While fireworks, barbecues, and beach time were standard fare for most of us New Englanders over the long Fourth of July weekend, for a half-dozen Mass Golf competitors the order of business called for international travel, fighting jet lag, and prepping for pure links golf of the most flavorful variety.
Sue Curtin of Westwood, Mass., Pam Kuong of Wellesley Hills, Mass., Natalie Galligan of Pocasset, Mass., Keith Smith of Franklin Mass., Doug Clapp of Walpole, Mass., and Roger Hoit, a Hingham, Mass., native who lives in New Jersey but has been a member for years at Eastward Ho! in Chatham, Mass., are all entered in the R&A Senior Amateur Championships.
That in itself is a festive occasion of the highest order, given that Scotland is the home of golf. But when you add in this year’s locale – Royal Dornoch, some 190 miles north of St. Andrews – you’d have to say these local golfers have chosen a special year to give the R&A Amateur Championship a try.