Three Bay Staters set for U.S. Women's Amateur.

+ News, Notes, and weekly favorites

Author

Sean Melia
July 31, 2025

Hey Everyone,

I spent the end of the week on three different golf courses around the state.

On Wednesday, I played Green Hill CC (Worcester, Mass.) to check off course 154. Then I spent Thursday at Stow Acres CC taking photos and video for the Rediscover Mapledale event, which is bringing to light the fact that Mapledale CC, which was the original course on the Stow Acres property, was the first black owned country club in the United States. I wrote about the founder Robert Hawkins in 2022.

Friday and Saturday, I’ll be teeing it up in the Dawson Cup at Concord CC with my buddy Eliot. It’s the absolute best. It’s a four-ball stroke play tournament. There’s a chance to play. We play 18 on Friday and 18 on Saturday. Top 20 make the cut and get an extra round on Saturday afternoon.

So, after a bunch of days away from the laptop, we’re gonna get to the results, some U.S. Women’s Amateur preview stuff, and weekly favorites.

News and Notes

Pro Golf

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Alexa Pano is T4 after the first round of the Women’s Open Championship following a 69 (-3) at Royal Porthcawl; she’s two shots behind the leaders Eri Okayama and Rio Takeda. Megan Khang shot 72 (E) and sits at T51. Live Scoring

Here’s what Pano had in the bag on Thursday. 👇️ 

🔨 Michael Thorbjornsen did not get off to a fast enough start to give much hope of making the playoffs next week. He is 87th in the FedEx Cup standings; the top 70 get into next week’s first playoff event. He shot 71 (-1) and is T89. Keegan Bradley shot 70 (-2) while playing with two prospective Ryder Cup players - Andrew Novak and Ben Griffin. Live Scoring

🌽 Two Bay Staters - Rob Oppenheim and Richy Werenski - are playing in the Utah Championship this week. Davis Chatfield is not in the field. However, he finished T3 last week and is currently in 6th place on the Korn Ferry Points list. The top 20 earn a PGA Tour card at the end of the season. There are seven events left. Live scoring

🇨🇦 Chris Francoeur shot 64 and is T7 after the first round of the Osprey Valley Open on the PGA Americas. He is in the thick of the battle for one of 10 Korn Ferry exemptions as the year hits the final stretch. Live Scoring

Amateur Golf

🏌️ Joey Lenane shot 74-73 and missed the 36-hole cut at the Western Amateur one of the most competitive amateur events in the country. Live Scoring

🏆️ Matt Casey shot a 79 to win the Lowell Junior Cities Championship in a playoff over Tommy McKiernan.

Plugs

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The U.S. Women’s Amateur starts on Monday, August 4 at Bandon Dunes Resort in Bandon, Oregon. The field will play the original course at the resort, Bandon Dunes. It will measure 6,310 yards as a par 72.

There were 1,475 applications, and 156 players will compete in hopes of winning one of the most prestigious women’s amateur events in the world.

They will play 36 holes, and the field will be cut to 64 players for match play.

Of those 156 golfers, three of them are from the Bay State.

Let’s meet them.

Allison Paik - Boston, Mass.

Allison Paik, who grew up in Providence and won two straight Rhode Island High School Championships, now calls Boston home. She enters this week with an impressive resume. The 2020 Massachusetts Women’s Amateur champion is a steady player who enjoyed college success. After a strong four-year run at Columbia, she finished her college career at Clemson last year. Paik got into the U.S. Amateur as an alternate. She shot a 73 at Pine Brook CC.

Rebecca Skoler - Dedham, Mass.

Rebecca Skoler, the 2023 Massachusetts Women’s Amateur champion from Needham, has been a fixture in recent years in the Mass. Women’s Amateur. Her incredible short game helped her win in at Dedham Country & Polo Club with clutch par saves on 16 and 17 to secure a 2&1 victory over Molly Smith. A recent University of Virginia graduate, Skoler was a consistent performer. Skoler booked her ticket to Bandon Dunes with a 71 at Pine Brook Country Club to qualify for the 2025 U.S. Women’s Amateur. She’s proven she can handle pressure—and often plays her sharpest golf when the stakes are highest.

Morgan Smith - Westford, Mass.

Morgan Smith, the reigning Mass. Women’s Amateur champion, is one of the most consistent forces in New England amateur golf. The Westford native and University of Georgia standout just won the Ouimet Memorial. She reached the semifinals of the 2023 Mass Women’s Amateur and has made deep runs in several USGA qualifiers. Last year, Morgan and her two sisters, Molly and Maddie, made history when they all qualified for the U.S. Women’s Amateur. This year, Morgan is the only one in the family in the event. She earned her spot after winning the Mass. Women’s Amateur last year, as that champion now earns an exemption into the next summer’s U.S. Women’s Amateur championship.

Bay State adjacent:

Yvette O’Brien - Greenwich, Conn.

O’Brien will be a freshman at TCU this fall. She won the Conn. Women’s Amateur by 14 shots in July and is also a two-time Conn. Girls’ Junior Amateur champion. She finished 17th in the Florida Women’s Amateur Championship. The victory in the Conn. Women’s Amateur earlier this summer gave O’Brien her spot in the field.

How to Watch:

  • Wednesday, Aug. 6: Round of 64, 3 p.m.-6 p.m. (Golf Channel)

  • Thursday, Aug. 7: Round of 16, 3 p.m.-6 p.m. (Golf Channel)

  • Friday, Aug. 8: Quarterfinals, 3 p.m.-6 p.m. (Golf Channel)

  • Saturday, Aug. 9: Semifinals, Noon-3 p.m. (Golf Channel)

  • Sunday, Aug. 10: Championship Match (Afternoon 18), 4 p.m.-7 p.m. (Golf Channel)

When I’m not golfing…

I’m reading…

🔖 Picked up When the Going Was Good by Graydon Carter this week. Needed a little hit of non-fiction.

I’m listening to…

🏀 I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Zach Lowe makes me a smarter basketball fan. This pod with Howard Beck and their most intriguing players for this upcoming season was fantastic.

I’m eating…

🦞 We capped off our time on Nantucket at the Lobster Trap and had lobster rolls. What a great decision.

🥟 I had pork dumplings from Big Hug Dumplings at the Cisco Brewery. Also a great decision.

I’m watching…

 

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