Houston heats up,
but misses cut
By Justin A. Rice/Daily News Correspondent
BELMONT -- Burgess Houston's short-lived softball career might be over, but his burgeoning golf game might start taking off any day now.
The Wellesley native rebounded from a rough opening day in the 100th Massachusetts Open yesterday, finishing with a total 155, missing the cut by just two strokes. The 3-over-par 74 came after he shot an 81 in Monday's opening round and six weeks after he sprained his ankle in a softball game.
"It's the end of my softball career, I knew from the get-go I realized what was going on," said the 2007 State Amateur champion, who will compete in that tournament again next month at the Country Club in Brookline. "After an 81, I needed any boost I could get. I just haven't played in a tournament in a while. It's been a couple months."
Hopkinton's Jon Curran continued to play well yesterday in his first tournament as a pro and was one of 46 players to make the cut. And Jedi Glass, whose home course is Marlborough Country Club, barely made the cut with a total score of 153 after shooting 82 yesterday and 71 Monday. He is tied for 39th place with eight other golfers.
After shooting a 75 yesterday, Curran carded a 70 yesterday to finish with a 145. Curran, whose home course is Framingham Country Club, is 1-under par overall and alone in 11th place going into today's final round. His improvement was partially thanks to weather conditions that, by comparison, were much better than Monday's monsoon, although forecasts had said yesterday was supposed to be just as soggy.
"The forecasts are god-awful," Curran said. "I'm starting to believe they are some of the worst forecasts ever. When they say there's a 50 to 60 percent (chance of a storm), that means maybe. You gotta pay attention so you can be ready and prepared and have your rain gear. You just have to play and get ready for a long day.
"It was still hard and nasty (yesterday), it wasn't playing easy."
Curran said another big difference yesterday was that he was hitting more greens and had a lot more putting chances. But Curran still wasn't pleased with his performance.
"I shot 1-under, but I left a lot of shots out there," he said. "I just have to try to get as low as I can. I just have to keep making birdies and go as low as I possibly can."
Curran won a state championship his junior year at Hopkinton High and was a 2007 All-American at Vanderbilt before turning pro last month, and he will go for his PGA Tour card this fall at the PGA's Q-School.
Houston, on the other hand, still feels like he's not ready to go for his card.
"I'm not really ready for the Q-School," said Houston, who finished tied for 56th with nine other players yesterday. "It will take six months to make it my job."
The 26-year-old, whose home course is the New England Country Club in Bellingham, has had a roundabout golf career. After graduating from the Rivers School in Weston he worked odd jobs, including delivering dog treats. He didn't get serious about golf again until he met Dave Adamonis, whose son Brad plays on the PGA tour.
"Dave told me I got something, and I might as well do something with it," said Houston, who eventually went to Johnson & Whales University in Aventura, Fla., and was a second-team All-American last year. "I owe the Adamonis family a lot."
They would have been proud of Houston's performance in the Mass. Open. Coming in nervous to Monday's round, he shot 11-over on the first nine holes before settling down.
"Something clicked, I just kept playing," he said. "I was 2-over the rest of the way. I needed to knock a little rust off."
But Houston will still take it easy before he gears up to go for his Tour card.
"I still want one summer of fun and relaxation before I hit the real world," he said.
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