BERNARDSTON — Jonathan Elkins struggled during the second round Tuesday at the 101st Massachusetts Junior Amateur Championship at Crumpin-Fox Club.
The South Deerfield resident carded a 5-over 41 over the back nine, finishing outside the cut with a two-round total of 10-over 154.
“Nothing dropped today,” said Elkins, who finished with a 7-over 79 in the second round. “It was a real grind. The course was so much firmer today. The setup wasn’t much harder but the rain (Monday) definitely made things different then compared to today.”
The 18-year-old finished tied for 30th, four shots away from a spot in the final 16. Golfers at 6-over 150 or better advanced to Wednesday’s match play portion of the event. The semifinals and finals are set for Thursday.
Elkins, who teed off on No. 10 for his second round, started with back-to-back bogeys but regrouped with a birdie on No. 14. He missed a short putt on No. 17 for another bogey, and took the turn at 5-over for the tournament.
“The theme of my front nine was that I wasn’t aggressive enough with putts,” Elkins said. “I should have been in better position than I was (going to the other nine holes).”
Elkins had a par putt lip out on No. 1, and ran into some serious trouble on the par-4 second hole. His approach missed long, and landed on a downslope. With not much of an angle to work with, his chip went through the green and back down into the fairway. From there, he made double bogey.
“I caught a flyer and it took off,” said Elkins of the chip on No. 2. “But for me, that bogey on (No. 1), that self-inflicted error was really what turned the round south. I used a gap wedge instead of a pitching wedge and that three-putt just killed everything.”
Needing to make a bit of a move to get back into contention, Elkins rattled off three straight pars to settle down. At the par-4 sixth, he stuck his approach and sank an 8-foot birdie putt to climb back to 7-over for the tournament. With three holes left, he knew he likely needed one more birdie to stay alive.
“At that point, I was digging as deep as I could,” he said. “After that birdie on six, I thought I had a chance.”
He gave himself a long look at birdie on No. 7, but another three-putt dropped him back again. After a par on No. 8, he went at the pin on the par-3 ninth hole and missed the green. He finished with a double-bogey that closed out the 7-over 79.
Dedham Country & Polo Club’s John Broderick shot 69, the low round of the tournament, and finished as stroke play medalist at 2-under 142. Defending champion James Imai is in second place with a 1-under 143, followed by Joseph Lenane and Trevor Lopez who are tied for third at even-par 144.
Elkins, who will be a senior at Taft School (Connecticut) this fall, has committed to play at Villanova in 2020.