LOWELL — Approaching the final green at his home club, Trevor Drew’s caddie had a special request for the Lowell City Golf Tournament leader.
The plea wasn’t about strategy or how to navigate the swirling gusts of wind at Long Meadow on Friday. Adam Dorant saw a crowd yearning for an explosion. He knew Drew’s putter could catalyze such an outburst.
“Me and my caddie were kind of coming up (the fairway), and he’s like, ‘I want to hear a roar,’ ” Drew said.
Eyeing a 20-footer in front of a large gallery in the second round of the 100th Cities, Drew drained a birdie putt to cement a 3-under 69 to provide the Tyngsboro native with a commanding nine-shot lead ahead of the final round Saturday at Mt. Pleasant.
Drew is in pursuit of his second consecutive title after raising the trophy last year. Standing in his way is Mt. Pleasant’s Chris Gentle, who recorded a 2-over 74 to sit in second place. Mt. Pleasant’s Trevor Green (76-71-147) shot a 1-under 71 to solidify a position in third.
“No lead is safe,” Drew said. “ A lot can happen. Chris is a good player and we’re going to his course. He’s obviously going to put up a big fight, so I’m approaching it the same way I did the first two rounds where everybody is back to even and back to square one.”
Long Meadow’s Trevor Drew follows his approach shot during the second round of the 100th Lowell City Golf Tournament on Friday at Long Meadow Golf Club. He will take a nine-shot lead into the final round Saturday. (James Thomas for the Lowell Sun)
Drew followed up his record performance from Wednesday with another dominant 18 holes. In the opening round at Vesper, Drew’s 6-under 66 was good for the lowest score in the tournament’s 100-year history at Vesper.
The Western Kentucky linksman wasn’t perfect on Friday — settling for a double bogey on the fourth hole while battling the wind — but he netted four birdies on the back nine to extend his large lead.
Drew is also leading the charge to bring the team trophy back to Long Meadow for the first time since 2003. Long Meadow leads the four clubs with a total score of 1,709 to lead Mt. Pleasant (1,731).
As the wind was whipping around the links, a course expected to be more scorable than Vesper tossed a curveball at golfers looking to improve their scores from Wednesday’s opening round.
Mt. Pleasant’s Chris Gentle reads the green at No. 2 during the second round of the 100th Lowell City Golf Tournament on Friday at Long Meadow Golf Club. (James Thomas for the Lowell Sun)
Few were able to make as significant a jump in the leaderboard as Nabnasset’s Mike Schnyer. After carding a 6-over 79 at Vesper, Schnyer joined Drew and Green as the three golfers to turn in a score under par on Friday. Schnyer carded a 71.
Schnyer is playing in his 26th Cities and is Nabnasset’s top scorer through two days.
“It was very tough,” said Schnyer, 51. “The wind definitely wreaked some havoc.”
The gusts never fazed the longtime City-goer, who complimented three bogeys on the front nine with three pars and three birdies before settling in at the turn. After sinking a birdie putt on 10, Schnyer logged eight consecutive pars.
“A few more birdies would have been nice, but with the wind, I was extremely happy,” Schnyer said. “The greens are super fast, the course is in great shape and they did an awesome job here. It was a fun day to play golf.”
Schnyer, who has been a member at Nabbasset for over 40 years, recorded a fourth-place finish in 2012 for his best performance to date at the tournament.
“I just really enjoy the Cities. I’ve been around it my entire life, and I just really love it. I want to compete,” Schnyer said.
Saturday will be a memorable homecoming for Green. Not only is the Mt. Pleasant golfer set to return to his home course for the final round, Green will play in the final group after posting a 1-under 71 on Friday to occupy third place. After succumbing to a double bogey on 14, Green registered two birdies the rest of the way to finish a strong round.
Andrew Mierzwa of Mt. Pleasant Golf Club plays from bunker during Friday’s second round of the 100th Lowell City Golf Tournament at Long Meadow Golf Club. (James Thomas for the Lowell Sun)
“To be around (Drew) and be in one of those final two groups, it’s going to be special. Tomorrow is going to be special for me,” said Green, 23.
Green made his first Cities appearance at age 14 and will complete his seventh tournament on Saturday. The Lowell resident finished tied for 24th a year ago and tied for 12th in 2023.
“It feels great. I started well day one and finished strong, but going back to home base now, I feel pretty good about it,” Green said.
Morgan Smith blasts a shot out of a bunker Friday at Long Meadow. (James Thomas for the Lowell Sun)
Three members of the Smith family – Maddie (148), Molly (150) and father Phil (150) – are in the top eight entering the final round.
Scores
Trevor Drew (LM) 66-69-135
Chris Gentle (MP) 70-74-144
Trevor Green (MP) 76-71-147
Chris Herrick (V) 72-76-148
Maddie Smith (LM) 70-78-148
Mike Schnyer (N) 79-71-150
Molly Smith (MP) 72-78-150
Phil Smith (LM) 74-76-150
Eric Young (N) 76-75-151
Ryan Friel (V) 74-77-151
Rick Moreau (N) 78-74-152
Andrew Conway (V) 78-75-153
Kyle Dunn (LM) 77-76-153
Brian Corbett (MP) 74-79-153
Daniel Brown (V) 76-77-153
Morgan Smith (LM) 76-78-154
Travis Kellegrew (N) 78-77-155
Matt Asselin (MP) 76-79-155
Jeffrey Monahan (V) 77-79-156
Andrew Mierzwa (MP) 76-80-156
Nathan Crowley (LM) 82-75-157
Eric Roy (MP) 78-80-158
William Adie (V) 81-79-160
Bernie Nangle (LM) 84-78-162
Reed Bourgeois (LM) 82-80-162
George Vergados (LM) 86-77-163
Ryan Lally (MP) 77-86-163
Justin Adams (V) 85-79-164
Jason Fischer (V) 84-80-164
Jason Howarth (MP) 82-82-164
Matt Tramonte (LM) 81-83-164
Andrew Mosco (V) 88-77-165
Nicholas Wilder (N) 83-82-165
Bret Edwards (LM) 82-83-165
George Popp (V) 80-85-165
David Walshe (N) 83-83-166
Daniel Meyers (V) 79-87-166
Ryan Brogan (V) 79-88-167
David D’Entremont (LM) 89-79-168
Chris Lerra (N) 86-83-169
Liam Gleason (MP) 84-85-169
Jack Ryan (N) 88-84-172
Thomas McKiernan (MP) 87-86-173
Chris Osborn (MP) 89-85-174
Dan Ahern (N) 93-81-174
Tom Ervin (N) 82-92-174
Kevin McLaughlin (N) 82-93-175
Ben Larkins (N) DNF-85
Robb Burndrett (N) 90-DNF
