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Alex Elias  Wannamoisett Country Club Tournament:
The Northeast Amateur Invitational is considered a 'major' in amateur golf, and is ranked #4 of the U.S. amateur golf events of more than 700 events ranked by the R&A World Amateur Ranking List. In its distinguished 60 year history, Ben Crenshaw (1973), Dustin Johnson (2007), and Collin Morikawa (2017) have each cemented their amateur legacies at The Northeast Amateur. This year’s field includes back-to-back defending Champion Dylan Menante (University of North Carolina, 12th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking), David Ford (University of North Carolina, 4th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking), Caleb Surratt (University of Tennessee, 13th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking), and many more of the top amateurs. Course: Designed by Donald Ross, Ross himself described Wannamoisett as "the best layout I have ever made." Recently restored by Andrew Green, one Wannamoisett member said, "I remember when I first found out about the restoration project, and thought to myself, 'what could they possibly do here to make it better," but then you see the finished product and it is so satisfying to see the course live up to its full potential while still being true to its Donald Ross roots." "Andrew Green’s renovation has been universally applauded. As evident by the increase in course rating but decrease in slope, it plays tougher for the better player and easier for the novice, senior, junior, and ladies. This was achieved by adding new back and forward tee boxes where possible, moving bunkers downrange to be in play for better players where they could previously fly them, pinching landing zones for longer hitters, and most profoundly expanding and reshaping greens back to their original sizes and shapes. This has resulted in numerous new pin positions that can be tucked much closer to bunkers and run offs. A great example are the 11th and 12th greens. Due to the slopes and shape these greens really only had a couple of pins. On 11 a new back left section over top of the green side bunker was added as well as a peninsula on the front right with run offs long, right, and short. On 12, shelves were added back left and front right. These new pins not only make the course more interesting and variable but challenging as well. The project also included a complete redo of all the bunkers including steep sod faces that will look familiar to anyone who watched the coverage of the PGA Championship at Oak Hill (another Green Restoration)," said the member. Where will players in the field be challenged? "What I believe will be most challenging for the Northeast Am players is having the discipline to know when to attack and when to play it safe. I think that most of the field looks at the sub 7000 yardage on the card and thinks they will tear the course apart firing at pins with wedges in their hand all day. But with the difficultly of some of the pin locations and excellent course setup by RIGA Executive Director Bob Ward, players have to be disciplined enough to know when to attack and when not to. One can easily get themselves out of position around the greens and be staring double in the face. It’s clear two time defending champion Dylan Menante has figured this out. I believe he went 61 holes bogey free one stretch from 2021-2022. You don’t do that by being overly aggressive, you do that by playing to your strengths and knowing when and when not to be aggressive," said a Wannamoisett Country Club member.
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