Donovan, Salinetti back for More

One is looking to build on a breakthrough year. The other is quickly rebounding from the lowest nadir of his career.

Yes. Pittsfield’s Matt Donovan produced his finest year as a professional last year. And yes. Lee’s Jim Salinetti endured missed cut after missed during a frustration-filled ’04 campaign that would have worn on the patience of the heavenliest Saints.

But that was then. This is now. 

“Put up or shut up,” said Donovan. “It’s time to step it up.”

Despite his singular focus on this season, that all-or-nothing credo also applies to Donovan’s steady persistence throughout his career.

As an unheralded amateur, he flew underneath golf’s star-gazed radar. But he kept improving. Once he joined the professional ranks, he didn’t find victory magic in a bottle, like Salinetti did early in his career. But Donovan’s name crept slowly up leaderboards across New England, until he captured his first victory in last year’s Greater Bangor Open.

“Sometimes you want to throw your clubs in the pond,” Donovan said, when describing the hurdles he has climbed since turning professional in 2001. “But I have gotten better all four years as a pro. I’m just waiting for what’s around the corner.”

Last fall, during the 2nd stage PGA Tour Qualifying School, Donovan appeared ready to turn that corner. With one round standing between him and a spot on either the Nationwide or PGA Tours, the 68 needed to forever end his career as part-time caddy in the winter simply wasn’t in the cards.

Seven months later, he has returned from his post at Seminole Golf Club hardened by his misfortunes yet more determined than ever.

“I was pretty disappointed,” Donovan said following his Q School disappointment. “But I wouldn’t give it up for the world right now. It will just be more meaningful when I do it.”

Until his next bout with Q School, Donovan will hone his game competing on the increasingly competitive, New England-based Cleveland Golf Tour.  Last season, four of the top six money winners advanced to internationally recognized Tours, including 22-year-old PGA Tour rookie Sean O’Hair, who Donovan leapfrogged en route to his win last year.

Sprinkle in a healthy slate of state opens and Monday qualifiers for the Nationwide and PGA Tours, and his summer schedule is as busy as a hairstylist the week before high school prom.

“It’s an ideal situation for me up here,” said Donovan.

Apparently Jim Salinetti thought so, too.

After two years competing on the Canadian Tour, traveling from British Columbia to Ontario to Manitoba to Afghanistan (Ok, that’s a stretch), the former Lee High standout has decided to return to his New England roots.

“It’s just a no-brainer for me right now,” said Salinetti. “The Cleveland Golf Tour is very well-respected among all Tours right now. If you’re hot in New England, you can make a lot of money.”

Last Thursday, one week before the Cleveland Golf Tour tipped off, Salinetti was already cashing in. Some four years after tallying two victories in the summer of ’01, he claimed his first win since, capturing the Cape Cod Open by three shots for a $5,000 payout.

His triumph wasn’t as unexpected as Jack Fleck’s victory over Ben Hogan in the 1995 U.S. Open playoff, but it was certainly a pleasant surprise to many, including Salinetti himself.

“I really haven’t played a tournament since October,” he said afterward. “I’m pretty shocked.”

After all, Salinetti racked his clubs for six weeks during the fall, an anti-Dana Quigley move that he had never tried before. For someone who prided himself on hard work, that’s akin to Cal Ripken sitting out the second game of a doubleheader.

“It made me sit back and think about everything,” Salinetti said. “It made me realize that this is definitely what I want to do with my career.”

Based on the amateur hardware resting atop his mantle (See: Two Massachusetts amateurs and three New England amateur titles), Salinetti admitted he didn’t think he would still be toiling on the mini-tours at 27-years-old.

Plans have changed. But Salinetti’s sunny-side up outlook has not.

“I’m really excited,” he said. “I’m ready to rock.”

Now it's time to roll.