GRANBY – James Imai kept the golf course in front of him and the rest of the field behind him to win the 40th Massachusetts Amateur Public Links Championship.
The Northwestern junior from Brookline carded his second straight bogey-free round Wednesday at Westover Municipal Golf Course, shooting a 1-under 69 in the second round to finish 10 shots under par. He set the course record with a 65 on Tuesday to give himself breathing room to work with.
“To put two rounds together, finally bogey-free, is awesome. It’s great to see hard work turn into results,” Imai said. “I did a great job of keeping it in front of me, making sure I had a shot at the green. That’s kind of key here. The fairways are really tight. It’s gonna take a lot to hit every one of them. You’re going to have to play out of the rough, and I did that this week.”
Imai was paired with defending champion Bill Drohen in the final group, and Drohen didn’t make it easy on him. The veteran drained a birdie putt on the 12th hole after an Imai par to pull within two strokes. Then he drained a 25-foot birdie putt on the par 3 13th to move within one shot.
Just for a moment, though.
Imai answered with a 15-foot birdie putt to restore his two-shot lead.
“It took a little wind out of my sails at that point,” Drohen said.
Drohen played the final five holes at 1-over after a bogey on No. 16 following an errant tee shot. Imai closed out even par to secure the title by three strokes.
“I knew from his record he was going to make it close and make me play my best and earn it. He pushed me, and hopefully I pushed him as well,” Imai said of Drohen. “I think what I’ve learned is to stick to how I play golf. Whether that’s good enough, fate will decide. I did a good job sticking to my process and what worked this week.”
Drohen shot a 1-under 69 as well to amass a two-day total of 137. Arthur Zelmati carded Wednesday’s lowest round (68) to tie Drohen for second. He used four birdies on the back nine to catch up.
The top 20 finishers received exemptions to next year’s tournament at Sandy Burr Country Club in Wayland.
Mark Waskiewicz of Crumpin-Fox Club tied for 15th with a two-day total of 147. He shot a 1-over 73 on Wednesday.
Amherst’s Jesse Morgan, who now lives in Northfield and plays out of Northfield Golf Club, just missed the exemption cut and will have to qualify next year. He tied for 22nd with a 150 over two days. Bogeys on the final two holes pushed him down the leaderboard.
“Tired swings at the end. Probably trying to get in the clubhouse too soon,” Morgan said. “I hit my tee ball awesome and didn’t do anything with it. Looking too far away for birdie, which leads to mediocrity in terms of scores. It’s tough. I play nine holes a week maybe, and I have two kids, so my expectations are tempered. Even being here is nice.”
Crumpin-Fox’s Michael Mertes tied for 25th (151), while Joe Wilson of Wyckoff Country Club was 32nd (152).
Douglas Hutcheson, playing out of The Ledges in South Hadley, carded an 80 on Wednesday to tie for 44th (154).
“Being here in Western Mass. gives local golfers a chance to play in a state event. Westover’s in excellent shape. Great to play a golf course that all of us from Western Mass. have played a lot,” Hutcheson said. “Today was a struggle. I played with a guy who played really well (David Laplante of Pine Oaks Golf Club, who tied for 15th). It’s always nice to see a good round of golf.”
Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com. Follow him on Twitter @kylegrbwsk.