So much for practice rounds, mapping the course and planning an attack. Billy Downes just stepped right to the tee and became a wire-to-wire winner. Downes, competing on the North American Pro Golf Tour, had never seen Shaker Hills Golf Club before Monday’s opening round. Yesterday, after 54 holes and a 5-under-par total of 208, Downes became the Shaker Hills Open Champion.
The 41-year-old Downes, of Longmeadow, had played on the NAPGT for several years, often finishing second and third. He had never won a tour event, however.
“It’s a great feeling, finally winning,” said Downes, who carded rounds of 68-68-72 and edged Andrew Svoboda and Michael Harris by only one shot. Downes collected $8,000 for first place, while Svoboda and Harris earned $3,700 apiece… Read the full story in the Telegram & Gazette
Billy Downes’ best finish of his 19-year mini-tour career was second place, nearly 10 years ago, on a tour that has since changed sponsorship. At 41, he has seen and done nearly everything.
After two rounds of the Shaker Hills Open in Harvard, Downes — despite having never laid eyes on the 6,850-yard course — has a two-shot lead over Michael Harris and Dustin Cone, 11 and 17 years his junior, respectively… Read the full story in the Telegram & Gazette
The Boston Herald
Former Duke star Anna Grzebien, of Narragansett, R.I., became the first woman to play on the North American Pro Golf Tour on Tuesday in the Atlantic Open at Plymouth’s Atlantic Country Club.
Grzebien, the 2005 NCAA women’s individual champion, turned pro this summer and won the first professional event she played, the New England Women’s Open.
“This was my first time playing against men,” said the 22-year-old, who shot 79-79-158 and missed the cut while playing the same tees as the men on the 6728-yard, par-72 layout. “I had a great group, which made it a lot easier.”
Grzebien, who is trying to stay sharp while awaiting LPGA Q-School in September, will play as many as four NAPGT events this summer.
Marshfield’s Geoff Sisk, a six-time Mass. Open champ, won the 54-hole tournament with an 11-under 205, edging Dustin Cone, of Bennington, Vt., by a shot.
The Boston Globe
Following through with what she told the Globe two weeks ago, Anna Grzebien played in the North American Pro Golf Tour event this week at Atlantic CC in Plymouth. She shot 79-79 and missed the cut. No, she isn’t trying to follow in Michelle Wie’s footsteps and challenge the men. Grzebien recently completed her collegiate career at Duke, turned pro, and wants to keep her game in shape for this fall’s LPGA Tour Qualifying tournament, so the NAPGT offered that opportunity.
The finale to the tournament was dramatic. Geoff Sisk of Marshfield wiped out a five-shot deficit over the final five holes yesterday and overtook Dustin Cone of Bennington, Vt. Cone, who closed with a 70–206 to finish at 10 under, was seemingly in command until a triple-bogey 8 at the 14th was a followed by a bogey. Sisk went 3 under over his final four holes to shoot 68–205 and earn the $7,000 first-place prize. Clint Deibert of Doylestown, Pa., (67–207) was third, while Andover’s Rob Oppenheim (68–209) was fourth.
The Patriot Ledger
Anna Grzebien put her master plan in motion Tuesday at Atlantic Country Club in Plymouth.
Grzebien, 22, a Duke graduate from Narragansett, R.I., who compiled one of the finest amateur records in the country before turning professional this summer, became the first woman to play in an event on the North American Pro Golf Tour. Her goal wasn’t to be a pioneer when she teed it up for 36 holes Tuesday in the Atlantic Open.
Instead, it was part of her plan to sharpen her game for September’s Qualifying School for the LPGA Tour.
‘‘To play at longer courses with guys is just going to make me try harder and focus a little more. You get out on the women’s courses and you will have 9- and 8-irons instead of 4-irons and 5-woods. It can only help,’’ said Grzebien, who played from the same tees as the men, negotiating the 6,728-yard, par-72 course.
Grzebien triple-bogeyed the par-3 second hole, but managed to post a 79 and when she followed with an afternoon 79 she missed the cut, but she’ll be back.
The Boston Globe
Different strokes: There’s definitely a different landscape for young women who turn pro as opposed to their male counterparts. For the men, there are a number of good minitours even if they turn pro in the spring, after college ends. For Anna Grzebien, it’s a different story, which is why she’s going to enter a few North American Pro Golf Tour stops in New England. “There aren’t a whole lot of places to go,” said the pride of Narragansett, R.I., who recently completed her Duke career by helping the Blue Devils win a third straight NCAA title. She’s not looking to take on the men, just find a place to keep her competitive skills sharp while she awaits a shot at the LPGA Tour qualifying tournament in the fall. Grzebien feels fortunate to have been given a spot in this week’s Futures Tour event in Bloomfield, Conn., but without any status on that circuit, she knows she can’t count on many more of those. She also has the Mass. Women’s Open penciled in (Aug. 13-15), but with few options, those tournaments against the men will have to do.
The Boston Globe
Kyle Gallo equaled the lowest 54-hole score in North American Pro Golf Tour history, 19-under-par 197, on his way to a two-shot victory at the Blackstone Open in Sutton. Having told himself before the tournament that 20 under was possible, Gallo shot 65-67-65 at Blackstone National GC and held off Michael Welch (64-69-66) by two shots to claim the $9,696 first-place prize. How sizzling were those two golfers? Consider the par-5 eighth, on which Gallo made eagle — but didn’t add to his lead, because Welch, his playing competitor, matched it. In the end, each of the 25 golfers who made the cut finished under par. The third of 10 events on the NAPGT schedule will begin Tuesday at Crumpin-Fox GC in Bernardston.
The Hartford Courant
Kyle Gallo of Berlin had an eagle and five birdies in a 7-under-par 65 that gave him a two-stroke victory Tuesday in the North American Pro Golf Tour’s Blackstone Open at Blackstone National Golf Club in Sutton, Mass. Gallo, a three-time Connecticut Open champion, did not make a bogey in 54 holes and finished at 19-under 197, tying the lowest three-round score in tour history. “I just kept 20 under in mind all day, and that’s what was pushing me,” Gallo said after winning $9,696. “I played probably the best golf I’ve played in a long time. Michael Welch of Quincy, Mass., shot 66 to finish second at 201. Steve Sokol of Oxford (70-204) tied for fourth.
Former Nationwide Tour player Kyle Gallo closed with a brilliant 7-under-par 65 to win the North American Pro Golf Tour’s Blackstone Open yesterday at Blackstone National Golf Club.
“It was a very good week, and I’m very happy,” Gallo said, wiping away perspiration after completing his final round played in very humid weather.
With rounds of 65-67-65 at the par-72 Blackstone layout, Gallo, of Berlin, Conn., finished at 19-under par, tying the NAPGT record low tournament total. With the victory, the 32-year-old Gallo earned $9,696. …Read the full story in the Telegram & Gazette
Twelve birdies in 36 holes. Now that’s a magical day at the golf course.
For former Nationwide Tour player Kyle Gallo, Blackstone National Golf Club became his Magic Kingdom yesterday. Carding superb rounds of 65-67, Gallo jumped into the lead in the North American Pro Golf Tour’s Blackstone Open.
With his 12-under 132 total, the 32-year-old Gallo, from Berlin, Conn., leads by a shot over Michael Welch (64-69) and Dustin Cone (66-67) entering today’s final round. Gallo and Welch will tee off at 8:36 a.m. in the last pairing.
The 54-hole tournament, one of 10 events on this summer’s NAPGT schedule, carries a purse of $53,865 and a first-place check of $9,696…Read the full story in the Telegram & Gazette
Geoff Sisk will defend his title in the North American Pro Golf Tour Blackstone Open beginning tomorrow at Blackstone National Golf Club in Sutton.
Sisk shot 14 under for 54 holes last year at Blackstone. Eric Cormier, a former Red Sox farmhand who grew up in Milford and plays out of Blackstone, will be among the field of 70 golfers who will play 36 holes tomorrow. The top 40 percent and ties will play the final 18 holes on Tuesday. Of the $60,000 purse, $10,000 will go to the winner.
Sisk won his sixth Massachusetts Open last month, and he has been the leading money winner on the NAPGT in four of its first six years.
The NAPGT was known as the New England Pro Golf Tour and Cleveland Golf Tour in previous years…Read the full story in the Telegram & Gazette
Larchmont resident Andrew Svoboda, who began the third round of the North American Pro Golf Tour’s Atkinson (N.H.) Open three shots behind the leader, shot a 66 in the final round, clinching the victory after a one-hole playoff with Matthew Donovan…Read the full story at the The Journal News
Despite an offseason makeover that transformed the New England Pro Golf Tour into the North American Pro Golf Tour, Pittsfield’s Matt Donovan experienced the same frustration during the final round of yesterday’s season-opening event at Atkinson Country Club that has plagued him since he began paying the regional tour in 2001….Read the full story at The Berkshire Eagle
The Providence Journal
Bigger is not necessarily better, at least not when it comes to golf. In the case of New England’s own mini-tour, the attempt to grow bigger almost brought disaster.The tour, first called the New England Pro Tour and then the Cleveland Tour, has been a rousing success in many ways for the last few years. It has provided an opportunity for young pros to compete at a high level, play excellent courses and develop their games. It attracted talent not only from New England but from around the country, as well, and even internationally.
But a funny thing happened last year. The tour was bought by a national group that planned to merge a number of such tours. The idea sounded reasonable. That is, to make everything bigger and better for everyone.
It turns out it was not such a good idea. The company that bought the tour, as well as several others, could not handle expansion. It went out of business.
It looked as if area players like Joey Iaciofano, Jeff Dantas, Greg Sampson, Mike Carbone and Jim Salinetti, as well as more than 100 others, would have to look elsewhere in their hopes of furthering their careers. A number of players made financial commitments to take part on the Tarheel, Gateway or Hooters Tours.
The good news is that Brian Hebb, the Cape Cod real estate developer who was the founder and owner of the New England Tour, made a last-minute decision to start over again.
The tour will have a new name, the North American Pro Golf Tour, but will play a similar 10-event schedule to what has been held in the past.
The tour will begin next month in Atkinson, N.H., have one event in Quebec and center in Massachusetts. Six events will be held in the Bay State, including the Tour Championship Sept. 19-21 at LeBarron Hills in Lakeville.
Many of those involved in running the tour in the past are returning. In addition to Hebb they include Matt Hoeske and Alan Stewart. Hoeske was the former director of operations for the tour and Stewart, a former pro himself, also has worked for the tour. They will be co-directors of the new organization.
“We created a group called Northeast Sports that will manage the tour,’’ Hoeske said.
Players put up the purse money paying $99 per event for multiple events, $1, 025 for individual tournaments.
“We’re trying to get back to where we were two years ago when we had 100 to 120 players in every event,’’ Hoeske said. “It’s moving along. We don’t have as many players right now because we launched it so late. But even some of the players who have committed to other tours like the Gateway and Tarheel, those tours have breaks in the summer so they are telling us they plan to come back and take part in some events.
“Our goal this year is to have 70 to 90 players at every event,’’ he went on. “We’re getting a lot of calls in the last three weeks from players wanting to sign up for one, two, three or four events.’’
About 60 percent of those who have signed up are veterans from previous years, 40 percent newcomers, Hoeske said. Geoff Sisk of Marshfield, Mass., who has been the dominant player on the tour, is among those who will return.
Iaciofano and Sampson both said this past week at U.S. Open qualifying that they plan to take part, although perhaps not on a full-time basis.
“I’m going to wait and see how it develops,’’ Iaciofano said.
The Boston Globe covers the announcement of the new NAPGT and Brian Hebb as the President.
Different name, same game. That pretty much sums up the situation for minitour enthusiasts in New England, many no doubt relieved to hear they’ll again have a place to play this summer.
Brian Hebb of Littleton is again involved in this developmental circuit, which will go by the name of North American Pro Golf Tour. Matt Hoeske and Alan Stewart have formed the Northeast Sports Management Group and they will manage all aspects of the NAPGT, said Hebb, who will serve as president. The tour has a website (naprogolftour.com) and a 10-tournament schedule, with only two sites to be determined.
“I wasn’t going to do it, but I decided at the last minute that I wanted to,” said Hebb, who six years ago formed the New England Pro Golf Tour.
In the world of minitours, things are often in turmoil, but Hebb and Co. for several summers ran an operation that earned rave reviews from players, who were signed up 120 strong for the 2006 season. That is when things began to change. Hebb sold his interest to Greens Worldwide of Hertford, N.C., a group that had ambitious plans to purchase a string of developmental tours that would be used as a feeder system into the US Pro Golf Tour, in theory a rival to the Nationwide Tour. Hebb still oversaw the operations, but he began to have doubts about Greens Worldwide. Players, too, grew skeptical, and last fall their fears were realized. Greens Worldwide CEO Thomas Kidd claims he fired Hebb, who insists he resigned out of frustration over the direction in which things were going. (That legal battle is still ongoing, but it remains to be seen how Kidd’s departure — he’s now CEO of Lextra Management Group, Inc. — will affect those proceedings. Hebb said he and William Conwell, the interim CEO of Greens Worldwide, “have had an open dialogue” regarding the suits.)
In the meantime, Hebb, who said he did not have a noncompete clause with Greens Worldwide, has teamed with Hoeske and Stewart to form the NAPGT, and many of the same names are expected back. “It’s good news, from my perspective,” said Geoff Sisk of Marshfield, consistently the tour’s best player. “I know it’s kind of late in the game to be getting this going, but they’re doing the best they can to make sure players don’t get shut out.” The NAPGT schedule will commence June 6-8 at the Atkinson Resort in Atkinson, N.H.
Hebb welcomes his new venture into the pro golf tour industry
Fitchburg, MA, Feb. 13 /PRNewswire/ — The North American Pro Golf Tour, Inc. (NAPGT) announced that Brian Hebb has been named tour president.
Hebb is the former owner and president of the New England Pro Golf Tour (NEPGT) and Cleveland Golf Tour (CGT). Hebb has spent time over the past six years owning and organizing professional golf tours. Hebb says” I am pleased to continue the work that I started in 2001 with developmental golf. NAPGT will focus on developing players, cultivating sponsorship relationships and building a strong brand name for the NAPGT. We will also be involved with spear heading a new affiliation to help organize and protect developmental golf throughout the United States. ”
Hebb brings a wealth of knowledge to the North American Pro Golf Tour. He founded NEPGT in 2001 and grew the tour to 120 players with purses over $1.3 Million before his departure from NEPGT in 2006. Former NEPGT tour players with whom Hebb helped to develop include 2005 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year Sean O’Hair, Champions Tour player Rick Karbowski and a host of other players now on the Nationwide Tour, Asian Tour and many other Tours.
About the North American Pro Golf Tour
The North American Professional Golf Tour (NAPGT) is a developmental tour, managed by the Northeast Sports Management Group (NESMG). The NAPGT has scheduled 10 events throughout the Northeast beginning June 2007 and running through September 2007. Each event will consist of 54-hole stroke play tournament. After 36 holes of play, the field will be cut to the low 40% and ties. The NAPGT’s mission is to provide the venues, competition and experience that will allow the players to develop and hone their skills to the point where they may attain the ultimate goal of making, competing and succeeding on the PGA tour.
About Northeast Sports Management Group
The Northeast Sports Management Group was created by Matthew Hoeske and Alan Stewart. The NESMG will manage all aspects of the NAPGT, including all of the day-to-day operations. NESMG has over 11 years of experience in administering professional tournaments, charity events and other sporting events. The NESMG goal is to forge a long and successful relationship with the North American Pro Golf Tour.Contacts:
Tour Office:
North American Pro Golf Tour
PO BOX 7468
Fitchburg, MA 01420
Voice: 978.342.1769
Fax: 978.343.0776
http://www.naprogolftour.com/Tour Director:
Matt Hoeske
Direct: 978.973.1779
Operations Director:
Alan Stewart
Direct: 603.566.9844
