When the Massachusetts Amateur Championship begins on Monday, there will be a New England Patriots player teeing off.
Punter Bryce Baringer will tee off at 1:32 p.m. EST at the Framingham Country Club. The punter won the 2024 Massachusetts Amateur Qualifier when he went 1-under par 69 at Stockbridge Golf Club, which qualified him for this month’s event. Baringer sunk a 25-foot birdie putt on the final hole at the qualifier.
The Patriots don’t start training camp until next month, so the Massachusetts Amateur Championship won’t interfere with any football-related activities.
BetMGM BET UP TO $1,500! BONUS BET REFUND AFTER A LOSS
STATES: AZ, CO, IA, IL, IN, KS, LA, MD, MI, NJ, OH, PA, TN, VA. Visit BetMGM.com for Terms and Conditions. 21 years of age or older to wager. MA Only. New Customer Offer. All promotions are subject to qualification and eligibility requirements. Rewards issued as non-withdrawable bonus bets. Bonus bets expire 7 days from issuance. In Partnership with MGM Springfield. Play it smart from the start with GameSense. GameSenseMA.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-327-5050 or visit gamblinghelplinema.org. US Promotional Offers not available in New York.
A 2023 sixth-round pick by the Patriots, Baringer said that his teammates and coaches encouraged him to play in the qualifier. And even though he elected to make a career out of football, he uses knowledge from golf in order for him to be a better punter.
“Punting seems so monotonous, but if you look around the league, there’s so many ways to punt. Same thing with the way people golf. You have your own swing in football and golf,” Baringer told Patriots.com “At the same time, I hit different types of punts depending on the situation we’re in. It’s the same thing in golf when you’re trying to hit certain types of shots at certain distances. It’s about your touch. It’s very relatable in the way both require you to intentionally understand what you want it all to look like. You have to visualize.
“… Golf forces you to stay in the moment,” he later added. “I could have a good shot or a bad shot — a good punt or a bad punt. All that matters is how you recover and how you come back. I think that’s another big correlation.”
The Massachusetts Amateur Championship begins Monday morning with the first tee time at 7:30 a.m. EST.