Mount Everett's Farnum Wins Golf Classic

STOCKBRIDGE, Mass. — First, Devin Farnum made a statement with his clothes.
 

Then, he made one with his clubs.

Farnum carded a 7-over-par 78 on Sunday to win the fifth annual Berkshire Classic golf tournament at Stockbridge Golf Club.

Farnum is a senior at Mount Everett, but you would not have known looking at him on Sunday. He definitely looked like a veteran. He just did not look like a player whose school colors are blue and gold.

"As you can see, I have the Tiger [Woods] red on today," Farnum said. "I think even though everyone else is wearing their team shirts and everything, this is more of a personal day today."

Farnum soared like an eagle on the back nine Sunday, coming home in 1-over 36 after struggling a little on the front. He birdied the 18th hole to edge Drury's Matt Lawrence and Taconic's Mitch Omelenchuck, who tied for second place at 79.

Farnum was 6-over at the turn but said it was not hard to keep his head in the game.

 "I just didn't let it affect me," he said. "I was 'in the zone,' as some people put it.

"I could turn around and shoot 5-under or something. You never know with golf. You can hit three bad shots, and you can still get a par on a par-4. One good shot erases three or four bad shots.

"Golf is a game of recovery. That's what I live by."

 

Lawrence, who played in a threesome with Farnum and Lee's Jared Fadding, also needed to recover after a series of mishaps on the back 9.

 

"I started out good," Lawrence said. "I was even going into the eighth hole, and doubled that hole and bogied nine. ... I was doing good on the back. On 13, I had a 5-foot birdie putt and missed that. On 14, I had a birdie putt of about 5 feet and missed that. On 15, I had a 10-foot par putt and missed that.

"I got a little bit shaky. On 16, I doubled. Seventeen, I bogeyed. And then on 18, I just told myself, 'I have to par this hole to shoot 79 or I won't place well.' And I ended up with a good par save on 18 to save my round."

Lawrence's tee shot on the par-4 18 went down the middle, but he left his approach short and in the rough. He chipped to within 3 feet of the hole and one-putted to finish his round strong and take home a share of second place in the 5-year-old event.

In addition to Drury, North County was represented at the Classic by Mount Greylock, for whom sophomore Matt Wiseman finished in the middle of the field with a round of 91.

Lawrence was joined at the event by his Drury teamates, Nick Bator and Nick Boulger, who carded rounds on 89 and 91, respectively.

On Monday, the trio and the rest of the Blue Devils will be heading to the Country Club of Wilbraham for a practice round at the site of the 2013 Western Massachusetts Division 2 Championships, to be contested on Monday, Oct. 21.

"We're a deep team," Lawrence said. "One and two are definitely stable for us. Three, four, five and six are all going to shoot well for us."

2013 Berkshire Classic scores:
78 -- Devin Farnum

79 -- Matt Lawrence, Mitch Omelenchuck

80 -- Ryan Grande

85 -- Andrew Consolati

86 -- John Keegan

88 -- T-Bone Lingebach

89 -- Jared Fanning, Joey Szczepaniak, Nick Bator

90 -- Bradley Lupiani, Andy Cella

91 -- Owen Hunter, Daniella Lapierre, Matt Wiseman, Nick Boulger

92 -- Devyn Olds

93 -- Kris Vahle

98 -- J.T. Brown, Nick Martin

99 -- Andrew Beaudoin, T.J. Shumsky

100 -- Jeremy McDonough, Jeff Spratt

102 - Tim Wiles, Aaron St. Martin

103 -- Kyle Alvarez

104 -- Sebastian Babeu