2&1 to Reed Lotter in the first round. Live Scoring.
One cool thing about the North South is that it hosts the men and women at the same time. Morgan Smith and Isabel Brozena both competed but missed the cut for match play.
🏆️ Sean Magarian continued his nice post-graduation golf with a win in the U.S. Challenge Cup Amateur Invitational with rounds of 71-69 (-2) to beat Ricky Stimets and Aidan O’Donovan by a shot at New England CC.
🏆️ Maddie Smith won the New England Women’s Amateur at Haverhill CC in a playoff over Amelie Phung. They both finished even par after 45 holes. The Smith family has claimed three of the last four NE Women’s Amateur trophies. Morgan won in ‘22 and ‘23. Tara Connelly won the Senior Division. Results and here’s the MassGolf recap
Mass Amateur Qualifiers Wrap-Up:
The Mass. Amateur Championship is just 10 days away. It’ll kick off at GreatHorse on July 7. A winner will be crowned on July 11.
Mass. Public Links Qualifiers:
Captains: Ben Jenkins (-2) and 11 others qualify. Results
Garner Muni: Joe Macaulay (-3) and 17 others qualify. Results
Westover GC: Lee Albertson and Galen Fowles (E) and 13 others qualify. Result
Crystal Lake: Due to high temps, they played nine holes and the front and back were separate qualifiers. Results
Plugs
👂️ This podcast with Joe Hooks is from 2021… Hooks is making his PGA Tour debut this week in Detroit. He’s from Detroit and won the Jon Shippin Men’s Invitational last week to earn a spot in this week’s Rocket Classic. he grew up playing Detroit Golf Club, so it’s incredible he’s teeing it up there this week. Here is my interview with him…
👁️ I tried something a bit different on YouTube this week. I love The Golfer’s Journal videos that show footage and shots from someone’s round of golf. So I put together some footage from my round at Baltusrol Upper.
The Value of Teeing it Up and Fighting the Demons
Golf enough and you’ll develop some demons.
It’s impossible to avoid them.
They might live on a particular tee box on your home course.
They might live inside one of your clubs (a putter… perhaps?).
For many, they travel around inside our brains.
Bobby Jones said it best: “Golf is a game that is played on a five-inch course - the distance between your ears.”
It has been nearly a year since I teed it up in an individual event. It was the Mass Mid-Amateur qualifier at Gardner Muni.
I had the shanks.
So it didn’t go great.
I decided to see if I could face those demons this summer and signed up for another qualifier at Gardner. This time it was for the Mass. Public Links.
The splash of bravery I felt as I registered in April became, frankly, a wave of panic this week as my tee time neared. It actually overwhelmed me enough that up until Wednesday night, I nearly sent an email to withdraw.
I had a valid excuse. A kitchen renovation was starting the morning of the qualifier.
Well, it might not have been valid. But it was at least a reason to withdraw.
My golf game has been mediocre this season, and embarrassing myself wasn’t high on the priority list. I had plenty of to hitting horrible hosel rockets last year.
I pictured myself walking off the golf course after four holes because I was so mentally broken. Even as I drove to the course this morning, I wondered what would happen if I just… didn’t show up.
It’s incredible how easily bad thoughts can creep in and then live rent-free in your mind.
I ended up doing what I knew I would do the whole time.
I played.
And I played…. fine.
I knew that if I withdrew I would have regretted it more than showing up and shooting some crappy round of golf that I had conjured up in my mind.
I shot 80. Which was not even close to good enough to qualify. 74 is going to make it.
But I have some good stuff to use to fight the demons the next time they show up. I hit a bunch of good wedge shots and hit zero shanks!
My three goals for the day were:
Have fun
Try my hardest on every shot
Let the result be the result
I did those three things, and while I made two double bogeys and a triple bogey (🫠), I never played consecutive holes over par. Nothing snowballed (but I did make a snowman…), and I feel far better than if I had skipped the round because I was scared.
It’ll make me better in the long run, and I've got to swipe some of the demons away for a while.
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When I’m not golfing…
I’m reading…
📖 I had to put Moby Dick aside for a bit. Just not feeling it. Picked up James by Percival Everett. It’s the “reimagining” of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn told from the perspective of Jim.
👂️ Still listening to Winning on audiobook.
📕 Why Did the Novel-Reading Man Disappear? NYTimes Gift Article I’m right here!
I’m eating…
🥙 We’re in the midst of a kitchen renovation, so there will be a lot of restaurant recs upcoming.
Blueberry Avocado salad from Monument in Charlestown
Charred Broccoli Caesar salad from Waverly in Charlestown
Snickers Ice Cream bar
Tatte’s overnight oats
I’m listening to…
I’m watching…
📺️ We’re struggling to find something new to watch…
🐻 The Bear is back but we haven’t watched the new episodes yet (worth catching up).
👑 I’ve been half watching Downton Abbey as Tiff chips her way through it.
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