By Steve Derderian
sderderian@massgolf.org
HAMPDEN, Massachusetts (July 9, 2025) – The morning clouds peeled back, the sun took over, and suddenly there was no more room to settle in. Day 3 at the 117th Massachusetts Amateur Championship on Wednesday at GreatHorse felt like a fresh start, but not a forgiving one.
Match play is its own reality. No scoreboard watching. No playing for position. Just you, your opponent, and nowhere to hide. By afternoon, the course was cooking, and every match turned into one-on-one battles.
By day’s end, only eight were still standing after a long, emotional gauntlet through the Round of 32 and Round of 16. Fatigue showed in different ways: slower walks, quiet talks with caddies, and long stares at the course in front of you. The group remaining: five college players and three mid-amateurs (ages 25+).
Quarterfinal Matchups (Thursday):
Semifinal matches to follow on Thursday afternoon.
Patrick Kilcoyne (Woodland Golf Club) didn’t show up to GreatHorse this week with much buzz around his name or expectations of making a deep run. That’s fair. Last year, he made match play, then got bounced handily in the first round. This year, he came in under the radar again.
The Gettysburg College standout grinded out two matches against two quality opponents on Wednesday. First, he took down the host, GreatHorse owner and president Guy Antonacci. No one in the field knows the lay of the land like Antonacci. Kilcoyne knew that, too, but took full advantage of birdie opportunities down the stretch to close it out.
“That match could’ve gone either way,” Kilcoyne said. “He’s a great guy, but I was just trying to hang in.”
Then came the afternoon and a new kind of test: a momentum seesaw against Georgetown’s Alan Rose (Oyster Harbors Club). Kilcoyne called the start a “pillow fight,” but the back nine was anything but soft. Rose dropped a birdie on 15. Kilcoyne answered with one on 16. Then came 17, a curling 30-foot bomb for birdie that ended it and earned Kilcoyne his second match-play win ever.
He credits some of his calm to his caddie, Cooper Griffin, who helped him survive the heat and mental wear of 36 holes.
“I didn’t have a ton of expectations this week,” he said. “Just wanted to see what happened. But I’m really excited to be playing tomorrow.”
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Billy Walthouse, on the other hand, felt destined to be here. He’s 30, a former pro, and a GreatHorse member. His game is built for long, grinding days like this, and he’s already done it on bigger stages. However, since returning to the amateur ranks, Walthouse has had to redefine what success looks like. The fire’s still there; the goals are just different.
“This tournament was circled on the calendar for sure,” he said. “Last year, I played well and still had an early exit, so I was ready to see how far I could go.”
He looked every bit the savvy veteran on Wednesday. After a shaky start in the morning, he jarred a wedge to kick-in range on Hole 8 to get going, then rattled off birdies at 9 and 10 to take control. He played smart, avoiding the driver when needed and leaning on local knowledge, where to miss and where the putts break just a touch late. The afternoon brought more of the same: an early birdie, a front-nine surge, and a steady close. Just full control.
“Getting off the tee here is huge,” Walthouse said. “If you’re not in the fairway, you’re just surviving. I backed off the gas a few times and just trusted the plan.”
He’ll join fellow University of Rhode Island graduate Ben Spitz (George Wright Golf Course) in the final eight. The 41-year-old Milton native defeated two opponents his junior to become the most senior player left standing.
Then there was Ryan Downes, the 2023 champion, who looked every bit like someone aiming to pour everything into adding his name to the trophy once more.
A GreatHorse member with more reps on this course in the past week than most in the field have lifetime, Downes came into the week as the marked man. But expectations are a heavy load, and Monday nearly crushed him. He scraped his way into match play, and since then, he’s been playing like someone with something to prove.
In the Round of 16, he faced Reese Jensen (Duxbury Yacht Club), an incoming Harvard freshman fresh off knocking out defending champ and GreatHorse member Matt Naumec in the morning. Downes jumped out to a blistering start, 5-up through 7, relying on pure control and mistake-free golf.
“I was making a lot of pars early, which kept pressure on him,” Downes said.
But Jensen didn’t blink. He chipped away with back-to-back tight wedges on 13 and 14, 3 feet, then 4 feet, and made both to close the gap to one. On 15, a tough two-putt for par applied even more pressure. When the group stepped onto the 16th tee, the match was teetering.
That’s when Downes let the emotion break through. From the left fringe, 20 feet, pin-high, breaking hard right across the slickest patch on the course, and he drained it, then erupted with a fist pump, a loud “Come on!” echoing across the green.
Then on 17, a moment of doubt. Downes wasn’t feeling the driver. His caddie, Cole Banning, urged him to trust it. “He talked me into it,” Downes said. “And I’m really glad he did.”
His tee smash left him in prime position for a wedge up the hill. With two putts to win, he only needed one. As the 12-footer dropped, Downes walked it in sideways, pumping his fist again, a signature sighting in recent years.
Afterward, Downes didn’t pretend that the week had gone exactly to plan.
“Monday was rough. I probably put too much pressure on myself. But now, I’m feeling good,” he said. “Cole and I are in a good rhythm. I just needed to get through stroke play. Once you’re in match play, anything can happen.”
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16-Billy Walthouse def. 32-Brad Valois, 2&1
Walthouse, the former professional and a current member at GreatHorse, led wire-to-wire, making birdies on holes 1, 6, and 7 to open up a lead on Valois (TPC Boston), a four-time Rhode Island Amateur champion. Walthouse won each of the last three holes with a par. It’s the first time Walthouse has made the quarterfinals since 2017 at Charles River, when he reached the semifinals.
8-Patrick Kilcoyne def. 9-Alan Rose, 2&1
13-Aidan Emmerich def. 4-John Broderick, 3&2
In a rematch of the 2022 Mass Junior Amateur final, Temple standout Aidan Emmerich (Kernwood Country Club) got the nod over Vanderbilt’s Broderick (Dedham Country & Polo Club) this time, pulling ahead for good with a birdie on the par-3 9th. He won both par-3s on the back nine with par, and closed out the match with a near birdie from the back of the green on the 16th.
5-Trevor Drew def. 21-Jake Mrva, 1-up
It was a tale of two nines for Drew (Long Meadow Golf Club), who was down 2 at the turn and won the next four holes with two birdies and two pars to wrestle control of the match away from Mrva (Worcester Country Club), a recent Fordham grad. Drew, a Western Kentucky golfer, couldn’t save par on the par-3 15th but held on to make par on 16 and 17. On the 18th, Mrva played a provisional shot off the tee and conceded the match once Drew hit his chip right next to the hole.
18-Ryan Downes def. 31-Reese Jensen, 3&1
Downes (GreatHorse) raced out to a huge 5-up lead thanks to his course management in the early stages of the match. Jensen (Duxbury Yacht Club) kept competing, though, dialing up his wedges into greens and getting key putts to drop, while Downes found some trouble spots off the tee and was missing some targets. Jensen won the 13th and 14th to get within one, but Downes made an electric 20-foot birdie putt from the fringe on the 16th and a 12-footer on the 17th after Jensen narrowly missed his birdie bid.
23-Jake Ratti def. 26-Raymond Dennehy, 2-up
Ratti (Wollaston Golf Club), the 2024 Mass Mid-Amateur champion and 2025 Mass Open Low Amateur, held steady in a back-and-forth match before pulling away late, winning holes 16 and 17 with pars to close out UConn’s Dennehy (Oak Hill Country Club) Ratti’s consistency on the back nine, just one bogey, proved the difference in a tight match.
3-Joseph Lenane def. 19-Zach Pelzar, 5&4
North Carolina State standout Lenane (George Wright Golf Course) blitzed the front nine with clean, confident golf and never let up, rolling to a win over Emory University’s Pelzar (Weston Golf Club). Lenane played the first 14 holes in just 59 strokes, highlighted by a birdie on the par-5 11th and a dagger on the par-3 14th to go dormie.
11-Ben Spitz def. 27-Max McColgan, 3&2
Spitz (George Wright Golf Course) holed out for birdie from the fairway on the par-3 12th, and while it wasn’t enough to win the hole outright, he held off the challenge from St. John’s University-bound McColgan (Nashawtuc Country Club) in the afternoon. Spitz was solid with the putter for most of the match, going 1-under 35 on the front nine and taking a 4-up lead through seven holes.
32-Brad Valois def. 1-Matthew Johnson, 3&1
Valois (TPC Boston) made a birdie on the first hole and never looked back as the four-time Rhode Island Amateur champion knocked off the medalist, Matthew Johnson (Charter Oak Country Club). It marked the third time in four years that the No. 32 seed has defeated the medalist, including Matt Naumec en route to his 2024 victory. Valois made a timely birdie on the 14th to go 2-up, and though Johnson made birdie on the 15th and 16th, he couldn’t save par on the 17th, ending the match.
16-Billy Walthouse def. 17-Sean Fitzpatrick, 3&2
Walthouse became the first GreatHorse member to advance to the Round of 16 as he tied the match against Fitzpatrick (George Wright Golf Course) with birdies on the 8th and 9th holes and played the back nine bogey-free to close it out on the 16th.
8-Patrick Kilcoyne def. 25-Guy Antonacci, 4&2
Despite dropping the first hole, Kilcoyne (Woodland Golf Club) equalized with a birdie on the 4th hole and won the 7th and 8th to pull ahead for good against Antonacci, owner and president of GreatHorse. It was the first time the Gettysburg College standout won a match in the Mass Amateur.
9-Alan Rose def. 24-Matt Vaughn, 3&2
After alternating hole victories for the opening four contests, the Georgetown product pulled away by making birdie on the 8th and 9th holes and winning the 10th and 11th to go 5-up against a past club champion from Charles River Country Club.
4-John Broderick def. 29-Brian Glennon, 3&2
Vanderbilt standout Broderick (Dedham Country & Polo Club) struggled to find his footing early on, got to 2-up after finally getting a birdie to go on the par-5 8th. Glennon (Cohasset Golf Club), a Holy Cross standout, birdied the 10th to cut the deficit in half, but Broderick saved par on the 14th, secured birdie on the 15th, and closed it out on the 16th.
13-Aidan Emmerich def. 20-Carson Erick, 3&2
In a matchup of two collegiate standouts, Temple’s Aidan Emmerich overcame an early two-hole deficit against Georgetown’s Erick to move to the Round of 16 for the first time since 2016. Emmerich won the 8th and 9th with birdie scores to tie the match and took the lead for good with another on the 10th.
5-Trevor Drew def. 28-Ricky Stimets, 3&2
Drew (Long Meadow Golf Club) made par on all but three holes in his opening match to defeat the 2024 Mass Amateur finalist. Tied at the turn, the Western Kentucky standout won holes 11-13 with pars, and then matched Stimets with a birdie on the 16th to close out the match.
21-Jake Mrva def. 12-Christopher Bornhorst, 7&6
Mrva (Worcester Country Club), a Fordham graduate, chalked up the most decisive match of the morning, taking a 4-up lead into the turn and then making birdie on the next three holes to close out Bornhorst (Brae Burn Country Club), the former semifinalist and standout at Babson College and University of Colorado.
31-Reese Jensen vs. 2-Matthew Naumec, 1-up
In the biggest upset of the morning, Harvard-bound Jensen held off a late charge to defeat the defending champion and former Boston College standout of the host club. With a birdie on the par-4 7th, Jensen took a 3-up lead, but Naumec got it back to 1 by the 16th. After par on the 17th, Jensen found the front of the 18th green from a tough lie on the left side of the fairway. Naumec hit his approach within 10 feet, but his tying birdie putt slid past the right side to end it.
18-Ryan Downes def. 15-Ben Balter, 3&1
The 2023 champion never trailed the match, winning three of the first four holes to race out to a 3-1 lead over Balter (Weston Golf Club), Wake Forest golfer and U.S. Mid-Amateur qualifier. Balter won the 16th with a birdie to get it to 2, but Downes sank about a 15-footer for birdie on the 17th to finish it.
26-Raymond Dennehy def. 7-Andrew DiRamio, 5&4
The UConn standout controlled the match from start to finish, winning two of the first three holes and taking a 3-up lead by the turn. Dennehy (Oak Hill Country Club) earned his first match-play victory, making his first appearance since 2022 at Concord. DiRamio (North Hill Country Club) earned his lone hole win on the par-5 second.
23-Jake Ratti def. 10-Matt Parziale, 1-up
The closest match of the morning came between two former Mass Mid-Amateur winners who played together in stroke play this week. After matching Parziale (Thorny Lea Golf Club) on the first five holes, Ratti (Wollaston Golf Club) made birdie on the next two. Parziale tied the match by hole 12, but again Ratti rattled in a couple of birdies on the 14th and 15th for the win.
3-Joseph Lenane def. 30-Danny Frodigh, 2&1
Lenane (George Wright Golf Course) took advantage of some mistakes early on to take a 3-up lead at the turn and push it to 4-up by the 13th. Frodigh (Dedham Country & Polo Club) made things interesting by winning the 14th and 15th, and getting up and down from the bunker on the 16th to extend the match. His birdie putt on the 17th just missed the edge, and Lenane two-putted for par to close it out.
19-Zach Pelzar def. 14-Michael McGrath, 1-up
Pelzar (Weston Golf Club) let a 3-up lead on the 12th slip away, as McGrath (CC of Wilbraham) won the 15th with a birdie and the 13th and 16th with par to equalize. After a tie on the 17th, McGrath hit an errant drive that found the fairway bunkers across the road. He then found the fescue before having to punch out. Pelzar was just shy of the green in two, and McGrath conceded the match in the fairway.
27-Max McColgan def. 6-Drake Hull, 5&4
McColgan (Nashawatuc Country Club) won the first two holes with birdie and never looked back against Hull (Cape Club of Sharon), a former UConn golfer. The St. John’s commit and member of the Team Massachusetts U.S. National Development program held a 5-up lead at the turn, and even though Hull made a birdie on the 12th, McColgan closed out the match before crossing the street to play the 15th.
11-Ben Spitz def. 22-A.J. Oleksak, 5&4
The 2006 champion made a score of birdie on both the par-5s on the front to earn a 4-up lead by the turn against GreatHorse member Oleksak. Though Oleksak won the 9th with a birdie, he was unable to close the gap further against the 2021 Mass Amateur medalist.
A big thanks to our First Tee Massachusetts students who helped us map the shots on hole No. 9 at GreatHorse during the Round of 32 at the Massachusetts Amateur Championship.
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