A self-admitted “uneventful” competitive tournament season on the NEPGA circuit for Salem Country Club’s Kirk Hanefeld turned most eventful” at the section’s recent Massachusetts Chapter Championship.
Hanefeld, the former director of golf and director of instruction spanning 20 seasons at the Peabody club, fired a six-birdie, five-under-par 66 at Black Rock Country Club in Hingham for the title.
“Every once in a while I get my game in gear,” Hanefeld, now 70, said. “This round was one of those days where every part of my game went well. Putting, always my nemesis, was really working. I kept the ball in play and seemed to always put the ball on the green, except for one bogey on 12 where I found a greenside bunker.”
The three-time NEPGA Section champion, who took home $1,800 for winning the event, was three-under after four holes and four-under after seven.
He kicked off his round by sinking a 30-footer on No. 1, followed by birdies on Nos. 2 (15 feet), 4 (8), 7 (6), 11 (an 8-iron to one foot) and 15 (40).
Hanefeld topped a record field of 76 players that included five-time NEPGA champ Rich Berberian and perennial contender Jeff Martin, as well as several up-and-coming players whom Hanefeld admits drive the ball 40 yards past his best tee shot.
Accomplishing the feat at 70, when most of his contemporaries have ended their competitive careers, brought an added dose of satisfaction.
“One thing nice about getting older as a golfer is it’s easier to match or beat your age,” Hanefeld quipped.
The former Champions Tour standout has matched or beat his age several times, but few have been as memorable as this 65.
“I still like to compete. I still like to practice. I’m still working on my game,” said Hanefeld. “I’m not much of a casual round player, though I’m grateful I can practice and play whenever I wish at a great facility like Salem.”
This is Hanefeld’s third victory in this event; he also won it 2019 and 2022.
He did not see a 65 coming, “though I finished fifth at a Mass. Open there a while back and I thought my game had been close in recent weeks,” he noted, “despite the poor Section championship I had recently in Maine. Then I put it all together at Black Rock. You just never know.”
What followers of Hanefeld’s illustrious career do know is that he still has some competitive magic remaining in the tank.
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Athan Goulos of Peabody and Pure Drive Golf was ther second best North Shore-connected entrant, scoring 68 (with a tourney-best 7 birdies), followed by Tedesco’s Ron Coiro at 71, Hatherly’s Chip Johnson at 73, Joe Rocha at 76, Gannon’s Nathan Myers and Kernwood’s Frank Dully at 77, Bass Rocks’s Todd Scarafoni at 78, Rowley’s Darin Chin-Aleong at 83 and Myopia’s Joe Merlin at 89.