14-year-old Michael Thorbjornsen holds Ouimet Memorial lead
Michael Thorbjornsen
(MGA/David Colt Photography)
HYANNISPORT, MA (July 27, 2016) -- Fourteen-year-
old
Michael Thorbjornsen of Nashawtuc Country Club,
showed again that he can drive, chip and putt as he
notched five birdies and an eagle enroute to a 66 and
the first-round lead in the 49th Francis Ouimet
Memorial
Tournament at Hyannisport Club on Wednesday.
Earlier
in the year, the young sensation won the national
Drive,
Chip and Putt competition at Augusta National Golf
Club. Hyannisport played at 6,341 yards and to a par
of
36-35-71. The 54-hole amateur invitational continues
today (Thursday) at Oyster Harbors Club and
concludes
on Friday at Woodland Golf Club.
Thorbjornsen, who will be entering his freshman
year at Wellesley High School, needed only 26 putts
on
the perfectly manicured seaside links. He played the
6th
through 9th holes in four-under.
Trailing him at four-under par 67, are a quartet of
players including five-time OMT champion Frank
Vana,
Jr. of Andover Country Club, two-time winner Matt
Parziale of Thorny Lea Golf Club, 2015 MGA Junior
Amateur champion Jimmy Hervol of Hopkinton
Country
Club, and Jason Short of Marlborough Country Club.
In the Eddie Lowery (Senior) Division, Don
Reycroft
of LeBaron Hills Country Club, the 2015 MGA Senior
Champ, looked to add another title with a two-under
par
69 to lead by two. “I made every putt I had to
make,”
he summarized. Joe Walker, of Dennis Pines Golf
Course,
birdied the last two holes to post even-par 71.
Walker
was runner-up in 2013. Three were tied for third at
72.
In that group are two-time defending champ Kevin
Carey, of Dennis Pines Golf Course, who is looking to
become the first to win the Ouimet senior three
times,
2006 Ouimet Senior champ Doug Crawford of The
International, and Dave Houghton of Captains Golf
Course.
ABOUT THE Francis Ouimet Memorial
This 54-hole stroke play tournament honors
Francis Ouimet, considered America's First
Golf
Hero and one of the most important figures in
the history of golf. His victory in the 1913
U.S. Open in a stunning playoff upset of
Harry Vardon and Ted Ray is viewed as the
turning point in American Golf. The event, first
played in 1968, one year
after Ouimet's death, is held at
three top Boston-area courses, with the final round
always taking place at the 6,721 yard Woodland Golf
Club (Mr.
Ouimet's home course). The most notable winner to
date is Brad Faxon,
who captured the 1980 event. There are three
divisions: Men, Women, and Senior.
View Complete Tournament Information