Kartrude rallies to win Mass Open
Double bogey at 18th costs amateur Naumec
Michael Kartrude prevented pro day at Longmeadow Country Club from becoming an amateur showcase.
The mini-tour player from West Palm Beach, Florida, took his first lead of the round with a par on the 18th hole to capture the 112th Massachusetts Open on the immaculate par-70 track on a weather-perfect Friday afternoon.
Kartrude finished the round at 4-under 66 and 10 under for the tournament with a score of 200 after 54 holes. Kartrude spent the round chasing local amateurs Matt Naumec ( Wilbraham) and Ethan Whitney ( Westminster).
Naumec, who played collegiately at Boston College, was the low amateur at 9-under with a score of 201. Kartrude scored his second victory as a pro in New England and claimed the winning purse of $15,000 dollars.
“I am so excited,” said Kartrude. “I have a few other pro wins but this is my biggest for sure and I won the New Hampshire Open in 2018.
“I just love getting to a new spot and I love golf. Coming to a new course, I just love the challenge of it and pick apart the course the way you see it.”
Naumec held a one-stroke lead going into 18, but his tee shot veered hard left and took a bad lie in the deep rough. Naumec took a penalty stroke and ended up threeputting for double bogey. Naumec missed his chance to be the fourth amateur to win the Mass Open and first since Kevin Johnson in 1987.
“We had a great gameplan, fairways, greens and putts falling,” said Naumec, a former pro who was reinstated as an amateur last February. “It was that way until one little mishap hole, but that’s
golf and the shot just happened to be at a bad time.”
Whitney began the round at 9 under, one stroke ahead of Naumec and three up on Kartrude. Whitney, who just wrapped up his freshman year at Temple, started strong with birdie on No. 2 that he secured with a 35-foot putt. Whitney went to 11 under with a birdie at the third, but his round began to unravel with a double bogey at the seventh and a bogey on No. 8.
Kartrude made inroads against
his amateur companions on the front nine with three birdies and a bogey. Kartrude made a 12-footer for birdie at the ninth to make the turn tied with Whitney at 8 under.
Naumec struggled early with a bogey on No. 2 and missed makeable birdie putts on the third and fifth holes. He reversed course with birdies at the sixth and ninth to take the lead at 9 under at the turn.
The troika began the back nine with birdies on No. 10, a relatively benign 483-yard, par 5 lay
out. Naumec had recorded eagles there in the opening two rounds. Naumec gained another degree of separation with birdie at the 11th, his third straight and fifth on the match to go 11 under and up two strokes on the field.
“The turnaround was on the 10th hole and I had success on that hole for the week now,” said Naumec. “It felt great to have that lead and I think I did a good job, but one bad hole on one bad swing led to a double on the last.”