When Brendan Hester found out that qualifiers for the Mass. Open and the US Senior Open would be contested last week on back-to-back days, he wasn’t thrilled.
“I didn’t love it,” said the 53-year-old amateur from Northbridge, “because you know you have to get focused for both of them, and doing it back-to-back days is not really the greatest recipe. “
He ended up qualifying on both days.
“It worked out perfectly,” he said.
Last Tuesday at his home course of Pleasant Valley CC in Sutton, Hester overcame a triple-bogey on 15 to shoot a 1-over 73 and earn one of the 10 qualifying spots in the 113th Mass. Open at TPC Boston in Norton June 12-14.
“It’s great to play your home course,” Hester said. “Obviously, there are no surprises there, but there were only 10 spots. It’s not like you can take a stroll in the park and qualify. You have to play really well.”
On Wednesday, Hester shot a 2-under 70 at Vesper CC in Tyngsborough to grab the second of the two qualifying spots in the US Senior Open, which will be held June 29-July 2 at SentryWorld Golf Course in Stevens Point, Wisconsin.
“It’s a professional event, and it’s a major championship,” Hester said. “So it certainly ranks really high on my list.”
Back to USGA play
This will be Hester’s 18th USGA event, but his first since 2006, and it will also be his first appearance in the US Senior Open. His best USGA finish was reaching the quarterfinals in the 2005 US Mid-Amateur in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Two years ago, he shot an even-par 70 in the US Senior Open qualifier at Thorny Lea in Brockton to earn first alternate status, but he failed to get into the tournament.
Qualifying for the US Senior Open as an amateur is quite an accomplishment.
“This was circled on my calendar,” he said. “I wanted to get this done and qualify for the US Senior Open and compete against those guys. It was definitely a big goal of mine.”
So he’ll tee it up in the same event for golfers ages 50 and older as defending US Senior Open champion Padraig Harrington and such other PGA Tour Champions stars as Steve Stricker, Ernie Els spirit Bernard Langer.
On Wednesday, Hester used a 9 iron to hit his 142-yard approach shot on the par-4 16th to within 8 feet, and he sank the birdie putt. Then he parred his final two holes to avoid a playoff, but he wasn’t sure so he kept chipping until the last few groups finished. Then he hugged his son, Jackwho caddied for him.
“It was a big hug,” Jack said. “It was a pretty cool moment for both of us.”
PV head pro Paul Parajeckas has played in the US Senior Open several times, but he believes Hester is the first amateur from historic PV to qualify to play in the prestigious event.
“He’s very excited,” Parajeckas said. “I’m very excited for him, and all of Pleasant Valley is.”
Hester has won the club championship at PV 16 times.
Playing more than ever
A year after he last played in a USGA event, the 2006 US Mid-Amateur, Hester launched his own human capital management company and cut back on playing competitive golf. He sold his business last fall and is taking some time off before he re-enters the business world, so he’s playing more golf now than he ever has. Losing 20-25 pounds over the past couple of years has helped his game as well.
“I’ve never been able to truly focus on my game before,” he said.
On May 9, Hester came close to advancing to the second and final stage of US Open qualifying when he shot a 2-over 72 at The Orchards Golf Club in South Hadley, but he missed by a shot. Two bogeys in his final three holes cost him. Hester has fond memories of The Orchards, having won the 2001 Mass. Amateur there.
Hester plans to play in the Mass. Amateur qualifier at Blissful Meadows GC in Uxbridge on June 22 and in the Monday qualifier for the British Senior Open next month. Hester has played in the US Amateur, US Mid-Amateur and British Amateur. He won’t be eligible to play in the Mass. Senior Amateur, US Senior Amateur or British Senior Amateur until he turns 55.
Hester said he didn’t know where the US Senior Open would be held until after he qualified, and he knows nothing about SentryWorld GC, but he plans to get there early to play as many practice rounds as he can. He expects to play one of them with a PGA Tour Champions star Marco Dawsona friend who went to Florida Southern with his brother Kevin.
Robert Trent Jones Jr. designed SentryWorld GC, which opened in 1982, and renovated it in 2014 and 2021.
Jack, 20, plays golf for Assumption University, and he played in the Mass. Open qualifier at PV, so Hester’s son Owen carried his bag that day. Owen, 18, played golf for St. John’s High and will be a freshman at Bryant University this fall.
“It’s always great to be with my kids,” Hester said.
Hester said Owen takes a more hands-off approach and likes to crack jokes while caddying, and Jack is more serious and offers him more advice.
“He’s an accomplished player himself, so he knows the game really well,” Hester said of Jack. “He’s dialed in on the greens, and he knows my clubs. They’re both great, really.”
On Wednesday, Hester hit 17 greens in regulation, and he rolled his putts well, but some slid by the cup.
“He hit a lot of good putts, but like he said they were lipping the edge,” Jack said. “So I was really proud of how he stayed composed and was always focused on the next shot.”
Jack will caddy for his father in the US Senior Open. He was in contention to qualify for the Mass. Open, but tripled 17 and bogeyed 18 to finish with a 7-over 79, five shots behind the final qualifying spot.
Hester’s playing partner at Vesper, Doug Clapp, shot a 4-under 68 to earn the other qualifying spot. Clapp, 56, of Old Sandwich GC in his hometown of Plymouth, will play in the US Senior Open for the second time in three years.
“It’s nice to be able to compete,” Clapp said, “and it’ll be great having a good friend out there like Brendan.”
Quinn at PGA Tour Champions event
Clapp said he enjoyed the opportunity at the 2021 US Senior Open to play a practice round with the Holden resident Fran Quinnwho last year at age 57 qualified to play in the US Open in his home state at The Country Club in Brookline.
Quinn will need to be lucky to play in the US Senior Open this year. In a qualifier on May 23 at Arcola CC in Paramus, New Jersey, he shot a 2-over 74, including a closing birdie, to earn first alternate status. This weekend, Quinn is playing in the Principal Charity Classic, the PGA Tour Champions event in Des Moines, Iowa.
Hester’s wife and two sons plan to go to Wisconsin with him. If he qualifies for the US Senior Open next year, the family won’t have to travel as far. The 2024 US Senior Open will be held at Newport CC in Newport, Rhode Island, June 27-30.
Amateur Tyler Dupuis of PV and Highfields Golf & CC in Grafton, shot a 4-under 68 on Tuesday to top the 10 Mass. Open qualifiers at PV. Dupuis will be a senior on the Bryant University golf team in the fall. Amateurs Alex Xarras of Oak Hill CC in Fitchburg (70), Sean Magarian too PV (72) and Jack Tobin of Marlborough CC (74) were among the other qualifiers.
Parajeckas’s son, Jason, who has regained his amateur status and plays out of PV, shot a 75 to earn an alternate spot, and he has already been informed that he will play in the event at TPC Boston. When he was a pro, Jason tied for second in the 2012 Mass. Open at Walpole CC.
Jack Moyanother amateur who plays out of PV, also shot a 75, and Paul Parajeckas expects him to get into the field as an alternate as well.
Paul Parajeckas was exempted from the Mass. Open, but gave up his spot to give someone else a chance to earn it. Parajeckas has played in nearly every Mass. Open for several decades, but at age 73, he’s cut back on playing competitive golf.
Hester, on the other hand, is playing more than ever, and it’s paying off.
—Contact Bill Doyle at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @BillDoyle15.
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Golf: Added play helps PV’s Brendan Hester qualify on back-to-back days