About Us: News - 2010 Archives

Headline: Nine-time Richard D. Haskell MGA Player of the Year Frank Vana, Jr. Captures 2010 New England Invitational Title for Third Time in Career

For Immediate Release: June 29, 2010

Nine-time Richard D. Haskell MGA Player of the Year Frank Vana, Jr. became the first three-time champion of the New England Invitational.

Bellingham, MA — For the third time in his career, Frank Vana, Jr. (Marlborough CC) can call himself champion of the New England Invitational.

Held annually at New England Country Club in Bellingham, the New England Invitational features some of the top amateurs in the state. This year, Vana posted a two-day score of 1-under par 141 to become the only three-time champion of this highly-regarded Regional Event.

In the end, it became a duel between two former Richard D. Haskell MGA Players of the Year — Vana and Brian Higgins (Franklin CC).

Following the first round of play on Monday, Higgins jumped out to a four-stroke lead following a tournament-low score of 4-under par 67. Although trailing by four heading into the second round, Vana showed veteran poise and came through with a final-round score of 1-under par 70 which proved to be enough to capture the title. He was only golfer in the 84-player field to finish under par for the tournament. He capped off the win in fitting fashion by draining a 30-foot birdie putt on the 383-yard, par 4 17th hole. It was his second birdie of the day.

"It was nice to put two solid back-to-back rounds together on a golf course that was in perfect shape and was a good test for the entire field," said Vana, who is a nine-time Richard D. Haskell MGA Player of the Year. "I was happy with how I was hitting the ball, but more importantly I think that mentally I was tuned in for two rounds."

Higgins, meanwhile, could not replicate his first-round success as he fell to second-place overall with a two-day score of 1-over par 143. Higgins — along with former New England Amateur and Massachusetts Open Champion Jim Renner (Plainville, MA) — are the only other two players to capture multiple New England Amateur Invitational titles.

Capturing the Legends Division title was Carter Fasick (Indian Meadows GC) with a score of 7-over par 149. Carter's twin brother Jon Fasick (New England CC) and Jim Ruschioni (Monoosnock GC) finished second and third in that division, respectively.

Here are complete results, courtesy of the U.S. Challenge Cup.

Pos	Player	Home Club	R1	R2	Total
1	Frank Vana Jr.	Marlborough CC	71	70	141
2	Brian Higgins	Franklin CC	67	76	143
3	Mike Gunderson	Marshfield CC	72	73	145
3	Brad Cadigan	The Harmon Club	73	72	145
3	Guy Antonacci	Elmcrest CC	74	71	145
3	David Pierce	CC of Halifax	75	70	145
7	Jordan Burke	Needham GC	72	74	146
7	Anthony Dilisio	Salem CC	73	73	146
9	Scott Congdon	Foxboro CC	73	74	147
10	Ryan Riley	Foxboro CC	72	76	148
10	Tony Grillo	Farm Neck GC	71	77	148
10	Bob Hamilton	Thorny Lea GC	76	72	148
13	Carter Fasick (L)	Indian Meadows GC	74	75	149
13	Nick Maccario (J)	Atkinson CC	74	75	149
13	Colin Brennan	Indian Ridge CC	75	74	149
13	Herbie Aikens	Pinehills GC	76	73	149
13	Peter Anderson	Bass River GC	76	73	149
18	Mike Calef	Brockton CC	76	74	150
18	Chris Tarallo	Thorny Lea GC	72	78	150
20	Nick Antonelli	North Andover CC	73	78	151
20	Taylor Peck (J)	Norfolk GC	72	79	151
20	Scott Beers	Willowbend CC	79	72	151
20	Jon Fasick (L)	New England CC	73	78	151
20	Ryan Coughlin	Westchester CC	78	73	151
25	Eddie Hjerpe	RICC	76	76	152
25	Jim Ruschioni (L)	Monoosnock GC	75	77	152
25	Mike Arter	Allendale CC	77	75	152
28	Adam Goulet	New England CC	76	77	153
28	Will Bachman	Brae Burn CC	76	77	153
28	Mike Dunham	Old Sandwich GC	75	78	153
28	Tom Taylor (L)	Sharon CC	75	78	153
32	George Donnell (L)	Quidnessett CC	74	80	154
32	Jeff Evanier (J)	Clinton CC	77	77	154
32	Brien Tolland	Sharon CC	78	76	154
35	Jake Mahoney	Woodland GC	75	81	156
35	Robert Blackmar	Sterling National GC	76	80	156
35	Sean Burke	Andover CC	78	78	156
35	Mark O'Sullivan	The International	76	80	156
35	Will Boyle	Brae Burn CC	77	79	156
35	Michael Sexton	Brae Burn CC	80	76	156
35	John Gilmartin	Indian Ridge CC	78	78	156
42	Matt Montt (J)	The Harmon Club	76	81	157
42	Ben Bridgeo	Red Tail GC	75	82	157
42	Mike Rattigan	GC at Turner Hill	78	79	157
45	Paul Sheeran (L)	Concord CC	75	83	158
45	Craig Kublin	Blue Hill CC	80	78	158
47	Matt Sebet	Norfolk GC	81	78	159
47	Jeff Santora	Pleasant Valley CC	81	78	159
47	Andrew Danieli	Indian Pond GC	82	77	159
47	Chad Stumpo (J)	Blue Hill CC	79	80	159
47	Zack Ungvarsky	CC of Wilmington	79	80	159
52	Max Campion	Woods Hole GC	79	81	160
52	Alistair Catto (L)	The Orchards	78	82	160
52	Paul Nunez (L)	Ludlow GC	83	77	160
52	Michael Buenaventura	Charter Oak CC	80	80	160
56	Brendan Lemp (J)	Wampanoag GC	85	76	161
56	David Gilbert (J)	Indian Ridge CC	87	74	161
56	John McCarthy	Potowomut GC	82	79	161
56	Craig Stevens	Concord CC	85	76	161
56	Peter White	Brae Burn CC	80	81	161
56	RJ Foley	Sterling National GC	77	84	161
56	Tyler Ferrari	Wollaston GC	79	82	161
63	Jesse DiBiasio	Valley CC	76	86	162
63	Patrick Gocklin	Derryfield CC	83	79	162
63	Kevin Blaser	Segregansett CC	80	82	162
66	Brandon Nolan (J)	Highland CC	84	79	163
67	Ryan Johnston	Franklin CC	75	89	164
67	Jason Clary	Thorny Lea GC	84	80	164
67	Bobby Thompson (J)	Westborogh GC	78	86	164
67	Mark Goodridge	Sterling National GC	83	81	164
67	Eric Marchetti (J)	Highland CC	79	85	164
72	Ken Charnley	Highland CC	83	82	165
72	Chris Taggart	Walpole, MA	80	85	165
72	Michael Hamilton	Alpine CC	82	83	165
72	Athan Goulos (J)	The Meadow at Peabody	84	81	165
76	Bill McClure	Longmeadow CC	85	83	168
77	Bryant Cote	Larry Gannon Municipal	81	89	170
78	Branden Porter	CC of Billerica	87	84	171
78	Crispin Love	Wee Burn CC	87	84	171
78	Shawn Bennett (J)	Oak Hill CC	90	81	171
81	Robert Plamondon	PGA National	88	84	172
82	Bram Berkowitz (J)	Needham GC	85	89	174
82	Brendan Meagher	Woodland GC	83	91	174
84	Jason Mara (J)	Phoenixville CC	93	86	179