Hey Everyone,

I returned home this evening from two days at Cranberry Valley in Harwich, Mass. I had a blast taking photos and videos of the course, clubhouse, and restaurant, and I'm looking forward to sharing what I captured. On the way down to Harwich, I played Plymouth CC. The course was dialed in for The Hornblower, which starts on Friday and ends on Saturday.

I wrote up a preview that includes some free writing about the event and its history. Premium Subscribers can read about nine players to watch, some fun groups to follow, and five holes that will play a significant role in deciding the tournament.

• Hornblower Preview

• Hornblower Live Scoring and Tee Times

News and Notes

Pro Golf

🧀 At Erin Hills in Wisconsin, Megan Khang shot a 75 (+5) in the opening round of the U.S. Women’s Open. She is T122 and will need an excellent round to stick around for the weekend. Live scoring

🏌️ Keegan Bradley is T4 after the first round of The Memorial at Muirfield in Dublin, Ohio. This Ryder Cup stuff is getting more complicated with every good round he plays and every poor round guys like on the fringe play. Live Scoring

🌽 Our typical group is teeing it up on the Korn Ferry Tour’s UNC Health Championship presented by STITCH. What a name!

College Golf

⚓️ Ryan Downes shot 73-75-70-73 to finish T32 in the NCAA National Championship. An outstanding end to a strong freshman year. John Broderick shot 76-78-80-80 and finished T80. Both Downes and Broderick will play a big role next year at Vanderbilt as a few players graduate, including Gordon Sargent whose form is a complete mystery right now.

🌊 Morgan Smith and Isabel Brozena are playing in the Sea Island Women’s Amateur in Georgia. In the first round on Thursday, Smith shot 71, and Brozena shot 73. The 54-hole tournament will end on Saturday.

🏆️ Ben James (Milford, Conn.) helped the University of Virginia reach the NCAA National Championship match. He went 3-0 in match play, but the team lost to Oklahoma State. Is he from Massachusetts? No. But I’m comfortable giving him a shoutout.

Plugs

🚘️ I stayed outside of 495 for my YouTube video this week. This time we’re talking about courses in the $50-80 range. This is a big category in that part of the state. Yes, another ridiculous thumbnail…

U.S. Open Final Qualifying

Golf’s Longest Day is this Monday, June 2. It describes the 36-hole U.S. Open Qualifiers held throughout the country to determine the final spots in this year’s national championship.

In 2022, I spent the day at Springfield CC in Springfield, Ohio, watching players grind for a chance to compete at The Country Club. It was an incredible experience watching PGA Tour pros and college students compete side-by-side. Even Danny Woodhead, former New England Patriot, was in the field.

This year, five players with Massachusetts connections will play for a chance to reach the U.S. Open. While every U.S. Open is special, specific venues carry some extra cache, and Oakmont CC is one of them.

Let’s meet the Massachusetts players ready to tee it up on Monday:

Rich Berberian - Hookset, N.H.

Tee time: 7:10 am at Canoe Brook (Summit, N.J.) - Live Scoring

The Vesper CC (Tyngsborough, Mass.) Director of Instruction is a decorated player. He has won the New England Section Championship title five times (2014, 2015, 2018, 2021, 2023), including a record-setting 59 in the first round of the 2023 championship (not a typo…). He shot a 68 at Kirkbrae CC (Lincoln, RI) to qualify.

Kevin Blaser (a) - Somerset, Mass.

Tee time: 8:00 am at Canoe Brook (Summit, N.J.)

The 2022 Rhode Island Amateur champion competes in both the Bay State and Ocean State. He won the 2025 Seagulls with partner Ricky Stimets. He also made a run with Stimets in the 2023 Mass. Four-Ball and finished runner-up. In 2021, Blaser won the Cape Cod Amateur. Last year, he dealt with some injuries and is now back in form.

Davis Chatfield - Attleboro, Mass.

Tee Time: 7:35 am @ Duke University Golf Course (Durham, N.C.) - Live Scoring

Chatfield is currently 11th on the Korn Ferry Tour points list. He’s in his third year as a pro since graduating from Notre Dame. Throughout the season, he has made nine cuts in 12 appearances with four top tens and a runner-up in the Chile Classic.

Christian Emmerich (a) - Swampscott, Mass.

Tee time: 8:00 am at Canoe Brook (Summit, N.J.)

Emmerich qualified for the U.S. Open Final Qualifying with a 71 at GreatHorse. He also needed to survive a five-for-three playoff. The recent Boston College MBA graduate played in the 2002 U.S. Amateur at Ridgewood. He also made some headlines when he and Holy Cross teammate Owen Egan both made an albatross on the same hole in the same group at Blackstone National in 2022.

Peter French - Franklin, Mass.

Tee Time: 8:39 am @ Emerald Dunes Golf Club (West Palm Beach, Mass.) - Live Scoring

French was the medalist at GreatHorse with a 70. The professional had both hips replaced a year ago and just started playing again in January. French has been grinding on mini tours since turning pro in 2016 after graduating from Johnson and Wales. MassGolf has a full recap from GreatHorse.

Cooper Griffin (a) - Weston, Mass.

Tee time: 8:30 am at Canoe Brook (Summit, N.J.)

Griffin can go low. At his home course, Woodland Golf Club, he shot a 6-under 65—the lowest final-round score in the tournament's history—finishing tied for third last year. He also fired an opening round 65 at the 2024 Hornblower. He shot a 71 at Crumpin Fox to qualify for The Longest Day.

Jimmy Hervol - Hopkinton, Mass.

Tee time: 8:35 am @ Woodmont Country Club (Rockville, Maryland) - Live Scoring

Hervol shot a 68 at Kirkbrae CC (Lincoln, RI) to grab one of five available spots. He has played five events on the PGA Tour Americas, making two cuts. This is what makes the U.S. Open so special, a great day on Monday could open a lot of doors for Hervol. He turned pro in 2019, a tough time to do so with COVID impacting the professional spots. He was a star at UConn and has won the Mass. Junior Championship (2015) and Mass. Four-Ball (2018).

Rob Oppenheim - North Andover, Mass.

Tee time: 7:00 am at Canoe Brook (Summit, N.J.)

Oppenheim has played 104 PGA Tour events and 376 Korn Ferry Tour events in his 15 year career. He won the 2015 Air Capital Classic on the Korn Ferry Tour. This year, he’s made 10 of 11 cuts on the KFT, and his best finish is a T7 in Argentina.

Michael Thorbjornsen - Wellesley, Mass.

Tee time: 7:20 am at Canoe Brook (Summit, N.J.)

The PGA Tour Rookie has steadied the ship after a tough opening stretch as a professional this winter. He’s made the cut in his last five events and has a T2 finish in the Corales Punta Cana and a T4 in the Zurich Classic, where he teamed up with Stanford teammate Karl Vilips. Injuries have been an issue for Thorbjornsen, and he withdrew from the Charles Schaub last week before the tournament started. He has qualified for the U.S. Open at Canoe Brook twice, first in 2022 and then in 2023, he missed the cut in both those championships. He also played in the U.S. Open in 2019 at Pebble Beach after winning the 2018 U.S. Junior Amateur and finished 72nd.

Bay State adjacent players:

• Ben James (a) (Milford, Conn.) - 8:20 am @ Canoe Brook

• Will Lodge (Darien, Conn.) - 8:20 am @ Canoe Brook

• Paul Pastore - (Stamford, Conn.) - 7:18 am @ Emerald Dunes Golf Club

• Bryson Richards - (Plainfield, Vermont) - 7:20 am @ Canoe Brook

• Robby Rosati (a) - (Stratford, Conn.) - 7:20 am @ Canoe Brook

• Bradford Tilley (a) - (Easton, Conn.) - 8:10 am @ Canoe Brook

• Max Theodorakis - (Danbury, Conn.) - 8:00 am @ Canoe Brook

• John Vanderlaan (Southbury, Conn.) - 9:05 am @ Duke University

• Michael Walsh (a) (Shelburne, Vt.) - 8:10 @ Canoe Brook

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When I’m not golfing…

I’m reading…

• I always worry I might be yelled at for sneaking into a lawn to grab a golf ball. I’ve never imagined having some shoot real life bullets at me! Jupiter man charged with attempted murder after opening fire on golfers from his back patio (Golf Digest)

• The best soccer player in the world might be a 17-year-old Spaniard. He just inked a contract that could earn him $40 million… a year. The Athletic digs into how it happened.

• Go subscribe to James Clear’s 3-2-1 Newsletter. It’s the best.

• This was a fun running diary in the NYTimes of the National Spelling Bee, which is 100 years old this year!

I’m listening to…

• This Indie Rock Road Trip playlist that the robots generated over at Spotify kinda nailed it… I felt seen.

I’m eating…

• Had a delicious grilled cheese sandwich at Cranberry Valley today.

• I discovered a donut place in Yarmouth called Hole in One. Can you believe it? Incredible donuts. On a similar note, I eat too many donuts during the summer….

• Woods Hill Table in Concord, Mass. has dynamite French fries.

• Zo Greek’s chicken skewers and salad made me feel better about eating donuts and French fries…

I’m watching…

• We started watching Studio on Apple TV. Holy hell, it's stress-inducing. It’s like someone took Curb Your Enthusiam and turned it up to a 13.

Know someone who might enjoy this newsletter… send it along to them!

Bay State Archives

• A list of golf courses open in the winter.

• Bay State Picks: Best courses you can walk for less than $60.

• Bay State Picks: Nine-hole courses to play before or after work

• Bay State Picks: 18 public golf that is worth your time

• Bay State Picks: Easy 18-hole public walks

• Bay State Deep Dive: Myopia Hunt Club

   

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