Looking to get another crack at the Massachusetts Amateur Golf Championship, Northfield’s Jesse Morgan did more than enough on Monday.
The reigning club champion at Northfield Golf Club fired a 1-over round of 72 at Monday’s qualifier at Stockbridge Golf Club, finishing alone in second place to punch a ticket to next month’s 112th Massachusetts Amateur Championship.
The event will be played July 13-17 on two courses — The Kittansett Club in Marion and The Bay Club at Mattapoisett.
“I’ve played enough of these qualifiers where I feel pretty comfortable out there,” said Morgan, who snagged one of five qualifying spots at Monday’s tournament. “I know how to navigate the waters without putting too much pressure on myself. Just try and hit a lot of greens in regulation and fairways. I hit a lot of greens which helped, and the few greens that I did miss, I was able to get up and down pretty well.”
Morgan, who graduated from Williston-Northampton in 2001 and played collegiately at Lafeyette College (Penn.), finished three shots back of Springfield Country Club’s Jarrod Goss, who carded a 2-under 69. Morgan finished three strokes clear of the cut line to qualify for the Mass. Am, as Michael Walsh (3-over), Trevor Lopez (4-over) and Robert Linn (4-over) earned the other three qualifying spots.
Morgan missed the cut at last year’s qualifier held at Wahconah Country Club by just one shot. He’s made multiple appearances at the Mass. Am, but said his goal is to break through this summer and reach the match play portion of the tournament for the first time.
“I’m happy to get through and I’m really looking forward to playing Kittansett,” he said.
Morgan made the turn at 1-under in Monday’s round, recording birdies at Nos. 3 and 5 to go with a bogey at No. 6.
He got it to 2-under thanks to a birdie on No. 15, but made things interesting with three straight bogeys to close out his round. Before his final chip on 18, he said he checked the leaderboard to make sure he didn’t need to hole out for a spot in the top five.
“Sometimes you try and get in the clubhouse too early so you start steering the ball a bit, get out of your routine,” he admitted. “There were some tired swings at the end. But I actually made a good bogey save on 18. I hit a poor tee shot but managed to make a 7-footer for bogey.”
Morgan was plenty familiar with the track at Stockbridge, and he said he’s played in multiple qualifying events there over the past few years.
“The course suits my game nicely, which is why I went there instead of Springfield (for qualifying),” he said, referring to Springfield CC’s Mass. Am qualifier set for next week. “It’s one of those old, quirky kind of courses that I enjoy. I like trying to navigate a place like that. The greens were perfect today, though. Couldn’t blame any missed putts on anything else but operator error.”
With golf courses closed early in the spring due to COVID-19, Morgan said he’s still working his way back into form. Practice facilities only reopened recently, and he said he likes to spend time on the range and around the practice green to hone his craft.
“I do chip and putt a lot, put my headphones on and hit 500 chips,” he said. “That’s kind of therapeutic for me. There’s some rust with the short game because I haven’t had many chances to do that. But I was happy today that I could make enough putts to get in.”
Monday marked the first day that the Massachusetts Golf Association (MGA) held tournaments and qualifiers in 2020. Morgan said despite the extra safety measures put into place, it more or less felt like a normal golf event.
“Everyone was pretty courteous and kept their distance,” he said. “The weird thing was I kept score on my phone for the group. The USGA app that they made for scoring is really awesome and simple to use. Other than that, people were able to hit some putts and use the range if they wanted to beforehand, and everyone was wearing masks there.”
With a successful first outing now behind him, Morgan said he’s got his eyes set on new territory later this summer.
“The Mass. Am format is so great and the courses that you get to play are definitely ones I wouldn’t normally get a chance to so it’s always number one on the list of tournaments I want to get into,” he said. “I’ve missed match play there by one stroke in the past. So that’s the goal, getting there would be a nice thing to add to the repertoire.”