HAVERHILL – There is a sense of brotherhood to the Joseph F. Healey Memorial Golf Championship, a reunion every July.
After 11 years away from the event, Joe Leavitt missed it. So, there was joy when the two-time champ (2012, 2014) teed it up in Round 1 on Friday at Bradford CC.
“I saw a lot of familiar faces. I was happy to see a lot of the guys again out here,” said Leavitt.
“A lot of guys were happy to see me.”
Maybe not so much on Sunday, though, when “Vintage Joe” absolutely dominated.
Playing in the championship round at Haverhill Country Club on Sunday, Leavitt unleashed an old-school birdie barrage – reminiscent of his days as the region’s and New Hampshire’s top amateur – finishing with a six-under par round of 64 to claim the 2026 Healey Memorial.
Leavitt’s three-day, 54-hole total of 72-74-64 – 210 (-3) was three shots better than runner-up Jake Morgan of Andover.
“That was a heck of a round. I knew I had it in me,” said Leavitt, who just recently returned to competitive golf after five full years away from the game.
Leavitt came into the Healey off a top-10 at the Providence Open and a match-play appearance at the recent New Hampshire Amateur.
“Every round, I’ve just had a couple of small mistakes that have kept me around par,” he said.
Not the case on Sunday.
Entering the final round in fourth place, two shots off the pace, Leavitt saw a couple dangerous names around him on the leaderboard and assumed that par wouldn’t get it done.
He was spot-on.
“I don’t really know the young guns, but I know they can play. I thought I had to shoot 66 or 67 to win,” said Leavitt of guys like Morgan, who played this past year at Lenoir-Rhyne University and Mass. College of Liberal Arts standout Mat Gover to name a couple.
“We laid out an aggressive game plan from the jump. I had to go after it.”
After five straight pars to open the round – including a huge up-and-down save on the par-3 fourth – Leavitt closed out the front nine with four straight birdies.
“I knew (at the turn) I was probably on the lead, but I didn’t ask my caddy,” said the 2011 Eagle-Tribune High School Golfer of the Year at Central Catholic.
“When I see a couple (putts) go in, I tend to get hot. At least I used to. Once I had a feeling that I was in the lead, I was curious how I’d respond mentally, and I never felt overwhelmed. I was striking the ball great, just stuck to my routine.”
After a tough-luck bogey on 10, Leavitt added birdies on 11, 13 and 16 to ice it, despite a rock-solid one-under par round of 69 from Morgan.
Leavitt finished with 10 birdies on his final 25 holes, starting on the back-nine at Atkinson on Saturday.
“It’s my first year back playing seriously, and I’m definitely back for good,” proclaimed Leavitt, who has his sights set on a U.S. Mid-Amateur qualifier coming up.
“It was nice to go out and do it. I envisioned it, but it’s one thing to envision it, and it’s another thing to do it.”
For Morgan, the runner-up finish in his only tournament of the summer was energizing.
“I played pretty well, just a solid, bogey-free, one-under par round, so it felt good,” said the 2024 Eagle-Tribune All-Star for coach David Fazio’s Golden Warriors. “I put a lot of effort into my practice for this week, so it was good to see.
“I wanted to go out and play consistently, play steady. I didn’t look at the leaderboard until 16. Overall, I’m happy with the way I played.”
Atkinson’s Gover and Windham’s Connor Greenleaf each carded one-over par rounds of 71 to tie for third, two shots behind Morgan.