Johnson and Buck take home their sixth consecutive townshend cup
By Tori Schuller
WALPOLE, Massachusetts – (June 30, 2025) – Just 4 miles north of Gillette Stadium, home of six-time Super Bowl champions, the New England Patriots, now lives another dominant six-time performance, this time consecutively. Shannon Johnson (Thorny Lea Golf Club) and Megan Buck (Thorny Lea Golf Club) took home a win today at Walpole Country Club, in the 96th Massachusetts Women’s Four-Ball Championship for the Townshend Cup.
Johnson and Buck beat the remainder of the Championship Division by three strokes at 2-under-par, with Jillian Johnson (Hatherly Country Club) and Mya Murphy (MIAA) finished in second, at 1-over-par. With the pair winning their sixth Townshend Cup and Buck winning her ninth, the two have learned their fair share each year.
“Every year we come into it knowing that it’s not gonna be easy, and we have a mindset that you’re going to have a tough battle against the other competitors,” Johnson said. “We’ve played so much golf together, we just got kind of lucky where if someone was off the other could get an easy par.”
While a sixth and ninth win may seem like a cake-walk, Johnson and Buck had a difficult time when not in the fairway, just as every other player did today.
“The rough is really thick here, you’re pretty much trying to get it short of the green to give yourself a chance to get up and down for par,” Buck said. “The greens themselves are tricky, so there are few places to hit where you felt like you had an easy birdie putt.”
Besides seven pars on the front, Johnson and Buck carded only a birdie and bogey, keeping them at even through the turn. On the 10th, Johnson dropped a 50-footer for birdie, giving the two momentum into the back nine.
I think 10 was a big turning point, because we bogeyed nine,” Johnson said. “Watching that putt roll in, you’re not expecting to make it but it’s fun when they do go in. After that we played solid golf, it was a little more in cruise control after that.”
Taking the trophy home in the Tournament Division was an unlikely pair, Erin Sullivan (Walpole Country Club), and her former kindergarten teacher and neighbor, Lauri Giffin (Walpole Country Club).
Sullivan and Giffin won their part of the field with a 3-under-par 69, leading the pack by 8 strokes. Both are members at Walpole Country Club, and had the home course advantage in this tournament.
“There was definitely an advantage to knowing the layout and the trickier spots are in the rough,” Giffin said. “The rough is brutal, and it was helpful to have local knowledge.”
While both had an advantage, the course played tough for members and non-members alike.
“It was nice getting a couple members bounces here and there,” Sullivan said. “Definitely knowing where to put the ball on the green, like certain holes all come in or roll to the side, it was nice to have the inside scoop.”
Sullivan put up an impressive 72 today, with four birdies on the card.
Erin Sullivan hits her tee shot on the 7th hole at Walpole Country Club (David Colt).
“My putts were just falling,” Sullivan said. “I got very lucky on a lot of putts, and I just had to tell myself ‘Okay, I’m just gonna get it there, get it to the hole since I know the greens.”
Sullivan and Giffin won the net side of the Tournament Division as well, carding a combined 10-under-par 62, and plan on playing together in the future.
“I became a member at Walpole, so the chemistry was there to be partners, and we always have fun when we go out together,” Sullivan said.
Watch: The Final Word From Massachusetts Women’s Four-Ball
About Walpole Country Club
In June 1927, Eugene Wogan, a protégé of Donald Ross, authored a six-point report on the Old Oak Farm in Walpole which was the land being proposed to turn into a golf course. Among the report, Wogan remarked: “The setting is attractive and is self contained and in a not too thickly populated distance” and “The pond which covers and area of about four acres has a scenic as well as golfing value.” It ended with, “My report, therefore, on the contemplated site is most desirable for golf course purposes.”
Walpole Country Club will be hosting several Mass Golf championships and qualifiers over the rest of this decade. In addition to this year’s Women’s Four-Ball, the club will host the 2027 Massachusetts Senior Amateur Championship, and the 2029 Massachusetts Open Championship. LEARN MORE >
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