Quechee
Mother Nature wiped out the 2017 edition of the 36-hole tournament at the Quechee Club with two days of wet weather. Forecasts are much more favorable for this week’s event, which the field of 84 professionals and amateurs will start today at 8 a.m. on Quechee’s Highland course.
Jeff Curl, of Birmingham, Ala., won the last New England Open at Quechee two years ago with a 10-under-par 134 that topped Maine amateur Matt Hutchins and New Hampshire pro Rich Berberian by three shots. Curl isn’t in this week’s field, but a number of familiar faces are.
That includes Kimball Union Academy resident Evan Russell, the former Grantham resident who turned professional the week before the 2016 New England Open. He tied for sixth place at that event, six shots behind Curl, and has since been working on his professional playing resume.
Russell spent the 2017 campaign playing 10 events and making four cuts on the PGA Canadian Tour. He’s spent much of this season competing on the Minor League Golf Tour, winning one event in mid-January and finishing runner-up in two others.
Other top pros include former St. Johnsbury Academy golfer Alex Rainville and ex-University of Delaware competitor Braden Shattuck, who shared fifth place at last week’s Cape Cod Open. Berberian, a regular on the state open circuit, is also set to go after a first New England Open victory.
Hutchins is back to front an amateur contingent that includes reining Vermont Amateur champ Drake Hull (Rutland) and recent Trinity College graduate and former Hanover High standout Nate Choukas, who tied for ninth at Quechee two years ago.
The tournament wraps up on Wednesday.