MANCHESTER-BY-THE-SEA — After 4 brutally lengthy and sizzling days on the Essex County Club, a pair of acquainted faces will play within the finals of the a hundred and fifteenth Massachusetts Amateur.
Matt Naumec and Ryan Downes survived 36 holes of stroke play and 4 rounds of match play to be the final two standing and pressure a rematch of a quarterfinal from the 2022 Amateur, gained by Downes 2 & 1. This time, nevertheless, the Massachusetts Cup will probably be on the road.
Downes, who misplaced to Connor Willett within the championship match a yr in the past, might need been anticipated to be within the last. Naumec, however, wasn’t many individuals’s decide getting into Thursday.
That was very true when he needed to face top-seed John Broderick within the semifinals. In a match that was tight a lot of the means, Naumec gained 4 out of 5 holes halfway by means of the match en path to upsetting Broderick 3 & 2.
“John is such a good player and I knew it was going to be a challenge going against him,” Naumec mentioned. “I got a little bit of a break on the 11th and from there it was all about hitting fairways and greens.”
The two traded 1 up leads by means of the primary eight holes, however on the ninth an errant drive from Broderick after which a lipped-out par putt allowed Naumec to attract even heading to the again 9.
After halving the tenth, the 2 headed to the diabolical par 3 eleventh the place the momentum of the match modified for good.
Both gamers hit tee pictures inside 12 toes on the 178-yard gap. Broderick’s putt from above the opening rimmed out, giving Naumec an opportunity to strike and he did by rolling dwelling his uphill out to take the 1 up lead.
“I was able to get one on the ninth and then to win again on 11 was nice to keep the momentum,” Naumec mentioned.
After the duo matched birdies on the twelfth, Naumec made a superb up and down on 13 which Broderick couldn’t match. And when Broderick missed the 14th inexperienced and couldn’t stand up and down, the lead immediately ballooned to three up and Naumec was on his solution to the ultimate.
“I’m just a guy who has a desk job and a lot of my co-workers are great in helping out so I can be out here having fun,” Naumec mentioned.
Downes, however, rode a quick begin to an enormous lead in opposition to Joe Harney, giving him some wiggle room to work round a few errors on the again 9.
“I feel like I’ve definitely improved as a player from when I was here last year,” Downes mentioned. “I felt like I played really solidly on the front nine (Thursday).”
Playing solidly might need been a little bit of an understatement. Birdies on the third, fifth, seventh and eighth holes helped Downes exit in 3-under par 33 for a 4 up lead on Harney.
Harney fought again with wins on the eleventh and twelfth to chop the lead in half. But Downes restored his 3 up lead on the thirteenth earlier than icing the match in model.
Taking benefit of a fortuitous break on an errant tee shot at 15, the Longmeadow senior hit his method to 6 toes and drained the following putt to go 3 up. One gap later, it was one other shut method shot, this one to simply outdoors 10 toes for a match clinching birdie.
“I got fortunate on 15 that I ended up on the 16th fairway and could put some spin on it,” Downes mentioned.
The two finalists will tee it up at 7 a.m. for a 36–gap last.
Source: www.bostonherald.com