MARION — In order to get the full experience at The Kittansett Club this week, the weather was going to have to have some sort of impact.
Tuesday was happy to oblige.
Players facing the daunting oceanside track at the 112th Massachusetts Amateur Golf Championship during Day 2 of stroke play were greeted with an unsettled round. The wind whipped at certain points while dark clouds and storms rolled in throughout the day. All told, two weather delays totaled nearly six hours.
The weather did little to deter South Deerfield’s Jonathan Elkins. For the first time in his career, the 19-year-old soon-to-be freshman at Villanova University is on the verge of punching his ticket to the match play portion of the Mass. Am. Elkins was only able to finish 16 holes before darkness halted play Tuesday night, but he was even-par on his round and 3-over for the tournament with two holes remaining, currently in a tie for 20th place.
The top 32 players qualify for match play, which is scheduled to begin Wednesday. Players with holes still remaining will tee off early, and if a playoff is necessary to determine the final 32 spots, that would begin shortly thereafter. Elkins tees off on 17 at 7:45 a.m.
“It was a crazy day,” began Elkins. “I’ve never restarted my round before, never had two weather delays, never had play suspended for darkness and never been inside the cut line by one with two shots to go. So, yeah, crazy.”
Elkins said he’s planning to take it one shot at a time on Wednesday, beginning with a 4-iron off the tee on the difficult 17th hole. He got off to a slow start with bogeys on the first two holes Tuesday, but settled himself with a birdie on No. 4. His front nine was certainly eventful, as he recorded four bogeys and three birdies to take the turn at 1-over 36. He was 2-over on the day before climbing back to even with birdies on 13 and 15.
“Once I calmed down, that birdie on (No. 4) was enormous for me,” he said. “I’d rather have not made a couple of those bogeys but I think at the end of the day, I’ll be ready to go with an easy club to hit off the tee and just try and finish strong.”
South Deerfield’s Jacob Zaranek shot 4-over 75 on Tuesday, putting him at 5-over for the tournament after an opening-round 72 on Monday at The Bay Club.
The Fairfield University standout was in good shape to make the cut before suffering a triple-bogey on the par 5 7th hole. After losing his tee shot in the hazard and taking a drop, he said he thought he hit a decent shot to rebound, but was unable to find that ball.
Zaranek followed that with back-to-back bogeys on 8 and 9, and took the turn at 5-over 40.
“I thought I hit a good shot and we just never found it,” he said of the issues on No. 7. “It’s unfortunate but that’s what you get. You have to keep moving forward. What’s more frustrating is that I got frustrated after that and it led to me making a bad swing on (No. 8) and a compound of errors to end that (front) nine after playing really solid for the first six holes.”
Zaranek was 1-under on his back nine, climbing the leaderboard to get into a tie for 34th place when play was suspended for the night. He’ll need a few players still on the course ahead of him to give a shot or two back in order to get into a playoff on Wednesday.
“I’m happy with the way I battled back on the back nine so hopefully I get a shot to play myself in (to match play),” he said. “I’ll stay up here and just wait and see what happens.”
The first suspension of play came at 10:42 a.m. on Tuesday, when players at Kittansett were pulled off the course with many groups still waiting to tee off for the first time. Golfers weren’t allowed back onto the course to continue until 1:50 p.m., and it took all of 45 minutes for the horns to sound again. This time, the delay lasted almost two and a half hours.
Northfield’s Jesse Morgan was the only local who had started his round when the first suspension came. He was in the middle of the sixth fairway when play was halted, and then made it to the 10th hole before the second suspension came. After a slow start to the tournament, the reigning Northfield Golf Club champion managed to find something when he got back out there one final time.
After a 5-over 40 on the front nine Tuesday, Morgan didn’t record a bogey on the back nine and sank birdies on Nos. 12 and 18. The strong finish propelled him to a 3-over 74, and vaulted him up the leaderboard in the process. It was a much-welcomed run of solid play after shooting 9-over 80 at The Bay Club on Monday, and he finished 12-over for the tournament in a tie for 75th place.
“My swing was disconnected for 27 holes and then became connected again,” Morgan explained. “It’s just one of those things. Golf is a fickle, finicky game. It took two weather delays but I felt comfortable again, for whatever reason.”
Zaranek was part of the first group to tee off following the morning delay, and he finally got his round started at 2 p.m. After registering pars on his first three holes, including the course’s signature third hole that plays over Buzzards Bay to a peninsula green that is completely encircled in sand, he was ushered back to the clubhouse for delay number two.
“Just a grind, that’s the only way I can put it,” Zaranek said. “It’s tough to stay focused that long when you’re stopping and starting. Tough to get into a rhythm.”
Chris Francoeur was the clubhouse leader when play ended on Tuesday night. Playing at The Bay Club, he shot 71 to give him a two-round total of 3-under 139. Former champion Matt Parziale is also at 3-under with two holes remaining on his second round. Only five players were in red numbers at the end of the day, and the cut will most likely be either 4 or 5-over.