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Stafford, N.Y. – Matthew Haefele’s local course knowledge paid dividends on Tuesday as he fired a 2-under-par 70 to acquire a two-shot lead over the rest of the field at his home course, Stafford C.C., during the 53rd Senior Men’s Championship.
Haefele, who began his round off the back nine, used an eagle at the par-5 seventh hole to finish the final five holes in 3-under-par fashion. He pumped a drive right down the middle to give himself 220 yards to the pin on No. 7. On his next shot, Haefele said, “I hit a smooth hybrid right on the stick and the markers were up there clapping. They said it almost went in the hole.” Haefele ran his second shot just barely over the right edge of the hole, but was able to sink his five foot eagle putt to close at 2-under-par.
To start his round, Haefele rattled off three straight pars before carding bogeys at Nos. 13 and 16. He then went birdie-birdie after the par-4 16th for an even-par finish through nine holes of play. Haefele pulled his tee shot at the par-4 17th into the left rough but flushed an 8-iron from 150 yards pin-high to set himself up with a 15-foot birdie putt which he made. On the short par-4 at No. 18, he drove the left greenside bunker and flopped his second shot out for an eight-foot birdie putt.
Haefele was grateful for starting at the 10th tee as the first two holes at Stafford C.C. can be difficult starting holes. “Those first two holes are usually ones that I take my bogeys on,” says Haefele. “It usually takes me a few holes to get warmed up.” With nine holes underway to get warmed up, Haefele went par-par on the first and second holes. He his lone bogey on the front side came at the par-4 third hole, where he flared his tee shot behind a tree on the right side. Haefele then chipped out and hit a lob wedge to within 15 feet on his third shot before missing his putt to save par.
At the fifth, Haefele hit a driver down the middle but the distance remaining on his next shot made him choose to make it a three-shot approach to reach the green at the 526-yard par-5. “It was a little out of my range at about 270 even though it was a touch downwind,” says Haefele. “With the front pin the way it was, it’s a tough chip if you’re 20-30 yards short. You have to hit it just perfect to get it right up on that shelf and make it stay.” Haefele’s third shot involved a gap wedge that he stuck 15 feet right of the hole which he followed up by burying the putt.
Haefele used a newfound approach to his putting mentality compliments of a fellow participant to drain the uphill birdie putt at the par-5 fifth hole. “I got a little putting lesson from Doc Foster (Alan Foster) last night,” says Haefele. “He told me to stop feeling like I have to make every putt within 10 feet. That’s usually the trouble, you get within 10 feet and you feel like you have to make those close putts. I just rolled them up there and happened to make a couple today.”
The local Stafford member set himself up with numerous birdie opportunities throughout the day. “My short-game was pretty good today,” says Haefele “If I had a wedge or 9-iron, I had birdie putts. But my middle irons weren’t great; thankfully I didn’t have to hit many of them today. Hopefully I can build the confidence in making some putts like I did today. They were in the 15 foot-range which was nice because those are ones you really like to make.”
The next best score of the day was even-par which was tallied by three individuals, including James Burns, who caught the contagious spell of playing well in Haefele’s group. Burns, who plays out of Wild Wood CC, started off the back nine and was 1-under-par as he made the turn following birdies at Nos. 10, 15, and 18. He played more consistently on the front nine as he posted seven straight pars before a bogey at the par-3 eighth hole to finish at even-par for the day. Burns was the only individual to finish at even-par in the morning wave as he battled windy conditions that gave way to sunny skies in the afternoon.
The conditions in the afternoon round brightened up for the second flight of players, but the results occurring on the back nine didn’t seem to change. “The back nine was kind of a rollercoaster,” says Joe Quillinan. He turned in an 18-hole score of even-par, including a colorful scorecard of even-par 36 with four birdies, two bogeys, and a double bogey on the final nine holes. Quillinan continued the day’s trend of ending on a hot streak as he birdied Nos. 15, 17, & 18 to offset a double-bogey at the par-4 16th.
His drive on the par-4 18th found the greenside bunker and landed up against the back wall. “I had to blast it out sideways to the middle of the green and I made it from about 30 feet,” says Quillinan. On the previous hole, Quillinan chipped in from about 15 feet. Quillinan, who plays out of the Country Club of Troy, traded a bogey at the par-4 second hole with a birdie at the sixth to accompany seven pars on the front nine to finish the day at even-par, the best score of the afternoon which remains two strokes behind the leader Haefele.
The third individual to record an even-par 72 on Tuesday was Robert Zeman, who plays out of Sodus Bay Heights GC. Beginning on the back nine, Zeman turned in a scorecard of even par on both the front and back nine. On the par-5 13th, Zeman hit his wedge to 15-feet and made the uphill putt for birdie. He nearly reached the par-5 fifth hole in two strokes as he found the fringe on his approach. From there, Zeman two-putted his way to another birdie. On the next par-5, Zeman’s second shot missed left of the green but he was able to get up and down to make birdie and close out at even par.
Zeman was most pleased with his putting during the opening round and credited his success to his short-game play. “I don’t think I missed anything from inside of seven feet,” says Zeman. “The speed of the greens was a bit on the slow side, but I was stroking the ball well, particularly with the short putts.”
In the super senior division, Stephen Hinman holds a one-shot lead over the field following his 3-over-par 75 effort. Hinman, who plays out of Ravenwood GC, struggled with the back side as he played Nos. 12-17 in 4-over-par style. However, he registered consecutive birdies at the par-4 18th and the first hole to gain some momentum through the turn. Similar to the overall senior field, there is a three-way tie for second-place in the super senior division. Joseph DeVita, Alan Foster, and Bill Kent all carded 76’s and remain a stroke behind Hinman for the super senior lead and six shots back of Haefele for the overall championship.
There will be a cut to the low 50% and ties in each age group following Wednesday’s second round. You can follow results throughout the day from the leaderboard section at the left-hand side of the NYSGA homepage.
By Kevin Solan
NYSGA Media Intern
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