Players Brave The Weather To Qualify for Mike Ryan Memorial Match Play
Manchester, NH- With the chance of rain and thunderstorms looming, The Mike Ryan Memorial got underway at Derryfield Country Club today. The early groups stayed dry, while the later groups battled the rain.
Mitch Cormier and Ryan Rankins found themselves at the top of the leaderboard as co-medalists in the first round of stroke play qualifying. They both shot a very solid two over par, 72.
“I was hitting the driver good. I stayed out of trouble and hit greens. I made a lot of two putts, and really wasn’t doing anything special” said Rankins. With a front nine that saw six pars in a row, and two bogeys, Rankins found a few birdies on the back nine. The back half of his back nine saw two bogeys, to bring him to two over par for the day. At the Elite Girls division, Juliana Megan found herself in solo first place at the end of day one. Megan is no stranger to the top spot. Today she carded a six over 76. Megan started her round with two bogeys, but quickly found her stride making a birdie on the third hole. On the back nine, she found herself making six pars and three bogeys. Megan finished ten shots better than the rest of the field.
In the Prep Boy’s division, Maddox Ketelaar fired an impressive one over par 71 to take the top spot. Ketelaar started hot with a birdie on the first hole. He followed that yup with three bogeys on a row. Showing mental toughness, he went on to make birdie on hole five, and never looked back from there. The Prep Girl’s division also saw a familiar face leading after day one. Mady Savary, came in with an eleven over 81. Savary was steady all day making pars. With a birdie on twelve, and a hiccup on 18, she coasted into the clubhouse in the top spot.
In our youngest division, Birdie (9 holes), Colton Cameron leads after round one. Cameron handed in a solid 51. Cameron will get the one seed in the match play bracket, and receive a bye in the first round.
Match play will begin tomorrow with most divisions playing a round of 16. The winners will move on and play a second round in the afternoon.
The Mike Ryan Memorial Championship was formerly known as the Red Ryan Tournament. The NHGA Junior Tour made the decision in 2019 to name the tournament after Mike Ryan, who dedicated his life to the growth of junior golf around New Hampshire. This tournament will honor his name and his legacy at Derryfield County Club. The Mike Ryan Memorial Championship is a three-day tournament with the first round being 18 holes of qualifying stroke play, with two days of match play to follow.
Complete results from today round can be found here: Round 1 Results