Trevor Drew edges Molly Smith to win Lowell City Tournament (2024)

LOWELL — Molly Smith was trying to break through a glass ceiling using a driver.

The Westford resident and Mt. Pleasant golfer collected three birdies over her first 16 holes to go 1-under and maintain a one-shot lead heading into the home stretch of the 99th Lowell City Golf Tournament on Saturday at Long Meadow.

But nothing was going to rain on Trevor Drew’s parade.

The Tyngsboro resident and Long Meadow golfer came from behind against Smith, collecting six birdies, including three consecutive on hole 15-17 to go 1-under and force an overtime playoff. He completed his comeback win over Smith in a thrilling two-hole playoff showdown.

Drew capped his tremendous comeback run firing a 68, while earning an overall total of 74-70-68-215, forcing the tiebreaker, before edging Smith by one stroke.

“It feels great,” said Drew. “I think last night, after that three putt from three feet I asked myself ‘How are you going to respond?’ You can either fall down and stay down or come out swinging and put up a fight.”

Both golfers replayed hole nine, tying the first playoff hole to force a second. The pair reached the green on their second strokes. Smith overshot her third putt from 25 feet before Drew tallied the winner from eight feet away.

Smith was shooting to become the first-ever woman to win the 48-player tournament in its near-century long history. Smith’s older sister, Morgan, became the first female to play in the tournament in 2019.

She held the lead for much of the front nine and enjoyed a sensational tourney, finishing a strong second at 1-under 71, closing at 76-68-71-215.

“It’s disappointing,” said Smith, 19. “I thought I played well today. I just didn’t have the putts dropping as well as I did yesterday.”

Both golfers have tremendous respect for each other.

“Molly’s an incredible player,” said Drew. “It’s always competitive when we come out and play for fun, but she’s unbelievable. I don’t think people understand how good she really is. She had an incredible year at (Central Florida).”

Trevor Drew edges Molly Smith to win Lowell City Tournament (1)

“Trevor’s just a good, solid player,” said Smith. “I knew going in that he was going to play well on this course. He caught his groove down the stretch and I just didn’t make enough putts to match him in the end.”

Drew, 19, had a Jekyll and Hyde afternoon, especially on the front nine. The Tyngsboro resident picked up three birdies over the span of four holes, but was offset by a pair of bogeys in between, keeping him just two steps behind both Smith and Andrew Conway.

He ended his first half 2-over at 35, before catching his second wind with his first of three birdies on 15, lifting him from third to tie for first in no time.

“The front nine was a little bit rocky,” said Drew. “I got a couple of good breaks. I was fortunate the putter felt really good on the front. I kept telling myself to stay patient. It was all part of the process. I stayed in the back and started hitting it good. The putts were just missing. I told my dad on 15 I birdied the last four there, I said why not do it again. I had three in a row to put up a fight. That’s what you practice for.”

Mt. Pleasant’s Chris Gentle, who fired an opening round 80 only to roar back, emerged from the field to sit third at 1-over with two holes to play.

Gentle finished with a 4-under 68 to surge up the leaderboard. The players had to deal with persistent rain and a couple of heavy downpours.

Trevor Drew edges Molly Smith to win Lowell City Tournament (2)

It was a fight to the finish for Smith having to fend off Conway, Drew and Gentle on multiple occasions.

Smith held steady to open the third round taking the early lead offher first birdie on hole 3. She managed to stay a step ahead of both Conway andDrew for much of the first half, before Conway found his footing.A Westford resident and Vesper golfer, Conway, 38, took the one-stoke lead fueled by a pair of back-to-back birdies on 6-7.

He managed to leapfrog over Smith, whose double bogey on 8 put her 1-over. She still managed to regroup on hole 9, sparked by a terrific second stroke which left her just five feet shy of the cup, before breaking even at the halfway point at 36.

“No shock the two Division 1 golfers are going into a playoff,” said Conway. “I guess I got a little tight on the back nine. Couple squirrelly shots, a couple bad breaks and there you go.”

Meanwhile, Gentle was gathering plenty of momentum. A defending champ and former pro, the Lowell resident resurfaced on the back nine going 4-under, while garnering four birdies, including one on 12, which pulled him ahead of Drew by a stroke. He continued to land three birdies on the back nine tying him with Smith and Conway by hole 14, before tying Molly at even par on the afternoon with five holes to play.

Trevor Drew edges Molly Smith to win Lowell City Tournament (3)

But Smith was up to the challenge. The Central Florida freshman earned her third birdie on 15 to maintain the one-stroke lead over Gentle at 1-under.

“It was back against the wall time, I had to do something,” said Gentle. “I was thinking 2-under was going to win the tournament, so I was looking to shoot 65 like I was planning on doing yesterday. First day set me back, I’m just proud to fight back and at least have a chance at it.”

A 15-year tourney veteran, Gentle feels the state of golf in the area is stronger than ever.

“Coming into it the field itself was probably the best I’ve ever seen,” said Gentle. “You’ve got players playing in the USGA playing in the City Tournament. You’re going to have 6-8 people every year that can genuinely win the tournament. I think it’s going to be fun every year from here on out.”

John DeVito and two-time champ Brandon Gillis rounded out the top five.

The tournament began Wednesday with eight former champions in the field.

There have been three truly dominant players since the tournament began in 1923 – Chick Grasse, Doug Parigian and Phil Smith.

Grasse won nine titles, the last in 1954. Parigian and Smith, meanwhile, have won 10 and eight championships, respectively, and both teed it up in this year’s tournament. In fact, the eight former champs have combined to win more than one quarter (26) of the overall titles entering this year.

The opening round at Vesper, with temperatures soaring to near 100, featured several surprises, including Smith rocketing up the leaderboard. Long Meadow’s Smith tied for third with a terrific 2-over par 74, leaving some to wonder if the eight-time champion could produce enough magic to collect win No. 9.

But it was not to be. A back injury forced Smith to withdraw from the tournament, leaving the field with two of his daughters, Morgan and Molly, two of the top amateur players in New England.

After an off day on Thursday, when the area was again hit with scorching temperatures and high humidity, the tournament switched across the Merrimack River to Mt. Pleasant GC in Lowell.

But Mother Nature wasn’t done throwing curveballs. Friday’s round at MP featured a rain delay of approximately one hour and more rain showers hovered over Long Meadow on Saturday, including a couple of downpours in the afternoon, soaking the course and cutting down the number of spectators considerably.

The medalist trophy was set to be presented in memory of the late Don McGillicuddy, a former Long Meadow member who was best known for being one of the area’s best high school basketball referees.

Scores

Trevor Drew LM 72-75-68-215

Molly Smith MP 76-68-71-215

Chris Gentle MP 80-69-68-217

John DeVito V 78-71-69-218

Andrew Conway V 74-70-75-219

Brandon Gillis N 75-74-71-220

Morgan Smith LM 77-77-69-223

Trevor Drew edges Molly Smith to win Lowell City Tournament (2024)

Scores

References