By Tori Schuller
MILTON, Massachusetts (July 24, 2025) – On Tuesday afternoon, Zachary Colon (The Haven Country Club) was driving home from Richmond, Virginia, when the first alternate was accepted into the field for the 58th Ouimet Memorial Tournament. On Thursday, Colon shattered the competitive course record with a 6-under 65 at Wollaston Golf Club, and now sits tied for third place in the Championship division, entering the final day of the tournament.
Colon shot the low score of the day by three strokes, beating the previous competitive course record at Wollaston, a 66 shot in 2007 at the Ouiment Memorial by Darren Bolton.
“It feels really good, I mean I didn’t have any expectations playing a tournament, since it was kind of on short notice,” Colon said. “I’m going to use this to help me play well tomorrow and hopefully get myself a couple chances down the stretch.”
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Starting with a 33 on his front nine and two more birdies by the 13th hole, Colon made his mark on the course early on, improving from his 5-over-par 76 on Wednesday.
“Yesterday was really challenging, I felt like I didn’t know where the ball was going to go,” Colon said. “Because the course isn’t very long, back on the front nine I had five wedges in hand. Yesterday I missed a couple greens, and today I hit them a lot better.”
Of note, the Championship Division is playing to a par of 71, while the Women’s and Lowery Divisions are playing to a par of 72.
Colon’s phenomenal round continued on the 14th hole, where he dropped a 12-foot putt to claim an eagle.
“14’s [approach] was a number I liked, a downwind 200, so I just hit a seven,” Colon said. “Happened to go closer than I thought, but felt great to make it, because it kind of just propelled me for the next couple of holes.”
Sharing the top spot on the leaderboard in the Championship division, Matt Parziale (Thorny Lea Golf Club) and Ben Spitz (George Wright Golf Course) sit at an overall 2-under-par 140.
Parziale only carded one square on his scorecard today, but grabbed four birdies in his last nine holes.
On the green in two on both par-fives, Parziale two-putted for easy birdies, and stuck his approach on 18 to 4 feet, for a successful downhill breaker birdie putt.
“It’s good to go into the next round with some momentum, but the key were my par saves,” Parziale said.
Parziale played off the energy of his playing partner, Ricky Stimets (Barnstable Golf) who sits at t-8th place with an overall score of 147, 5-over-par, and earned a few birdies on the card on Thursday.
“I was just trying to follow in Ricky’s slipstream, follow the lines and angles he had,” Parziale said.
Both Morgan Smith (Mount Pleasant Golf Club) in the Women’s division, and Brendan Hester in the Lowery, upheld their leads from day 1 of the Ouimet.
Smith carded a 3-over-par 75 on the day, continuing her lead over her younger sister Maddie Smith (Mount Pleasant Golf Club), who holds solo second.
Morgan had two bogeys and two birdies on her day 1 scorecard, giving her a respective even-par 72. For day two, Smith carded a birdie on the 16th, but ended her round with a 3-over-par 75.
On the Lowery side, Hester ended his first round with a 1-under 71, earning him first place for the start of day 2. While the top of the leaderboard shifted, day 2 ended with Hester at the top again, carding a 3-over-par 75 for day 2.
“I mean, everyday is different in golf, so just really tried to play as good as I could, it was very difficult conditions,” Hester said. “Wind was kind of swirling around, so just really tried to do my best.”
Hester heads into day 3 of the tournament with just a one shot lead, with David Pierce (Thorny Lea Golf Club) on his heels.
“No expectations whatsoever, just to show up on the first tee, hit one down the middle, and go from there,” Hester said. “Just really enjoy the group and have a fun day.”
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The Ouimet Memorial Tournament is a 54-hole, stroke-play tournament featuring an exempt-only field of top junior, amateur, mid-amateur and senior players who belong to Mass Golf Member Clubs. In its current form, the first two rounds of the event take place at an alternating venue, with the final round taking place at Woodland Golf Club.
Recent Champions
Championship Division
2024 – Jack O’Donnell
2023 – Ryan Downes
2022 – Ryan Downes
2021 – Chris Francoeur
2020 – Chris FrancoeurWomen’s Division
2024 – Isabel Brozena
2023 – Shannon Johnson
2022 – Catie Schernecker
2021 – Molly Smith
2020 – Anne WalshLowery Division
2024 – Frank Vana, Jr.
2023 – Scott Copeland
2022 – Keith Smith
2021 – Steven Tasho
2020 – Frank Vana, Jr.
Even with a expansive resume that includes 15 Major Championships and 9 USGA titles, few courses can claim a key role in growing the legend of Tiger Woods. Thanks to Woods’ thrilling, come-from-behind victory at the 1992 U.S. Junior Amateur Championship, Wollaston Golf Club is one of those courses. Woods made history with his win at Wollaston, becoming the first player to ever win two U.S. Junior Amateur Championships. The next year, he would win his third consecutive U.S. Junior Amateur, and followed that up with three-consecutive U.S. Amateur titles from 1994-1996.
Wollaston Golf Club has called its current site ‘home’ since 1970. Sitting within the Blue Hills and playing to a maximum yardage of approximately 6,900, Wollaston remains one of the only Tom Fazio designed courses in Massachusetts. Before Fazio’s design, Wollaston Golf Club was located on the present site of Presidents Golf Course in Quincy.
Wollaston has played host to nine of Mass Golf’s Signature Championships, with three of those Championships being contested on the present-day layout. In 1995, Geoffrey Sisk won his first of six Massachusetts Open Championships. Prior to that, Loren Milhench won her first of two-straight Massachusetts Women’s Amateurs (1985) and Dana Quigley won his third-straight Massachusetts Open Championship (1984).
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