[upbeat music] Welcome to the Basic Golf Podcast. We have a special one today. I've got Dan Boisvert on the road back from Great Horse. He just took in the New England Am.
I was not able to make it out there, so I, uh, figured I'd enlist him to, uh, to chat about it. Dan, how's it going? How was lunch? It was good. [laughs] Lunch was good. You had lunch at Great Horse. Yep. Yep. Yeah.
It's a good... They do good stuff there. Yeah, absolutely. Good spot. If you ever get an invite, if you're listening, just, just say yes and, and figure it out from there. Yeah, absolutely. It's worth the trip.
Yeah, and it's, like, Great Horse has become almost a de facto anchor site for a lot of just Mass golf. Now we got New England golf. I wonder, I, I- Yeah... I don't know if it's- It's great.
I think it, it always helps when you've got a head pro whose son's, like, in the competitive, in, like, circle. I think that they're a lot more open to- And an owner... Yeah, and an owner. Yeah. Ab- yeah, that too. Yeah.
I forgot about Guy. Yeah, absolutely. I think they're always a little bit more open to, to getting involved and hosting stuff, and Great Horse has definitely done that the last, you know, five years or so.
It feels like there's been a lot of majors there. Yeah. Yeah. They had the, they've had the Junior, they had the Mass Am last year that Billy Downes' son, Ryan, won.
And we've got Eli Spalding defending his, uh, his title from last year. Kind of came out of the, came out of the block, shot 64 on Tuesday at Great Horse.
Maybe one of those things people just need to remember when they think about that place hosting a PGA tournament. Like [laughs] Yep... these guys went pretty low this week, and I, I just don't think- Yeah.
From, from, uh, from about 7,200 and change, I believe. So they played it- Yeah... pretty far back. Yeah. So you walked with that final group. It was Eli, Caden Piselli, and Joey Lenane. Yep. Your boy. Yep. Yep.
So just, like, take us to, you walked with them the whole 18. I think you texted me you saw Joey make birdie on one.
Um, what, w- what was it like walking with those three guys and then watching, really, Caden and Eli on the back nine after Joey makes a hole in one [laughs] on the ninth hole? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it was a wild day. Yeah.
Yeah. So just, just, uh, could you sum it up or anything that stood out to you? Yeah, totally. First off, I hadn't personally seen Eli play.
Obviously, I know that he's had a good career at Loyola and, uh, had some good success, like, throughout New England.
And then Caden, I hadn't heard much about Caden, but after seeing the two of them play today, I was, I was very impressed. Both very clean.
Nothing, like, crazy special, but they just, they were in the fairways, they were in the green, and Eli's putter definitely is, is the strength of his game from what I saw today. But they're, they're both good players.
Again, like we've talked about in the past, Mass golf is, or New England golf is just in such a great place, and there's so many good players out there. Yeah. Eli has had a very good summer.
He, you know, played in the Northeast Am. He, as, 'cause he was the Maine amateur winner last year.
He was deep in the, in the hunt at the Hornblower for the second time in three years, and he kinda just struggled on the back nine coming home. He won the Philly Am- Okay...
right after, right after the Hornblower as well. So he's, he, you know, he's got some trophies to his name at this point, and he, like, he plays all over the place, I think because of his Loyola stuff.
He played in the Maryland Am as well and might've made it to match play. He, uh, so he's like, he, and he played in the Maine Am. So he's playing a lot of golf.
He's playing at a lot of different- Yeah, a lot of tournament golf... golf courses. He's getting a lot of reps, and he's playing a lot of golf.
And maybe, this might be kind of like, I think for a lot of New England guys, it might be the end of their competitive season before they go back to college, [laughs] which is wild.
Unless you play in the Womet, and that's a Mass golf event, right? They're, I don't think- Yeah, Womet and the-... they have guys outside of- Yeah, and then the US Am.
But other than that, it's pretty much, that's pretty much it. Yeah. Yeah.
So when you're out, just, like, when you're out there, you, you, you're obviously watching one of your students play, but he's also competing against two other guys.
Just as a, like, as a coach, as an instructor, what are you looking for in Joey? Is there anything that helps you, like, work with him later on, or do you guys- Totally... will you debrief?
Like, what, how does, how does that, how does that dynamic work? Yeah. So I mean, I've been with Joey at this point since he was, I wanna say, like, 10 years old, so it's, it's been a long time.
Um- Yeah, like 12 years... so I know, I, yeah, I know him and I know his tendencies pretty well.
But tournament golf is a entirely different beast from when me and him are in the lesson tee or, you know, out on the golf course with a couple of my other guys. Tournaments expose your weaknesses.
It, it helps me create more clarity on kinda what's holding him back, what he's doing well.
Course management is a really big one that I'm always looking at, and just, you know, certain holes where he's missing to certain pin locations.
And Joey's, uh, Joey's a very good player, and he's pretty good about most of these things, but nobody's perfect and we just kinda will go back through it. I usually don't talk to him until a day or two after.
I just like to let the dust settle. And sometimes when you talk right afterwards, you're a little too emotional and you don't have great clarity on what actually happened out there.
So, um, yeah, we'll end up getting together. We'll have a lesson. We'll chat.
I have a couple shots that he hit that I wanna talk to him about, uh, what the strategy was and if there was another option, what that would've been and, and, uh, just kinda go from there. He's the one hitting the shots.
It's not me. So it's, uh, it's really important to, to get his view on the situation.
Yeah, going from, like, you know, a playing lesson is really, if you're, like, an amateur, even if you're just a 10 handicap and you have an opportunity to go and play a round with someone who is your golf instructor, you get, you're getting lessons from someone.
And then the next level is, I mean, it's amazing that you're able to be out there watching him compete, watching him compete against two guys who played very, very well today. I think they shot 67- Yeah... 68. Yep.
And both kinda went on, on heaters. So kind of seeing maybe even how he, like, I don't know how I would handle that situation [laughs] where you're just, like, Piselli h- played 10 through 15 and six under par.
He made four- Yeah... birdies and an eagle to get back- Yeah, he poured in, like-... like, a really-... a 30-footer for eagle, and I was doing the math in my head.
I was like, "Oh my God, I think he just tied for the lead." Yeah. Yeah, he had it going on the back nine. But it's all, that's all part of it, you know? Not every day- Yeah... is gonna be your best day.
Even though I will say Joey's probably played, like, 15 competitive rounds out there, and I think that's probably the, probably about the worst, uh, worst round that he's had.
But it's, uh, you know, a couple bounces here and there and the round could've been very different for him, so. Yeah. So what, what stood out between Eli and, and, and Piselli, Eli Spalding and Piselli?
Just, like, as you're, as you're watching them, you know, I said before we hit record, I'm not, I'm not asking you to, like, pull these guys apart, but, like, they were both playing very well. You said Eli's putter.
Piselli goes on this crazy heater for six holes to, to get into the lead or, or maybe just be one back. They're playing in the same group.
Is there any, is there anything you saw out of, out of the two of them or something that just, that stuck out- Absolutely... like, "Oh man, this is, this is what makes them both very good"?
They both just executed all the shots that you would typically see of a really high-level amateur execute, like straightforward chip shots, giving themselves really good chances to get up and down when they did miss greens.
Their course management on both sides were really, really good today. They really didn't get out of position all that much.
I think between the two of them there were maybe only two or three bogeys, so it was just very clean. When you have a day like that, though, like, y- you're gonna be hard-pressed to pick it apart, you know?
I think Eli shot, what, 67? Yeah, yeah. Yeah. I mean, you know, it's like when they ask Scottie after the round, it's like, you know, "What could it have been?"
And he's, he goes on this little tangent about, "What do you mean, what could it have been? That's what it was." But they, uh, for the first time seeing both of them, I was r- I was very impressed. Very impressed.
It was clean. It didn't look like they were working all that hard, which those are, those are the good, those are the good rounds. The co- how was the course... It was set up long. Yeah. Did it feel...
Like, how was it set up? I mean, the score, I compared, I compared the scores from the first two rounds of the Mass Am, like, stroke play last year to the first two rounds of just...
And they were, it was, like, within three hundredths of a shot. They were, it was like the scores were identical across the field.
So just to give people a sense of, like, these tournaments are set up relatively similarly. Obv- obviously, it's a three-round, 54-hole stroke play event, but I thought that was interesting.
So w- how did you see the golf course set up? I don't know if you were out there for the Mass, for, uh, for the Mass Am last year. I thought the greens were at a firmness that they were somewhat gettable.
There were some, there were definitely a few tucked pins. I think, uh, 13, the par three, that was playing, like, 233 straight into the breeze, which- 12... that's a long, long par three. Back left pin.
That's- Really tough shot... that's 12. There were a couple tricky pins, but I did think that there was a low number out there.
The wind probably got up to somewhere around, like, a 10 to 15 mile an hour gust, which for those guys is a, is a number that they can, they can still maintain their games and, and their distance control pretty well.
So there was definitely a low number out there today.
I think they could have got a little more aggressive with a few pins, but I also think that you should give these guys some chances to score, so I thought the course was set up, set up good for a third and final round.
Rough definitely didn't seem like it was up, but it's been so hot as of recent that, you know, I, I'm sure everything's just browning up and cooking a little bit. The, the 12th hole was playing really long.
Um, but then I like that they kind of balanced that out with, uh, with 15 being a pretty short hole. I think today it was only playing, like, 92 yards. Oh, that's amazing. I thought. Yeah.
Which, which is, which is a nice contrast, having seen guys hit three woods and then having to hit a, a chip 60. Uh, but I thought the course was set up good.
I think that with how hot it's been, they probably aren't getting the greens cut down as low as they'd maybe like to.
I think the greens maybe could've been a little bit quicker, but outside of that, I think for a final round of a New England major, I think that they gave good opportunities for people to go out there and kinda earn it.
Yeah. That, that little stretch of, like, 12 being out, that g- that hole is so funny, like, visually off the tee. My God, yeah.
The green looks, the green doesn't look like it actually looks from the tee box when you get up there. Every- No... I've played there a few times and it's just, I can never make myself commit to hitting the right shot.
And then, like, 13's a short par four that guys, I'm sure guys are driving it or trying to drive it. Yeah. Joey and, uh, Eli both hit it pretty, pretty close to the front left side of the green. Um- Yeah...
but that pin was tucked front left, like, just barely above the false front, but they both hit two, two good shots into that pin. Yeah.
And then, like, then you got 15's a par, or 14's a par five and then 15 you cross the road and you play this, like, tiny little par three, and then 16 and 18 are, like, the two hardest holes on the course as far as scoring.
So it's like a, those last six holes have a good mix of- Yeah... like, hard, easy. You can take a chance. You can lay back.
So I, I do like, I do like that, that little closing stretch for, for match play and for- And then-... stroke play. I think they both measure up. Yeah. And then I think 18's just, like, a very healthy finishing hole.
You can't fake it on 18. You gotta hit a couple good shots and make sure you're, if you are missing, you make sure that you're missing in the right spots depending on where the pins are. Yeah.
S- I saw that, uh, Piselli made a bogey on 17. Yep. It- Do you remember how he made bogey?
'Cause that, like, felt to me, giving, having a two-shot lead going to 18 is, is, um, is nice because that is a hard hole and ha- just having that little buffer. Did he three-putt? Did he just miss the green- No...
and not be able to get up and down? Missed it. Yeah.
He, from what I saw, 'cause I was up by the green, looked like he was in the right rough and came up, uh, came up short right and then just didn't convert the up and down. Yeah, yeah.
That was, that for me, when I saw that pop up- It was gonna be tough to keep, it was gonna be tough to keep his momentum. I mean, he got, he got hot on the back nine. It was, it was impressive. Yeah. It was impressive.
Yeah. Joey's hole in one. But Eli, Eli just- Sorry. Oh, yeah. [laughs] No, go ahead. Go to Eli first, then we'll get to Joey's ace. I just was gonna give props to Eli.
E- Eli played an unbelievable round, like, just, just positioned himself around and kinda like what I said earlier, just very stress-free. Didn't seem like he had to do anything crazy throughout the whole day.
Wedged it really well. Laid up on, I think, two of the par fives and hit good wedge shots in. I was very impressed. He played, he played well and he earned that victory tonight. Yeah. Yeah.
He's a, he's just a, he's a very good player who has just steadily improved over the last three years. I think really the first time I had heard of him was at the Hornblower three years ago.
He had the lead with maybe four holes left, and he finished with four straight bogeys and, and Jake Schumann won, and then he was in the hunt again.
He was in the final group this past year, got stuck on 12 and made a double, and that kinda h- that kinda hurt him.
And then he went and, like, won the Philly AM, and he played in the Northeast and played, missed the cut by maybe a shot at the Northeast Am.
So he's playing good golf on like, like I said, on very different golf courses between Plymouth and Grayhorse and Wanamosit. Yeah, so he's got game that travels, for sure, and he's...
He'll, uh, he'll be one worth just keeping an eye on at Loyola, 'cause he has, he's had a good little, good little run there for, for that team, too. Yeah, totally. And so Joey's, Joey's ace. I...
You, you sent me a video, but it was, like, the last, the last second before it went in. Did it r- Yeah... it was, pin was back left.
That, that ninth hole is like, it's, it's basically what they w- they want it to be a Redan, right? With that, like, b- big kinda slope on the right. Rolls, rolls off to the right. Yeah. Bunker guarding the front.
Uh, it just doesn't have that back. A Redan usually, I think, behind it has, like, a steep drop-off. This is just, this has got a hill behind it. But everything rolls to that back left.
Joey made a b- I remember Joey made, like, a 35 or 40-foot putt in the semifinal against Ryan Downes last year- Yeah... to get three up. That was a- And it, like- That was an enormous putt, yeah. Yes.
And then Downes, Downes did what Pizzelli did, basically, just kind of went ballistic on the back and caught Joey and beat him on the 19th hole.
But, like, I remember him making that putt and the whole, the energy at Grayhorse, Ryan Downes being a member, was like, "Oh." [laughs] Yep. And, and, uh, and then he makes, so he makes that, that hole.
He's got some, he's got some good juju on that hole 'cause he just jars it from, uh, from the tee box today. Yeah. So back left pin, like you were saying, kinda, eh, little bit of a funnel pin.
When I got over there, Steven Hanjack from Mass Golf and I can't remember who else it was, it might've been Greg Howell, were over there in a cart. And I was with Joey's uncle and his grandfather, and I made a comment.
I was like, "Kind of a, a, like, a little funnel pin location here." And, um, Eli hit first.
His ball kinda rolls up the ridge right, hits a sprinkler head, and still s- still rolled out to maybe 12 feet short of the pin. Um, Caden hits. His pitch is on the green, rolls to maybe 10 feet.
And then Joey's hit and pitched, took a little bit more of a direct line pitch, spun left, went straight in the hole. His grandfather and uncle just started freaking out.
Uh, Mass Golf posted a video, and they had to bleep out his grandfather. [laughs] He, with a, with a little bit of an expletive. He said that you can't take the city out of him, though. So I was, I was, we were laughing.
It was, uh, it was an extremely stressful front nine, even par. Yeah. With that hole in one. Yeah. He just couldn't get it going today. You know, it's, it's all, it's part of it.
But any time you can make a hole in one and then make a par right after, that's always a good thing. That's, that's important.
'Cause it can be tough to, it can be tough to, like, pull yourself back down to earth after, after that, going from, like, a high like that. Do you have any idea how many hole in ones he has? I have no clue.
I don't know if you have a number from him. He's, I think that might be five for him. Is that his first in competition? No. He made one- Holy cow... he's made, he's made three, I wanna say, in competition. Wow. Yeah.
Um, I think one was at Newport National. Or no, Newport Country Club for a Challenge Cup event a couple years back on, like, I wanna say one of their last par threes out there. It might be 17. Yeah. Might be 17. Yeah.
Yeah. And then in college he was playing, I, I wanna say it was at Eagle Trace. He made one from, like, 2, 200 and change, I believe. Geez. That's wild. Yeah, he's a jerk. That is wild. [laughs] I haven't made any.
Well, speaking of, like, just no rest for the weary and these guys playing golf, it's Thursday, July 16th, and I'm looking at the US Am Qualifier at Boston Golf, and Joey Lenane is on the list.
Eli Spalding [laughs] is on the list. There's probably some other guys, just as I scan through, who played at least two days this week. Yeah. Aiden, Aiden O'Donnell. And then, is Aiden O'Donovan in the...
I don't see his name on the- Aiden O'Donovan, yeah. He's, he'll- He is there, yep... golf. Yep. Yep. Um, one of my other guys, Tyler Bruno, is in the field.
And then Joey's actually playing with one of my other students, Ryan Scollins, who is from your alma mater. Holy Cross guy. Holy Cross. Yep. Yep, yep. And, uh, New E- New Hampshire Am runner-up last year. Yeah, exactly.
Lost to Josiah Kalua, who I think is also in the field. So it's a good field. I think I, just by my quick count, it looks like there's maybe 48 guys. Nick Macario's back up from Atlanta.
Emil Nielsen, who played great today, shot 67. Have to give him a little shout-out. Yeah. Emil's a great kid. He's playing on Monday, and he- I've known Emil since he was, like, hip high to me.
Yeah, he's- And now he's, like, 6'12". And he had a good week at the, at the Mass Am as well. Yeah, he's been putting a good little summer together. I know that he had been working pretty hard on his game.
Um, I talked to him over the winter, and it's nice to see him kinda putting it together and, and throwing some low scores up there.
Still a person I- I saw him on, I saw him on six and told him to make more birdies, and he did that, so I'm happy for him. Yeah, he's been a s- That's my general advice... strong.
He's still, he's still a player I have not seen hit a golf shot in, in Massachusetts. Oh, he's, he's got a great action. Yeah. I, it, never got to- Super, super awesome family, too.
Couldn't find him out at Winchester in just some of the stuff I was trying to do. I never, never crossed paths with him. But, he's, yeah, so he's... I mean, it's at Boston Golf.
There's probably two, looking at the size, there's probably two guys who will get through.
So if people, you know, are looking for more stuff to follow from their desk after the Open Championship ends on Sunday, uh, and there's no World Cup, there's just, we're in, like, the, the darkness of baseball season, [laughs] um, this'll be good.
I mean, it's a good f- Matthew Newmak. I mean, you just go through the list. Yeah, it's a solid field Can I ask you a question that I think you maybe have some thoughts on around junior, like, US Junior qualifying?
I've even seen it in some other stuff, too. There's a... We got a Panamanian in the field, t- a couple guys from Panama. We got a Canadian. We've got someone from France.
Not necessarily complaining about, like, international players coming over here. They gotta come somewhere and qualify. But I've noticed a, just a influx of, like, even in the junior ranks especially- Yeah...
kids coming from outside of even the New England region and trying to qualify- Totally... [laughs] in Massachusetts. I don't think it's a new thing. I just think- No...
I'm paying attention to it now, and it's, it's kinda wild. So I know, from my own experience, I know that there's a few groups of kids that will come over together from out of the country.
And they'll come to the New England area. They'll play. They'll compete. A lot of these families are wanting their kids to end up going to schools in this area. Yeah. I actually work the...
So the gentleman that started Vanguard, he works with families and tries to help the process of bringing them into the United States, getting them into elite athletic and academic high schools, with the hopes of going to some of these Ivy Leagues or NESCAC schools.
And there is a large group of these people that over the last, like, 10 years or so, the group's gotten bigger. They come over. They, they'll run and play in, like, every AJGA qualifier. Yeah, [laughs] yeah.
Chickenpee was- They'll play in some challenges... another place I noticed. There was a lot of- Yeah, totally... a lot of, uh, foreigners. Yeah, you're, no, you're, uh, you're not wrong. You're, you're- Yeah...
paying good attention. Yeah. Well, that's, I guess that's a, that's at least a level-headed, logical thing to, to know that's happening, right?
Like, there's a bigger purpose behind, "Let's get over to the United States," uh, whether it's from Asia or Europe or wherever, and like, "We're gonna play some golf, maybe meet some coaches.
And it's a, it's a way of, of killing a few birds with one stone. And we'd love you to play golf over here."
And it probably, I'm sure the college coaches love it 'cause it means they don't have to necessarily travel out of the country to go and, and find some of these players, too.
Especially, like, there's a lot of Division 1 programs in Ou- in Massachusetts that have, you know, a fair amount of international players. So that makes sense. I'm glad I asked. Yep, yep. Absolutely.
It makes me feel a little better about the, uh, you know, when we have one kid from Mass qualify out of Mass for the US Junior, and some of the other ones- Yeah...
have to do it other, other ways, whether it's winning the U- Mass Junior or... I think Max Sides went to New Jersey and qualified.
I don't know what, what he was doing down there, but he did the opposite and went somewhere else and, and did it. But yeah, it's gonna be a good- Yeah... it's gonna be a good qualifier this, uh, this week, on Monday.
Yeah, it is funny. I, over my years with junior golf, there are some families that will try to find weaker fields. But I don't think you're gonna find the weaker fields in Massachusetts, so. Not anymore. It's...
Not anymore, that's for sure. We've, uh- No... we've got a lotta good talent.
And if you look at the qualifying scores for most of our events up here, if you're not shooting under par, you, you really don't have much of a chance unless you can- Yeah... catch the right day.
Yeah, right, unless you get a bad weather day, or you find a very specific golf course that just plays into your, into your strengths.
Yeah, but if, if bad weather, we w- that's what we're born f- w- we're made out of that. That's true. [laughs] That's true. That's, this is- That's true... this is where we thrive. That is very true.
Any closing thoughts on the, on the New England Am? Where is it next year? 'Cause I think that- It's in Connecticut somewhere... this drew, this, this field, I, I think it's partially the course.
But it drew one of the best fields that I can remember for New England Ams. And I know that the last couple years, the courses maybe weren't quite as up to par as Great Horse, which is a pretty good one. Yeah.
But I'm curious where it is next year. And, uh, hopefully they can keep drawing as good of a field. Yeah, I'm not, I think- It was a lot of fun to watch. Yeah. I'm not sure.
It's in, the, the closing little blurb from the Mass Golf clip I saw s- they said Connecticut, but they did not specify- Okay... what course. Okay.
But yeah, I think that's maybe the gripe about the event in general, is sometimes it doesn't, the venues don't quite measure up to some of the other stuff that goes, that goes on around the region. Yeah. Yep. Absolutely.
But it's hard. It's hard for these c- it's hard for these associations to find courses that are willing to give up their golf course for, for three, four days practice rounds. Mm-hmm. So I get it.
And Great Horse is very good for that. And I don't know what the secret sauce for them is that they're able to do it. But Guy is willing to, willing to do it.
And I think it's, sometimes just comes with, like, membership or ownership, just buying in. So. Yeah. I saw him pop out today and watch some of the golf. It's always nice to see an owner that's involved like that, so.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Awesome. He's trying to steal some tricks, too. You know, he's, he's competing against these guys sometimes. [laughs] So he's, he's gotta watch- Yeah, he's having a decent year, too...
his, his opponents, his competition. All right, Dan. Well, it sounds like you're, uh, you're probably just about home from Great Horse. I'm jealous you're that close. And that's why I didn't go out.
It's just a long drive. But I appreciate you giving me, you know, 30 minutes. This was, this was fun. Good luck to all the guys playing in the US Am on Monday, and we'll be following along. Awesome. All right.
Thanks, Sean. Thanks, Dan.
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