Vana cruises to
Mass Amateur final
Frank Vana Jr. will shoot for his third Mass. Amateur title today at The Country Club in Brookline.
By Justin A. Rice/Daily News correspondent
BROOKLINE — On the first hole of his quarterfinal match yesterday in the 101st Massachusetts Amateur, Frank Vana Jr. overshot the green for the first time in the week-long tournament.
After defeating No. 15 Benjamin Bridgeo of Cohasset Country Club 5 and 4 in the morning at The Country Club, the man from Marlborough made sure to stick the first green when he took on No. 22 seed Scott Congdon in the semifinals.
``He doesn't like to go over, that's for sure,'' Vana's friend and caddy for the week, Dick Premerlani, said just before Vana parred the opening hole. ``He's really got control of his irons.''
The nine-time Massachusetts Golf Association Player of the Year and two-time Mass Am champ went on to defeat Congdon 3 and 1 to clinch his fifth Mass Am final appearance.
The seventh-seeded Vana will meet No. 13 Bill Drohen this morning in a 36-hole championship match. Vana beat Drohen, 36, in the semifinals before winning the tournament in both 2004 and 2005. But Vana, 46, lost to Drohen's older brother, 40-year-old Andy, in the Mass Am final at TCC in 2003.
``It's almost deja vu,'' Vana said. ``I know both of them much better this time. I've played a lot of golf with them since then. I expect it to be a grind.''
Bill Drohen, who beat eighth-seeded Bradley Kushner 5 and 4 to make the final, was on his brother's bag in 2003 and now Andy will be his caddie today.
``It's special because of what happened here,'' Bill Drohen, who lives in Stoughton, said of his brother being on his bag today. ``We have good chemistry. And we play in four-balls together a lot, and we're very close. So any time we come together it's great. He knows my game and I know his game. He is returning the favor.''
Bill Drohen, who made a combined 21 pars and five birdies in both his matches yesterday, is also looking forward to playing Vana.
``Me and Frank have been battling for many years now,'' he said. ``I'm looking forward to going out there and giving it my best. We'll see what happens. It's going to be a fun day.''
In 2004, Vana beat Mike Cole at Taconic Golf Club and in 2005, he beat Ben Spitz to take home the Mass Am title. In 2006, he lost in the quarterfinals, in 2007 he lost in the final and last year he lost in the quarterfinals again.
While Vana said he's proud of his consistency, he added, ``It's not very fun coming this far and not winning. It's a grind. Hopefully I'll be calm and have a good day.''
Vana, who has not trailed his opponent throughout the match-play portion of the tournament, which began on Wednesday, benefited in the morning when his younger opponent, the 30-year-old Bridgeo, fell apart. Vana made bogey on the 450-yard, par-4 1st hole but kept pace with Bridgeo through the next seven holes. He then dropped a 30-foot birdie putt on the 8th to take a 1-up lead before winning the next four out of five holes.
In the afternoon, Vana was not as lucky as his 22-year-old opponent, Congdon, refused to go away.
``From the ninth hole in there was a lot of grinding going on his end,'' Vana said. ``He made a great shot on every hole it seemed like.''
Congdon made three straight bogeys - on the 5th, 6th and 7th holes - that allowed Vana to take a 3-up lead.
But on the ninth hole Congdon saved par to stay in it. After he thought his tee shot sailed right out of bounds, he found the ball and chipped into the fairway before eventually sinking a 15-foot par putt. On the next hole, Vana's approach shot fell short and Congdon took advantage by making birdie to make it 2 up.
But it also didn't hurt Vana's cause that he landed on the green on the very first hole of the match.
``It's nice,'' he said. ``It's always good to get out of the gate (well).''Vana cruises to Mass Open final
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