The 100th Lowell City Golf Tournament will have a different feel when the top golfers from Vesper, Mt. Pleasant, Long Meadow and Nabnasset Lake tee off next month.
Two recent former champions will not be in the 48-player field.
Nabnasset’s Brandon Gillis, the 2021 and 2023 champion, is in his second year as an assistant coach at the University of Rhode Island, where he starred after transferring from Wake Forest.
Also not in the field is Vesper’s John DeVito, the 2019 champ. DeVito, who has three young children, is no longer a member of the Tyngsboro club.
Two changes have also been made. The champion’s trophy will be named in honor of Jim Moriarty, a longtime player in the tournament and a strong proponent of amateur golf around the state. Moriarty is the unofficial mayor of Mt. Pleasant.
The other change will change the start times of the two weekend rounds. Instead of the first tee time being at noon, now the first group will go off at 11 a.m.
The change was made because recent playoffs have resulted in the final golfers barely breaking their deadlock due to darkness, including last year’s playoff battle between Trevor Drew and Molly Smith which was decided on the second playoff hole.
Moving up the tee times an hour also builds a cushion in case of inclement weather.
The schedule: Wednesday, June 18 at Vesper; Friday, June 20 at Long Meadow; and Saturday, June 21 at Mt. Pleasant.
Field of dreams
Quite the moment Tuesday for Chelmsford native and Northeastern University pitcher Jack Beauchesne.
Beauchesne, a senior pitcher, has thrown thousands of pitches in his life. But it’s unlikely many have meant more than the 17 he tossed from the Fenway Park mound against Harvard during Northeastern’s 5-4 victory during the eighth Beanpot Championship.
The 6-1, 200-pounder threw 1.1 scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out one. Northeastern (34-9) is rolling and will bring a 13-game winning streak into this weekend. The Huskies will host UMass Lowell next Wednesday.
Beauchesne, a former Chelmsford High and Milton Academy star, has struck out 12 in 12.1 innings over 10 appearances this spring. His three saves are the second most on the team. He comes from an athletic family.
His father, Eric Beauchesne, ran cross country and track at Providence College and went on to capture three Cape Cod Marathon titles.
Tops in his field
The Little East Conference has announced its year-end award winners in men’s outdoor track and field and UMass Dartmouth freshman Sean Patrone was named the Field Rookie of the Year.
He helped the Corsairs claim their fifth LEC outdoor championship title and third overall since the 2022 season.
Patrone, a native of Wilmington, earned his rookie honor after an outstanding LEC Championship that saw him produce a collegiate best mark of 2.02 meters (6 feet, 7.5 inches) to win the high jump. It marked his fifth high jump win of the outdoor season across six meets.
Patrone will be back in action at the 2025 Division III New England Championships, hosted by the Coast Guard Academy on Friday and Saturday.
River Hawks soar
Kudos to head coach Lisa Miller and her UMass Lowell women’s lacrosse program.
The River Hawks (11-5) will face Albany on Friday in an America East semifinal game in Smithfield, R.I. UMass Lowell is coming off the program’s first AE regular season title. Miller, in her sixth season, is the second coach in program history.
Albany is 10-1 against UML all-time, but the River Hawks won the last meeting with a 13-9 victory on March 29.
UML has plenty of firepower with the likes of senior Jade Catlin of Middletown, Md., who has netted 50 goals this spring, and sophomore Jillian Goldie, a native of Owen Sound, Ont., who has compiled 33 goals and 13 assists.
