Lucas Levasseur plays in Amateur Public Links Championship qualifier
This 18-year-old recent Hopedale High graduate is tearing it up on the links.
WAYLAND — As Lucas Levasseur hit his tee shot on the par-3 third hole at Sandy Burr Country Club on July 2, the recent Hopedale High grad hit the flag stick with his ball from roughly 135 yards.
“I want to get one hole-in-one before I’m 21,” said Levasseur, 18, half kidding and half not.
Despite not sinking an ace in the Massachusetts Amateur Public Links Qualifier in Wayland earlier this month, Levasseur fired a 74 to finish tied for fifth in the event and qualify for 2024 Amateur Public Links Championship later this month.
The talented golfer is staying sharp before his next big endeavor on the links with the Assumption University golf team this fall.
“I do this a lot over the summer just to get my competitive rounds in and stay on top of that going into the fall, so I’m not coming in (not) having played competitive golf in a couple months,” Levasseur said. “I think it will prepare me well for Assumption because as I put myself in these situations, I’m becoming more comfortable with competitive rounds and how to deal with nerves as well as pressure.
“It’s also always nice to shoot low scores in tournament rounds to build up confidence.”
Nothing short of spectacular
Lucas Levasseur first picked up a golf club at the age of 4.
His father, Jeff, would take Levasseur and his two older brothers to Twin Springs Golf Course in Bolton to get them involved in the game.
“When (Levasseur) was born, we joked that ‘Jeff had his foursome,’ ” said Jenn Levasseur, Lucas’ mom. “Luc was swinging a club in pre-school and constantly asking his brothers to play, creating little contests and thinking of trick shots.”
But it wasn’t until 2020 — when the COVID-19 pandemic hit — when Levasseur’s golf game really took off. The teenager from Hopedale had his mom drop him off at Hopedale Country Club at 7 a.m. every morning during the summer to work on his game.
“He hasn’t looked back since,” his mother said.
As a high school sophomore in 2021, Levasseur ranked No. 1 for Hopedale and recorded a scoring average of 38 per nine holes.
The Hopedale Country Club member was the medalist for the Dual Valley Conference tournament, and with a birdie on the 18th hole at New England Country Club in Bellingham, Levasseur took home top honors from the Central Mass. Division 3 Tournament.
“Little did we know that (birdie) would be enough for him to be medalist,” his mom said.
Fast forward to his senior season, Levasseur led the Blue Raiders with a 36.2 scoring average and claimed medalist in 15 of 18 regular-season matches before winning the Dual Valley Conference championship.
The 5-foot-11, 150-pounder then placed first (73) in the Division 3 Central championship and tied for fifth (80) in the D3 state championship to wrap up his high school career as a two-time conference Player of the Year and three-time T&G Hometeam All-Star.
“He’s been nothing short of spectacular,” Hopedale coach Brett Boyd said.
“A lot of good memories at Hopedale,” Levasseur said.
A day in the life of caddying for Lucas Levasseur
As Levasseur prepared to play in the Massachusetts Amateur Public Links Qualifier, the 18-year-old realized he had never played at Sandy Burr Country Club.
So he elicited the help of this reporter, who has played the public course in Wayland a bunch, to serve as his caddie.
“(I) have never played there (and) was gonna see if u could hop on the bag,” Levasseur asked me in a text message.
Gladly. Free of charge.
While I carried his Titleist irons and woods, TaylorMade 2-iron and Odyssey putter in his blue golf bag, Levasseur teed up his No. 23 Titleist golf ball (with a palm tree logo and two crosses etched in blue marker) in the opening group of the qualifier.
He three-putted the first hole for par and went up-and-down for a birdie on No. 2 before sinking another birdie on the third hole. On the ninth hole, Levasseur wanted to hit driver on the short, 280-yard par 4. But this caddie insisted that the righty golfer hit his 3-wood instead.
Luckily, Levasseur listened.
“That would’ve been over the green,” he said.
You’re welcome for the tip.
Between sinking birdies, talking about pickleball and discussing the best way to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, Levasseur finished at 2 over par. The score was low enough to move him into the Amateur Public Links Championship, held July 30 and 31 at Ledges Golf Club in South Hadley.
So, how did I do as your caddie?
“One to 10, I give you a 9.5,” Levasseur said. “I don’t think you did anything wrong today, no errors, you helped me out a lot, obviously I haven’t played here before so coming in blind it was nice to get Tommy on the bag because he’s played here a bunch and has a good feel for where to hit the ball and where you want to miss, and overall he gave me a couple good reads, (I) dropped some putts and we had a fun day.”
You’re not going to say anything negative about my performance on the bag?
“No,” Levasseur said. “No ripping into (you) needed.”
I’ll take it.
Lucas Levasseur has shown grace on and off the golf course over the past few years. Soon, he’ll enjoy his next challenge on the links with Assumption University.
“I’m just looking to go there, compete right away, hopefully bring an NE-10 championship to Assumption and take it to Nationals and see what happens,” Levasseur said.
“Golf has always been a self-driven part of Lucas’ life,” his mother said. “We are excited to see where it may take him next.”
And if you ever need a caddie, Lucas, you know who to call.
—Contact Tommy Cassell at tcassell@telegram.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @tommycassell44.