By Nate Crossman, For The Patriot Ledger
April 19, 2010

When Pembroke Country Club was purchased last year by Marshfield native and former NHL star Jeremy Roenick, director of golf operations Nora Berard and her staff had hoped that the course would return to its past glory as one of the best public courses on the South Shore.

But they also had severely damaged greens, decaying cart paths, and several other problems caused by years of neglect.

One year later, not all of Pembroke's problems have been solved, but Berard has more than hope that the 18-hole course is on its way back.

She has evidence.

"I'm much more excited now (then last year), because we have a foundation to build on," said Berard, who's in her second year at Pembroke. "Many of our hopes and dreams have been realized."

One of those realized hopes and dreams is the revitalization of the greens. The South Shore is blessed with a number of public courses with outstanding greens, but Pembroke wasn't one of them. Last year, according to Berard, at least six greens were in such bad shape that they were missing turf, most notably on the first and 10th holes.

But after aggressively over-seeding and fertilizing all the greens last fall, they've made a miraculous recovery.

"The greens are perfect right now," Berard said. "I'd put ours against anybody's."

The best piece of evidence that the golf experience at Pembroke has improved is that the Massachusetts Golf Association chose it to host a qualifier for the Massachusetts Amateur Public Links Championship on July 7. Only courses that provide a sufficient challenge and are in good shape are given that type of honor.

Although Berard is proud of Pembroke's greens, she knows its only one item on a long list of to-dos. One of the first improvements made last year was the purchasing of new sand and rakes for the bunkers. This year, some of the bunkers will be rebuilt. Perhaps the only negative aspect of the course that will remain untouched is the cart paths, but that's only because Pembroke plans to install a new irrigation system in the near future, which would require tearing up any cart paths.

"The big thing is, we're a work in progress," Berard said.

For more information on Pembroke, visit its Web site, www.pembrokegolf.com.

USGA in MA

Massachusetts has a tradition of hosting major golf tournaments, from the U.S. Open to the Ryder Cup. That tradition will continue June 11-13, when Essex County Club in Manchester-by-the-Sea hosts the 2010 Curtis Cup.

The Curtis Cup is the female version of the Walker Cup, in which the top eight amateur golfers in the United States take on the top eight amateurs from Great Britain and Ireland. The U.S. has won the past six Curtis Cups and has a 26-6-3 record overall. Recent Curtis Cup alumni include LPGA Tour players Paula Creamer and Michelle Wie.

The Essex County Club hosted one of the first Curtis Cups, in 1938.

Brae Burn in Newton has also hosted a pair of Curtis Cups, in 1958 and 1970.

For more information on the tournament, visit www.usga.org.

Tournament Talk

Michael Welch's second foray on the PGA Nationwide Tour was a success, as he finished tied for 48th at the Fresh Express Classic at TPC Stonebrae in Hayward, Calif. The Quincy native appeared in danger of missing the cut after shooting a 3-over-par 74 in the first round. But he followed that up with a 65 to make it into the weekend. Welch was the only South Shore native to make the cut, as Marshfield's Geoff Sisk missed it after rounds of 74 and 71.... On the PGA Tour, Pembroke native Kevin Johnson missed the cut at the Verizon Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head after rounds of 73 and 70.... Hingham's Sarah Whitney, a junior at William & Mary, finished tied for 23rd at the Colonial Athletic Association Championships at The Homestead in Hot Springs, Va. Her team finished fourth.... Weymouth's Brad Cadigan is about to wrap up a successful freshman year at Georgetown. Cadigan played in four tournaments for the Hoyas, with his top finish a tie for 22nd. His 11 rounds ranked fifth on the team, and he was tops among freshmen.... The area's top junior golfers had a good showing this past weekend at the Future Collegians World Tour Red Tail Open at Red Tail GC in Devens. In the boys 16-18 division, Milton's Patrick O'Leary finished tied for fourth. In the girls 13-18 division, Scituate's Mary Mulcahy won by three strokes over California's Stephanie Hsieh, while Quincy's Jacquelyn Eleey finished fifth, and Milton's Regan Simeone came in seventh. The FCWT National Championship will take place May 29-31 at PGA National in Florida.... The NEPGA will hold its first pro-am Tuesday at Brae Burn CC. The second one is April 26 at Thorny Lea Golf Club in Brockton.... Both the New England PGA and Massachusetts Golf Association are offering competitive events this summer for amateur golfers. The MGA has Member Days, in which any male or female golfer with an MGA/USGA GHIN handicap can compete in an 18-hole Stableford event.

The first Member Day is May 25 at Crestwood CC in Rehoboth. The cost is $60, which includes golf, a cart, range balls, and an MGA logo tee gift. For more information, visit www.mgalinks.org. The NEPGA has the New England Series, where members will be able to compete in events at courses around Boston. Membership to the New England Series is $125. For more information, visit www.nepga.com.... Registration for Massachusetts and U.S. Open qualifying has begun. The Mass Open will be held June 21-23 at Wellesley CC, while the U.S. Open is June 17-20 at Pebble Beach (Calif.) Golf Links. Registration for the Mass Open qualifiers closes April 22, while registration for the U.S. Open qualifiers is April 28. A U.S. Open qualifier will be held at Pinehills GC in Plymouth on May 12. For more information visit www.mgalinks.org.

Chips and Putts

Former LPGA star Annika Sorenstam will be the guest speaker at this year's Francis Ouimet Scholarship Fund annual banquet May 10 at the Boston Marriot Copley Place Hotel. For more information on the event, visit www.ouimet.com.... April is the PGA Play Golf America's Free Golf Fitting month. Area PGA pros will be offering a free 15-minute fitting for anyone who's interested. The free fitting also earns participants entry to win a trip to the 2010 PGA Championship at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin. For more information, visit www.playgolfamerica.com.

Photos by GREG DERR/The Patriot Ledger Improvements have come at a steady pace at Pembroke Country Club, which will be the site of a qualifier for the Massachusetts Amateur Public Links Championship on July 7.