By Steve Derderian
sderderian@massgolf.org
CONCORD, Massachusetts (August 13, 2025) — There’s been plenty to enjoy and celebrate over the first two days of the 122nd Massachusetts Women’s Amateur Championship. After getting their bearings in stroke play, the 32 remaining competitors now have a sense for how to navigate the Donald Ross masterpiece at Concord Country Club.
But match play is a fresh start. On Wednesday, players will face various decisions and club selections, as well as risk-reward opportunities that can turn a match on its head.
It’s one of the most talented fields we’ve seen in years, and it’s anybody’s guess who will be among the final two still standing come Friday morning with a title and an automatic spot in the 2026 U.S. Women’s Amateur at The Honors Course (Tennessee) at stake.
Here’s a look at three intriguing matchups in the Round of 32:
9-Morgan Smith vs. 24-Kylie Eaton (8:30 a.m.)
This matchup not only features a pair of two-time state amateur winners, but two of the grittiest players in the field.
Before her first victory in 2022, Westford native Morgan Smith (Mount Pleasant Golf Club) talked about being under-recruited out of high school and dedicating an entire offseason to reaching her potential. “I started working out two hours a day, six days a week, all winter long,” Smith said after her semifinal win that year. After her 2022 victory, she earned a scholarship to Georgetown, later transferring to the University of Georgia, where she plays now. She won the 2024 title at Taconic Golf Club, breezing through match play before she had to rally past her younger sister Molly in the semifinals. Smith entered the tournament coming off an eight-stroke victory in the Ouimet Memorial Tournament and can end her summer in style by becoming the first back-to-back winner in a decade.
Kylie Eaton (KOHR Golf), meanwhile, has won two Rhode Island Women’s Amateur titles, most notably earlier this year while wearing a walking boot after X-rays revealed a bone bruise on her left ankle. Free from the boot now, Eaton enters match play on the back of several strong performances. The University of Illinois rising sophomore also won her first state amateur title, and last year won the New England Junior Amateur individual title at GreatHorse.
4-Rebecca Skoler vs. 29-Catie Schernecker (8:40 a.m.)
Two past champions returning to the field this year are facing off in their opening match.
Rebecca Skoler (Pine Brook Country Club), the 2023 champion and University of Virginia graduate, enters match play fresh off her best round of the week. On Tuesday, she surged on the back nine with a tournament-best 4-under-par 32, closing stroke play with a 1-under 71 to claim the No. 4 seed. A 2025 U.S. Women’s Amateur match play qualifier, Skoler has long demonstrated the composure needed to navigate both the steady grind of stroke play and the pressure-packed moments of head-to-head competition.
Catie Schernecker (The Country Club), the 2021 champion at Plymouth Country Club (another Ross design), built her victory on one of the sharpest putting strokes in the field, which can be a major asset in match play. A Harvard graduate and Academic All-Ivy League honoree, she pairs a steady short game with big-tournament experience, making her a dangerous draw in any round, especially when a single momentum-shifting putt can turn the tide of a match.
2-Molly Smith vs. 31-Megan Buck (9:20 a.m.)
Molly Smith (Vesper Country Club), the University of Central Florida standout, secured the No. 2 seed with rounds of 70–69—139. Her lone blemish this week was a triple bogey on the 10th hole Monday, but otherwise she’s been steady off the tee and sharp into the greens. Smith has the power edge in this matchup and, with an eagle-birdie finish on Monday, clearly has the ability to reach greens with ease, especially if the tees move up at all. But more importantly, as a finalist in 2023 and a semifinalist last year, Smith has arrived this week with something to prove.
Her opponent, Megan Buck (Thorny Lea Golf Club), is the reigning Mass Golf Anne Marie Tobin Women’s Player of the Year and a past Mass Women’s Mid-Amateur champion. Even though she’s struggled to find her footing this week at Concord (82-78—160), Buck brings a wealth of match play experience, including a trip to the Round of 32 in the 2024 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur at Brae Burn, making her a seasoned and formidable first-round opponent.
For complete coverage of the 122nd Massachusetts Women’s Amateur Championship, visit MassGolf.org or follow Mass Golf on Facebook, X, and Instagram at @PlayMassGolf and use the hashtag #MassWomensAm.