Hey Everyone,

It’s a rarity that two USGA events are played concurrently. Massachusetts has 15 players combined in the U.S. Mid-Amateur and the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur.

You can meet them below. Then, I’ve got some other News and Notes along with Friday Thoughts and some favorites from the week.

U.S. Mid-Amateur: Ten Bay Staters will tee it up in the U.S. Mid-Amateur in Virginia this week. Only four states have more representatives (California, Texas, Florida, North Carolina, and Ohio.). A good showing for a state with 7 million people. Of that list of states with 10 or more competitors, North Carolina is the second smallest state with 10 million people.

Matt Parziale is playing in his 10th U.S. Mid-Amateur. He won in 2017. There are only four people in the field with more appearances than Parziale.

Nick Maccario has had a good run of U.S. Mid-Amateur appearances. He reached the semi-finals in 2021 when it was on Nantucket. Last year at Sleepy Hollow he reached the Round of 16. This year he qualified in a playoff at Agawam Hunt Club after shooting 68.

2023 MassGolf Player of the Year Ricky Stimets has had two tough runner-up finishes this summer. He lost in the Mass. Amateur final to Matt Naumec on Naumec’s home course, Framingham CC. He shot a final round 69 at Cranberry Valley in the Mass Mid-Am, but he got edged out by a Jake Ratti heater. Ratti shot 64, including holing out on 18 from 50 yards to cap off a five-under par finish on the last five holes.

Tyler Stahl is a notable NCCGA (National Collegiate Club Golf Association) player. He won medalist honors eight times while competing for Villanova’s club golf team. He’s from Philly but now calls Andover, Mass. home. He finished T8 in the Pennsylvania Amateur last year.

Joshua Shepard (Pittsfield, Mass.), Nick Resor (Boston, Mass.), Cam Moniz (Seekonk, Mass.), Christian Jensen (Wakefield, Mass.), Nathan Davis (Taunton, Mass.), Ben Balter (Wellesley, Mass.) are all names you should “star” on the USGA leaderboard this weekend.

U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur: The women will be playing at elevation in Colorado this week. The Broadmoor will welcome five Massachusetts representatives. Florida (9), Texas (9), and Arizona (6) are the only states with more.

Tara Joy-Connelly (Middleborough, Mass.) is playing in her sixth USGA event over the last two seasons. She has won the New England Women’s Senior Amateur, AGA Senior Women’s Amateur Championship, and the 38th Ione D Jones - Doherty Senior Women's Amateur Championship this summer. She also finished fifth in the North & South Senior Women’s Championship.

Pamela Kuong (Wellesley Hills, Mass.) played in the U.S. Senior Women’s Open this summer. She has finished runner-up in the New England Women’s Senior Amateur and the Women’s Eastern Senior Amateur.

Sue Curtin (Westwood, Mass.) is a staple in the Bay State competitive scene. She qualified with a 76 at that Pinehills Nicklaus Course. She has not played much golf this summer, finishing 21st in the AGA Senior Women’s Amateur Championship.

Tracy Welch (Winchester, Mass.) would love to bounce back after missing out on match play last year. She shot 83-83 but lost in a 7-for-2 playoff. She shot 79 at Riverton Country Club to qualify.

Natalie Galligan (Cataumet, Mass.) is a MassGolf champion. She won the 1990 Mass. Women’s Amateur and the 2016 Mass. Women’s Senior Amateur. Galligan shot a 78 at the Pinehills and beat Kim Walecka (Dartmouth, Mass.) in a playoff for the final spot.

Mass. Women’s Mid-Amateur: Megan Buck was the only player under par at Thorny Lea in Brockton, Mass. Buck shot 71-69 (-2) and won by nine shots at her home course. Chelsea Curtis (76-73) came in second place. Curtis won the Girls’ Junior and Women’s Am in 2005 (h/t to Steve Derderian at MassGolf). Another Thorny Lea member, Shannon Johnson (76-74), rounded out the top three. Johnson was 13 shots better than fourth place. MassGolf recap.

New England Senior: Andy Drohen shot 66-72 as the newcomer on the senior circuit to win the NE Senior Amateur at Quinnatisset Country Club. He should be one to watch in the Mass Senior Amateur at Salem CC on Monday. MassGolf Recap.

U.S. Four-Ball Q: Danny Frodigh and Jared Winiarz shot 65 at Bay Club at Mattapoisett to earn a spot in next spring’s U.S. Four Ball. Richard Oref + John Jonas came up from Nashville to nab the other available spot. Patrick Frodigh, Danny’s brother, and Matthew Cowgill were first alternates with a round of 65. Full results.

If you have any results or stories that you think would be great for the newsletter. Send them to [email protected]. I’d love to highlight some high school and college golf this fall season. So if you’re connected to a program, send along results or highlights.

Friday Thoughts

1. I played Salem CC on Tuesday. What a place. Holy hell. How’d I get on, you ask? I am caddying for Neal Piliavin in the Mass. Senior Amateur next week, so we played a practice round. The Head Pro at Wollaston, Jeff Martin, joined us. Martin turned 50 last year and promptly qualified for the U.S. Senior Open at Newport CC. By my recollection of the round at Salem CC, Martin shot 69. We played the course from 6,400 yards, and he bombs it. So the par 5s were all reachable for him. But the ball striking? Incredible. I’d be off in my own little world trying to hit the green, and then Voilà Martin’s ball was inside a 20-foot circle in regulation. It’s always a blast to watch excellent golfers. He’ll be out in Oregon next week playing in the PGA Professional Senior Championship at Sunriver Resort in Sunriver, Oregon which starts on Thursday.

2. There’s probably a larger post brewing with this idea, but I bought a push cart recently, and it’s kind of a game-changer.

   If you’ve been reading this newsletter for the last year, you know I had golfer’s elbow last September. The pain ruined my fall golf season. I was resting, icing, popping pills, and wearing a band to alleviate the pain. But the pushcart has been helpful in keeping the stress off my elbow because a lot of the strain was coming from lifting the bag. Now my back and shoulders feel better, and I’ve stemmed the tide of golfer’s elbow. I will probably do a pros and cons list at some point, because there are little things that are different from carrying the bag that I’m still getting used to.

3. Tiger Woods had another back surgery last week. If you’re counting at home, that 656 surgeries for Tiger in the last 15 years.

   The surgery got me thinking… what if Tiger just started a YouTube channel and played one round of alternate shot every month like Bryson does? The more I think about it, the more sick I think it would be. He could go back in the vault and play with guys he battled in major, heck, he could return to those venues. Play Valhalla with Bob May. Play Torrey Pines with Rocco.

   Does the idea scream glory days? Sure, maybe a little bit. But the larger point is that Tiger is 48 and his body is not built to play 72 holes anymore. But people still want to watch him play golf. I know the TGL is supposed to launch this winter and that will give Tiger a chance to be in front of a crowd hitting golf shots while not having to walk 5 miles.

   I literally spent 3 hours this week watching Riggs from Foreplay play an Internet troll at Renaissance in Haverhill (147k views) and Day 1 of the No Laying Up Club Championship at Erin Hills (47k views). It would be so much fun to watch Tiger play golf on Youtube. If any of you know Tiger and want to help me pitch this idea, I can have a slide deck ready in, like, 3 hours….

3. Quick plug of my latest course video. Did Cape Ann this week.

3. The Presidents Cup starts next week. It’s probably the weakest team event in professional and high amateur golf. The Curtis Cup, Walker Cup, Ryder Cup, and Solheim Cup are all better, in my opinion. One reason they’re better is that both teams have a chance to win. In 14 Presidents Cups, the USA is 12-1-1. Adam Shupak asked captain Jim Furyk is the International Team needs to win to make the event more interesting. Furyk’s response: “So it’s not like I’m killing you right now, but F–k you. Go f–k yourself. You can quote me on that one.”

   The Ryder Cup didn’t become the Ryder Cup until the 1980s, when the event became more competitive. The Europeans stole some matches, and animosity developed. Now, in my biased opinion, it’s one of the best sporting events in the world

   But the Presidents Cup? Juiceless.

   However, Team USA does not have much momentum or form this year, which could make them ripe for the picking.

   The Presidents Cup is not “set your alarm for the opening tee shots” interesting. Unless they’re playing Royal Melbourne, which should just be the permanent International host course (it’s hosted three times). The Presidents Cup is an “I’ll check in when I have time or if it crosses my mind” kind of event. If it’s close on Sunday, I’ll pop it on.

   I get Fuyrk’s ire at Shupak’s suggestion that his team has to lose in order to revive yet another dying entity in the game of golf, but dominance is only interesting for so long, and then the fall is what becomes interesting because it signals that someone else might be on the ascent. The Presidents Cup is just stuck in neutral.

4. Speaking of watching golf, 69,000 people watched the PGA Tour on Sunday. That’s astonishingly low.

   Just a few weeks ago at the Tour Championship, this is how Jay Monahan started his press conference:

I wonder what the Procore people have to say about the engagement, momentum, and innovation of the PGA Tour after they forked over money for a new sponsorship that drew as many eyeballs on TV as can fit into Gillette Stadium.

On this week’s Amateur Golf Podcast, I asked my cohost Justin if the U.S. Mid-Am could draw more than 69k viewers (Listen here). I think it could. It would be novel and there are a lot of people who would be curious to see golf at that level. Sadly, the USGA has no coverage on TV or streaming.

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I am including a 2025 desk calendar with my golf photography for every person who upgrades before Oct. 1.

When I’m not golfing…

I’m reading…

• A good piece about Nike’s fall after some poor decisions. “The Man Who Made Nike Uncool” (Also recommend Shoe Dog if you haven’t read it. Great book about Nike’s founding)

• Shohei Ohtani is the first to hit 50 homers and steal 50 bases… ever. Like, he’s the only one on the list.

• The West Wing turns 25. What a show… NYTimes interviewed Aaron Sorkin.

I’m listening to…

• I listened to Sabrina Carpenter’s Short and Sweet this weekend while driving to New Jersey. A mix between Taylor Swift, Kacey Musgraves, and Carly Rae Jepsen. Which makes the album a little all over the place. But it’s a good listen. Enjoyed “Juno” the most.

• NBA season is coming. This was a good Zach Lowe pod about the Eastern Conf. to get caught up on all the off-season happenings.

• The EA Sports FC ‘25 playlist is on Spotify. A good set of songs for background beats.

I’m eating…

• We’re getting to the end of strawberry season, but I love a good strawberry shortcake.

• Waverly in Charlestown makes an incredible Broccoli Caesar salad. Tiff might have had one of the wildest dishes we’ve seen—a pumpkin risotto cooked and served in a mini pumpkin.

I’m watching…

• We’re still watching Bad Monkey, which is new every Wednesday.

• A couple of weeks ago, we watched The Instigators on Apple TV+. Another movie that makes Boston look like a horrible place. It was pretty entertaining though!

• We also chipped away on The Perfect Couple. If I’m being honest, I’d skip it.

New here? Reached the bottom?

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Bay State Archives

• A list of golf courses open in the winter.

• Bay State Picks: Best courses you can walk for less than $60.

• Bay State Picks: Nine-hole courses to play before or after work

• Bay State Picks: 18 public golf that is worth your time

• Bay State Picks: Easy 18-hole public walks

• Bay State Deep Dive: Myopia Hunt Club

   

• "On Course" New England Journal Podcast

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• Amateur Golf Podcast

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