Massachusetts Amateur returns to Winchester for 118th Championship
· Yahoo Sports
The state’s rising stars and top amateur golfers are gearing up for the 118th Massachusetts Amateur Golf Championship, which begins Monday.
The 144-player, five-day tournament will be played at Winchester Country Club for the first time since 2002, marking a long-awaited return to a course that has hosted the annual championship seven previous times.
Visit milkshakeslot.lat for more information.
Situated north of Boston with views of the city skyline, the challenging hillside course will test this year’s field and has produced memorable finishes throughout its history.
The first Massachusetts Amateur at Winchester was held in 1919 after a two-year hiatus because of World War I and was won by Francis Ouimet. In 1931, Fred Wright continued an impressive run by winning his fourth consecutive title and sixth overall. Other past champions at Winchester include Dave Whiteside (1937), Tom Mahan Jr. (1952), Bruce Douglass (1975), Fran Quinn (1986) and, most recently, Rob Oppenheim (2002), who sealed his victory with a 39-foot downhill birdie putt on the 18th hole.
Now, a field featuring qualifiers from across the state, current and former collegiate golfers, past champions and Winchester Country Club members will look to add their names to the list of Massachusetts Amateur champions.
The championship begins Monday and concludes Friday when a champion will be crowned.
The tournament opens with 36 holes of stroke play across Monday and Tuesday. The low 32 players will then advance to match play. The Round of 32 and Round of 16 will be contested Wednesday, leaving eight players. The quarterfinals and semifinals are scheduled for Thursday, followed by the 36-hole championship match Friday.
The champion will earn more than bragging rights. The winner also receives an automatic berth into the 126th U.S. Amateur Championship at Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, from Aug. 10-16.
The course will play at approximately 6,886 yards with a par of 71, featuring a front-nine par of 35 and a back-nine par of 36.
The longest hole is the par-5 13th, which measures 530 yards. It also is the second of the course’s back-to-back par 5s. After navigating those holes, players will face the shortest hole on the course, the 149-yard par-3 14th.
Defending champion Ryan Downes of Longmeadow will not compete this year. A two-time champion, Downes made history in 2023 by becoming the youngest Massachusetts Amateur champion at age 17 before reclaiming the title in 2025 at 19 when it was played at his home course, GreatHorse, in Hampden.
Without Downes in the field, the door is open for another player to join the list of 117 previous champions.
Joey Lenane, a recent North Carolina State graduate and member of George Wright Golf Course, will look for redemption after falling to Downes in last year’s semifinals.
Also returning is Aidan Emmerich of Kernwood Country Club, who reached last year’s semifinals. Emmerich enters the championship after winning the 2026 Hornblower Memorial Tournament.
A previous champion also could reclaim the trophy. Matt Naumec of Framingham Country Club, the 2024 champion, returns after building on his recent success. Naumec won the title in 2024 after finishing runner-up in 2023 and has advanced to match play in each of the four years since regaining his amateur status.
The host club will be represented by six members, including family members Brendan, Aidan and Joey Monahan. Joey Monahan, 16, is the youngest qualifier in the field. The Belmont Hill School standout will compete alongside his cousin, Aidan, and his uncle, Brendan.
Western Massachusetts also is well represented, including Hampshire Regional’s Brayden Fennessy, former Wahconah Regional teammates Tim Kaley and Patrick McLaughlin, Belchertown’s Michael Murray, Northampton’s Galen Fowles and former Pope Francis standout Michael McGrath.
Live scoring will be available throughout the championship on the Mass Golf website. Admission is free for spectators.
The first round begins Monday with the opening tee time at 7:30 a.m. The final tee time is scheduled for 2:31 p.m.
Read the original article on MassLive. Add MassLive as a Preferred Source by clicking here.