Youngster Grabs Wollaston Golf Club Top Honors

Wollaston Golf Club in Milton held its Club Championship in mid-July, and a fresh face took home the championship trophy in the men's flight.

Patrick O'Leary of Milton, who will be a junior at Boston College High School in the fall, took home 2010 bragging rights after displacing members who had several years on him.

O'Leary defeated defending champion Joe Gilmore, 3&2, in the final match. O'Leary said he started the match off on the wrong foot, bogeying the first three holes to put him down one after three holes.

But O'Leary rallied back to win holes 5, 6 and 7 to take a stranglehold on the match. The youngster went 6-under over the last 13 holes, and he credited his iron play to the turnaround.

"I started hitting my irons really well," said O'Leary, who has plans of playing golf in college when the time comes. "I was putting everything nice and tight and I started rolling in some putts."

This was only the second year O'Leary played in the men's tournament, and to gain entry he needed to do well in a 36-hole qualifying tournament before match play began. According to O'Leary, there were 15 to 20 other golfers looking to qualify but only eight made the cut.

O'Leary fired a 77 and a 78 to qualify third for match play.

During his first round match, O'Leary fired a 1-over 73 and defeated his first opponent — who was 19 years old. In his second match, O'Leary played a bit better and fired a 1-under 71, to clip one of his older brother's friends, who is in his mid-20s.

His final opponent was more than double his age, but the humble O'Leary wouldn't divulge the age of his opponent.

O'Leary will be a fixture on the BC High golf team in the fall and over the course of tournament play in the club championship he said that he got stronger with the more golf he played.

"I definitely got better during the week," O'Leary said of his play. "I was a little up and down, but I definitely played well."