LOWELL — Trevor Drew will not win a third consecutive Lowell City Golf Tournament.
That is not a bold prediction.
The Tyngsboro native has decided to skip the 2026 event, one year after smashing the three-round tournament record by posting an eye-popping 205 (11-under), pretty impressive considering the event began in 1923.
The Long Meadow member edged Molly Smith in a two-hole playoff to win the 2024 title and then last year put on a show for the ages.
“He told me he’s trying to make some swing changes. He has a busy July and August so he wants to get everything in order,” Long Meadow pro Shawn Scott said. “He just decided to skip this one.”
Drew is coming off a sophomore season at Western Kentucky University in which he averaged a 74.66 score over 32 rounds.
Smith will also not tee it up in the 101st edition of the tournament. The Westford resident is leaving Thursday to compete in the British Women’s Amateur in Scotland.
The Lowell City Golf tournament features the top 12 players from Long Meadow Golf Club, Vesper Country Club, Mt. Pleasant Golf Club and Nabnasset Lake Country Club. The tournament will begin on Wednesday at Vesper in Tyngsboro.
Round 2 will be Friday at Mt. Pleasant and Long Meadow will host the final round on Saturday.
The field looks different without Drew and Smith in it.
“It certainly does,” Scott said. “It opens it up quite a bit. I would say Chris Gentle is probably the favorite.”
Gentle, a Mt. Pleasant member, finished second last year and is a two-time winner. He won the 2015 tournament by nine shots and the 2016 event by 10 shots before turning pro. He regained his amateur status a couple of years ago.
Gentle earned runner-up status last year, finishing 13 shots back of Drew, who staged a master class beginning with an opening-round 66 at Vesper. Drew took a nine-shot lead into the final round and cruised to victory.
Trevor Drew of Long Meadow GC lofts a chip onto No. 13 as his caddie looks on during the final round of the 100th Lowell City Golf Tournament last June. He won by a staggering 13 shots. (James Thomas for the Lowell Sun)
How impressive was Drew’s performance? In the 100th playing of the tourney, his 205 total smashed the previous record set by Doug Parigian (2003) and then tied by Brandon Gillis (2023) by three shots.
The Cities is one of the oldest local amateur tournaments in the country. There’s a handful of former champions in the field, headlined by 10-time winner Parigian and eight-time champion Phil Smith.
No one has won more Cities titles than Parigian and Smith is third all-time. Smith’s remarkable seven-year consecutive title run (2007-13) may never be broken. Smith’s three daughters, Morgan, Molly and Maddie, are all accomplished players, but only Morgan, the first female to ever play in the tournament, is in this year’s field.
Last year the Smiths put on a clinic. Phil Smith finished sixth with a 225, followed closely by Molly (227), Maddie (231) and Morgan (233).
Long Meadow will look to defend its team title. Last year the Lowell/Tewksbury club placed five golfers in the top 12 to capture its first team crown since 2003.
Here’s the tee times for Wednesday’s opening round at Vesper.
12 p.m..: Dan Brown (V), Tyler Lagasse (N), Keegan Cote (LM)
12:10 p.m.: Dan Ahern (V), Nate Sayer (LM), Ryan Lally (MP)
12:20 p.m.: Reed Bourgeois (LM), Dean Trahan (MP), Chris Wachel (V)
12:30 p.m.: Tommy McKiernan (MP), Jason Fischer (V), Nick Anderson (N)
12:40 p.m.: Ryan Hart (V), Ben Larkin (N), Steve Ossinger (LM)
12:50 p.m.: Jack Ryan (N), Joey Miller (LM), Phil Conners (MP)
1:00 p.m.: Morgan Smith (LM), Mike Corbin (MP), Daniel Myers (V)
1:10 p.m.: Andrew Gys (MP), Martin Rask (V), Dave Walshe (N)
1:20 p.m.: Jeff Monahan (V), Trey Johnson (N), Matt Tramonte (LM)
1:30 p.m.: Brian Piekos (N), Doug Parigian (LM), Brian Corbett (MP)
1:40 p.m.: Brendan Zinck (LM), Andrew Mierzwa (MP), George Popp (V)
1:50 p.m.: Tyler Schermerhorn (MP), Ryan Brogan (V), Rick Moreau (N)
2:00 p.m.: Andrew Conway (V), Travis Kellegrew (N), Kyle Dunn (LM)
2:10 p.m.: Robb Burndrett (N), Phil Smith (LM), Matt Asselin (MP)
2:20 p.m.: Nate Crowley (LM), Trevor Green (MP), Chris Herrick (V)
2:30 p.m.: Chris Gentle (MP), Griffin Brown (V), Mike Schnyer (N)
The alternates for each club are, in order: George Vergados and Tom Casey of Long Meadow; Ryan Bushnell, Brendan Finegan and Justin Adams of Vesper; Derek DiRubbo, Adam McCusker and Kevin McLaughlin of Nabnasset; and Dave Desmond and Jason Howarth of Mt. Pleasant.