Playing golf helps Bryce Baringer mentally prepare for football. The New England Patriots punter has no shortage of analogies when he compares playing both sports.
But more so than ever on Monday and Tuesday, after playing 36 holes between two of the most humid days recorded all summer, he could justify a pair of rounds against the best golfers in Massachusetts as sufficient physical preparation for the NFL preseason.
“It was hot and humid, I’m drenched and tired, but it was good,” Baringer said after turning in his scorecard at the 2024 Massachusetts Amateur Golf Championship.
“It was good to get back out there and feel the competitive juices again.”
Since Patriots OTAs and mandatory minicamp wrapped up weeks ago, Baringer has worked towards competing in the Mass. Amateur.
After realizing the tournament was in nearby Framingham, he managed to find just one qualifier out in the Berkshires that still had open registration. He medaled at the Stockbridge Golf Club shooting a 69 to earn his place in the championship.
“It worked out perfect,” Baringer said of the tournament’s timing in relation to his offseason.
“I came out on a whim and said screw it, let’s just try. I played really well (at the qualifier) and I played good again today. If I could get maybe three or four total swings back out of the two days I think I had a good chance. But either way, it was fun having my wife here, my really good friend Keith (Regalbuti) on the bag, and then my dad came out, so it was a good time.”
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