Mass. Amateur Preview

On July 7, GreatHorse will host its first Massachusetts Amateur Championship. The Hampden, Mass. venue has recently hosted the 2020 Mass. Mid-Amateur and the 2023 Mass. Junior Amateur.

The story of the course is interesting.

It was once a public course called Hampden CC, but in 2012, the course went up for sale in a foreclosure auction. Guy Antonacci purchased the course for $1.4 million and then poured an estimated $50 million into it over the next three years to transform the property into GreatHorse.

The work started as a bunker restoration. Those bunkers are the staple of the course. Slowly, it became a massive job that included a top-class practice facility with an indoor teaching center, short-game practice area, and a 10,000-square-foot practice green. The stunning 26,000-square-foot clubhouse stands at the top of the hill; it has two golf simulators, an outdoor patio and a fire pit, an outdoor pool with eight cabanas, and a banquet facility.

In addition to all that, they added tennis, paddle tennis, basketball, and bocce courts; on-property lodging has made the club a getaway for members who can stay, play, and enjoy the wide array of amenities.

All this was built when golf wasn’t the booming business it is today.

It was a risk, and it seems to be working out for the family who named the course GreatHorse because they own a farm for breeding race horses.

The rest of this post is for paid subscribers to the newsletter.

It includes:

• More information about the Hampden CC to GreatHorse transformation

• What makes GreatHorse so hard

• Four holes that could decide the championship

In addition, this week, paid subscribers will get more preview coverage of the Mass. Amateur. I’ll pick out some players to watch from favorites to dark horses and interesting pairings to watch.

Between now and July 7, when the Mass. Amateur starts, I am offering a few discounts.

🥂 Get $15 off the Supporter Tier ($35) for a year. Link here.

🥳 Use code BSG20 for 20% off in the Bay State Shop.

I plan to head to GreatHorse for the quarterfinals and semi-finals on Thursday, July 10. Your support makes these trips possible and allows me to provide coverage that you can’t find anywhere else.

Subscribe to Supporter to read the rest.