Baringer chats about his first round at Mass. Amateur Championship

FRAMINGHAM -- In two weeks, Bryce Baringer will officially kick off his second season with the New England Patriots. But the punter kept things competitive this summer by hitting the links, and earned himself a spot in the Massachusetts Amateur Championship at Framingham Country Club this week.

Baringer, who qualified last month with a round-best 69 at the Mass. Amateur qualifier, struggled on the back nine in the first round of the Championship on Monday and finished with a 5-over 77 in Framingham . He is tied for 85th in a field of 144 heading into Tuesday's second round, with Weston's Matt Cowgill and Wellesley's John Broderick tied atop the leaderboard at 4-under .

Baringer logged a birdie on his first hole of the day and was even through the first nine, but then shot a 41 on the back nine. He had bogeys on 11, 13, 16, and 17, and a double bogey on 15. It could have been worse, but Baringer sandwiched in a birdie on the 15th hole.

He is set to tee off at 8:47 a.m. on Tuesday, and Baringer has an uphill battle if he wants to make the cut. But he believes this competition will set him up well when Patriots training camp kicks off in two weeks.

"This is something I talked about with our staff and they let me come out and do. It's a time for me to stay competitive while getting ready to head to camp," said Baringer. "The atmosphere was awesome with a lot of really great players out here. To put my game against guys like [Matt] Parzaile and [Ethan] Whitney -- who I played with today --  it was fun.

"To be able to come out here and get the juices flowing -- other than the qualifier this was my first round of competitive golf since high school." Baringer added. "So it was cool to feel it again, finishing up all those foot-putts your buddies are giving to you."

Baringer played golf in high school in Michigan but wasn't allowed to play at Michigan State because he had already committed to football. He's now a member of TPC Boston and loves to compete on both the fields and the fairway. Baringer is fully committed to football, but he likes to use golf as a way to escape.

"I love my work, but I also love this sport because it's something I can use to decompress," he said. "Out here, there are not 65,000 people, it's more intimate. [Today] I got to be with my wife and my father, who came out from Michigan."

Baringer made it clear that his main focus was on football this summer, and he cannot wait to get back on the field for training camp on July 24.

"I'm fired up," he said. "All eyes are fixed on camp. I've been kicking 3-4 times a week and still working out. The focus has never been away from football. But to stay competitive in this environment is good."