Coping successfully once again with the pressure of playing a Massachusetts Open qualifier on his home Kernwood Country Club course, Sean Dully made the grade for the third time in four years, shooting a wind-impacted four-over-par 74.
In sharing third place with four others, the recent University of Southern New Hampshire graduate advances to the 54-hole main event at the Oyster Harbors Club in Osterville on Cape Cod June 9-11.
Once again Dully will join his father, long-time Kernwood head professional Frank Dully, in the 144-player field, along with Ipswich CC member Jack Carew, who shot 76.
“It wasn’t easy, not with all that wind we had to deal with,” said Dully the younger, who has turned professional and will seek to follow in his dad’s illustrious footsteps in the golf business. I love the game, the people you come in contact with every day, and the prospect of being a successful club pro some day.”
Sean received his degree from Southern New Hampshire with a major in business administration and a minor in sales.
His father appreciates Sean’s desire to follow in his career footsteps.
“While I suppose there is an inevitability to Sean going into the golf business,” Frank Dully noted, “I know it’s his dream and passion. At 22, he is a better player and more equipped to succeed in the golf business then I ever was. “I look forward to watching his journey.”
Playing the Mass. Open local qualifier at Kernwood, Dully the younger has handled well the pressure of yet again carrying the host club’s banner and the expectations created as the son of the host pro.
“The wind was all the pressure I felt,” Sean admitted, “like everyone else in the field. We had steady wind and the occasional gust to 30 miles an hour. Considering the conditions, I thought the scores were really good.”
Winchester CC amateur Jake Peer led the 15 qualifiers with a 72, followed by Nomad amateur Daniel Koerner with a 73.
Dully, Southern New Hampshire golf team captain as a senior, said he learned to play in wind of all kinds while growing up in Florida (Palm Beach Gardens).
“You had to apply your creativity to your game in the qualifier; that’s what windy conditions demand,” add Dully.
Dully is betting .750 now that he’s qualified for the Mass. Open three times the last four years, all at Kernwood. Sean shot 73 in 2023, missed in 2024 with a 77, then rebounded with a 72 last year.
“I wasn’t so sure it would be my day this time since I started with two bogeys my first three holes,” Sean pointed out. “It was pretty windy at the time. I saw my partners’ balls roll off the green due to the wind on the second and fourth holes, the highest points on the course.
“I held on the rest of the front nine, thanks to a birdie on the short fifth, then bogeyed nine and 10 to fall three over for the day. I felt better after I birdied 11 (7-iron from the right rough and a hard breaking 11-foot putt). That birdie was a turning point.”
He proceeded to play the last seven holes in one over figures, keyed by a challenging two-putt par on the inverted saucer-like 14th green and a 40-foot two-putt for par on the uphill, par-3 17rh.
His primary goal at Oyster Harbors? “Hoping my father and I can both make the cut,” he replied.