The 63-year old Kearney carded a 3-over 74 Wednesday and finished with a two-day, 36-hole score of even-par 142, one stroke ahead of runner-up Rich Parker, the Dartmouth College men’s golf coach.
“As you know with this game, you can never own it, you can only rent it so I’m renting it for a couple weeks,” in reference to his recent play, which also included a runner-up finish last week at the Massachusetts Mid-Amateur Championship.
Paired in the final grouping with two-time reigning champion Phil Pleat, of New Hampshire, and Vermont’s Gary Shover, who both finished the first round of the championship Tuesday at even-par 71, Kearney opened play with a birdie and five pars to set the tone for the remainder of his round – key shots that proved to be the difference maker when cards were signed at the end of the day.
“I was feeling good,” said Kearney about his start. “I hit a good tee shot on four and had a little cut 9-iron to about eight feet and it was an easy downhill putt that I made. That was a good one. [I had a] good par on five and a pretty good par on six. I had a putt for birdie on six then seven was a horror show. Then I bounced back and I kind of got lucky making a long putt on 17. That’s what you have to do to win.”
After rebounding from his one triple of the day on the seventh hole, much like he did the day before with his lone triple on the sixth hole, Kearney hit it close on nine and despite missing the putt, was able to still card a par and had a similar approach on 10 that had the same result.
“On 11, that is the uphill par 4, I hit a good 9-iron to the back of the green and had about a 20-footer and made it,” said Kearney. “I had a couple of bad tee shots on 12 and 13, but got up and down with a 7-iron from 150 for par on 13 and was able to stabilize the round.”
On the 17th hole, he saved what he called a wrong club choice by sinking a 40-foot putt to save bogey and sit at even par with one hole remaining, holding a one-stroke lead.
One the final hole, knowing he had to make par to avoid a potential playoff with Parker, he was on the green in two and after just missing the 8-foot birdie putt, knocked in the putt from within inches to capture the 21st Senior Amateur title and add his name to the list of the top competitors from across New England to hoist the NEGA Senior Amateur title.
“I figured someone might shoot a good round. When I found out that Rich Parker shot a 1-over, I hit a good wedge and just lagged the putt,” added Kearney.
In the Super-Senior Division, Dennis, Mass., resident Dave Houghton, the 2015 New England Senior Amateur champion, rebounded from a 7-over 78 mark in his first round Tuesday with a 2-under 69 mark Wednesday to capture his second super senior title in the annual event. With his victory, he also becomes only the third competitor since the Super Senior Division was added in 2008 to win both a New England Senior Amateur title and a New England Super Senior title, joining the likes of Shawn McLoughlin and Paul Quigley.
His two-round score of 5-over 147 bested runner-up Ken Nilson, of New Hampshire, by one stroke while edging Tuesday co-leader Bill Everett, also of New Hampshire, by three strokes.
“I’m 74 years old, so I’m just happy to get up and play and keep competing and I enjoy that so much,” said Houghton. “It’s fun to play against all these guys. They’re friends and tough competitors, and it’s good to get out there and go at it.”
With his New England Senior Amateur victory in 2015, at age 71 nonetheless, Houghton was the second competitor only to McLoughlin to win both titles in the same year and is the second person to win multiple super senior titles.
Coming off a 7-over 77 performance following the first round on Tuesday, 10 strokes behind day-one leader Jack Kearney, Houghton was able to take advantage of all shots he left out on the course yesterday in his effort Wednesday.
“Today, the putting went right. I made all the putts I missed yesterday and I could see the lines today,” explained Houghton. “I hit some solid shots. The wind came up and it felt more like Cape Cod to me. There were some tough conditions.
“I had some great playing partners that kept everything light and moving and I was hitting some shots that were solid. I only had to scramble a couple times and made a couple three and four putters for par to keep it going. It was just a good solid round.”