After taking a few years off from competitive golf, Cody Booska returned to compete in a qualifier for the Massachusetts Amateur Championship at Springfield Country Club on Wednesday.

Booska wasted no time finding his rhythm on the course. 

The Franklin Tech alum representing the Country Club of Greenfield opened his round with a birdie on the first hole, then birdied four, five and seven before a bogey on nine brought him to 3-under on the front nine. Booska played the second nine even to finish with a 3-under 69 on the day – the best score of the 90 golfers that competed in Wednesday’s qualifier.

With the top eight finishers advancing to the Mass. Am — scheduled for July 7-11 at GreatHorse in Hampden — Booska easily sewed up his spot in the field. 

“[Springfield is] a really tough course,” Booska said. “I felt like I played it well today. The rain definitely helped — it’s usually really firm and fast — so the rain helped soften it up. All in all, it was a good day.” 

Booska enjoyed being back in the mix at a Mass Golf qualifier, and thought it helped bring his game to a new level. He last played in the Mass. Amateur in 2019, when he qualified for match play and reached the Round of 16 at The Country Club in Brookline.

“I took a little break for a while with work and everything else,” Booska said. “We had a great time today. I haven’t had the juices flowing like that in a while. The nerves were flowing a little bit again and I haven’t had that feeling in a while. It felt good to get out to that good start with the birdie on [No. 1].” 

Booska was one of just two players to shoot under par on the day (GreatHorse’s Steve Wagner shot 2-under 70). Players that shot 2-over 74 or better were able to advance to next month’s championship proper.

“At the end of the day, you just need to get top eight,” he said. “Still, I'll take how I did today any day. It’s always great to play that course, especially in a big tournament like Mass. Am. Now I’m hoping to qualify for match play. You have to take these tournaments one step at a time. The qualifier today was step one and that’s achieved by getting to play at GreatHorse. Hopefully I can string two good rounds together there and then in match play, anything can happen.” 

Chris Bourbeau and Gunnar Moore also competed representing Country Club of Greenfield on Wednesday. Bourbeau finished in a tie for 53rd with an 8-over 80 while Moore tied for 88th with a 15-over 87. Crumpin-Fox Club’s Ron Laverdiere shot 6-over 78.