By: Tori Schuller
CONCORD, Massachusetts (August 14, 2025) – If a spectator had wandered over to Concord Country Club on Thursday afternoon, they would’ve been greeted by a wall of blistering heat and two of the most riveting semifinals this championship has seen in recent years.
The 122nd Massachusetts Women’s Amateur semifinals served up a double feature worthy of the big screen: one pairing former Indiana Hoosiers and mid-amateur standouts Shannon Johnson (Thorny Lea Golf Club) and Alexis Florio (Woodland Golf Club), the other showcasing college standouts with game-changing power in Isabel Brozena (Indian Ridge Country Club) and Molly Smith (Vesper Country Club).
The majority of the quarterfinal matches Thursday morning wrapped up before the 18th green, with only Johnson and Lillian Guleserian (Blue Hill Country Club) playing out the full 18. Although Johnson advanced to the semifinals Thursday afternoon, the largest margin the 2018 champion had throughout the entire day was a 2-up lead. With a well-placed tee shot on 18 and a well-struck hybrid landing just 10 feet past the pin, Johnson held off Florio, the 2020 Rhode Island Women’s Amateur champion, to make the final match for the first time since 2021.
“The big thing I’ve found this week is much better putting than I have before. That’s probably been my Achilles’ heel with everything,” said Johnson, who switched to the claw grip putting technique earlier this year, yielding promising results. “I’m really rolling it well. I think my caddie Tim [Lenane] and I are reading some of these greens really well, and hopefully tomorrow we can make a few more putts.”
Johnson, the 2018 Mass Women’s Amateur champion, was the stroke play medalist on Tuesday with high hopes of making another run to the final. Entering the final, Johnson, 42, hopes to add her name to the list of legends who have won multiple championships and join an even more impressive list of 40-something mid-amateurs to hoist the trophy. The most recent was Tara Joy-Connelly in 2013, and before that, Pam Kuong (2010) at age 49.
History aside, she is largely focused on the here and now and credits her caddie for giving her a momentum boost so far this week.
“Tim is the best. He got on my bag last year at the U.S. Mid-Amateur and was awesome,” said Johnson, who made match play at last year’s national championship at Brae Burn Country Club. “He has so much positive attitude and is always telling me good things and good affirmations, and just keeping it positive all the time, which I definitely need.”
In her first-ever semifinal appearance, Brozena faced her toughest challenge yet: Smith, the University of Central Florida standout. While Brozena’s driving ability has served her well all week, another strength has been her support team, as her dad has been caddying since stroke play and continued into match play.
“I definitely look to him. If I’m ever down, he is really good at getting me back momentum-wise, and making sure that I never get out of it,” said Brozena, who turned mishits into magic several times, always followed up by a beaming smile.
Brozena, a rising sophomore at Xavier University, is in the midst of her deepest tournament run yet. While optimistic, she is well aware of the previous champ she is going head-to-head with.
“She’s played great this entire week. I know it’s not gonna be easy,” Brozena said of Johnson. “No one is going to just let you have it.”
Brozena said she expects her execution this week to bode well for her upcoming season at Xavier University. She also will play in the Monday qualifier this month for a shot to play in the LPGA’s FM Championship.
“I think everyone who’s going back to college or looking to have a good fall plays in the Mass Women’s Am because it’s the best competition in the state,” Brozena said. “It’s the perfect opportunity to get back into shape for playing against really good amateur fields in college.”
Scroll down for the full capsules with highlights from the semifinal and quarterfinal matches.
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Hometown: North Easton, MA
School: Indiana University
Accolades:
ROAD TO THE FINAL
Stroke Play: 68-70–138 (Medalist)
R32: Def. Mia Lombardi, 5&4
R16: Def. Claire Richardson, 1-up
Quarterfinals: Lillian Guleserian, 1-up
Semifinals: Alexis Florio, 1-up
Hometown: North Reading, MA
School: Xavier University
Accolades:
ROAD TO THE FINAL
Stroke Play: 72-69-141 (3rd overall)
R32: Def. Annie Dai, 6&5
R16: Def. Amanda Adams, 3&1
Quarterfinals: Def. Kaitlyn Doe, 2&1
Semifinals: Def. Molly Smith, 3&2
1-Shannon Johnson def. 4-Alexis Florio, 1-up
After pulling the rope back and forth throughout the afternoon, the match between the pair of former Indiana Hoosiers came down to the final three holes. Similar to her Round of 16 match with past champion Claire Richardson, Johnson took advantage of her opponent’s error off the tee as Florio’s drive landed into the penalty area on the left side. Reaching the green in two, Johnson was then able to safely play out the hole and walk away with a 1-up lead.
Despite a pair of nicely executed approach shots, both made par, to bring the match to the 18th. Johnson safely hit a 4 wood down the middle, while Florio was off to the right side of the fairway shared with the 1st hole. Florio then hit her approach heavy into the front right rough. Johnson then hit a smooth hybrid into the front of the green, and with one more putt, was able to clinch her spot back into the final match for the first time in four years.
Florio, the 2020 Rhode Island Women’s Amateur champion, hung around in the match with a stellar short game. After a nifty scramble from the fairway bunker on the 7th, she took the lead on the 8th with a 7-foot birdie putt and gained the lead again, making her last birdie on the 13th.
3-Isabel Brozena def. 2-Molly Smith, 3&2
From the jump, Xavier University standout set the tone by outdriving University of Central Florida’s Molly Smith down the first fairway and winning the opening hole. Watching much of the other semifinal play out in front of them on the tee box, the two put on a show of their own. Tied on the par-4 8th, Smith hit her approach inside 10 feet, while Brozena hit hers over the back but still had a putt. Hitting back up the hill, she had the perfect line, and it curled into the cup for birdie to take the lead. Brozena then hit a 7-iron into the par-3 9th and pumped her fist as her 8-footer dropped.
Smith cut the deficit in half on the 10th, after Brozena hit way past the green again; however, Smith’s drive on 11 landed into the face of the bunker, forcing her to punch out, and she was unable to save par. With the tees up on the 13th, Brozena (2-up at the time) originally pulled out her driver but opted for a fairway wood instead, landing in the bunker. Smith crushed a driver and was in position A in the fairway, but Brozena, hitting from a flat lie in the bunker, got hers to roll within 10 feet of the hole, while Smith’s approach went long, leading to a tied par. Smith won the 14th with a solid putt, but Brozena countered with a 20-foot putt of her own from the right side of the green to move to 3-up, closing out the match after Smith came up short on her birdie bid on the 16th.
1-Shannon Johnson def. 8-Lillian Guleserian, 1-up
After Hole 2, Shannon Johnson never lost sight of the semifinals, holding control over the lead the remainder of the round. Johnson and Guleserian battled through all 18 holes, with Guleserian taking the match to only 1-up in a successful par attempt on 15. Guleserian nearly tied it on the 17th, but her birdie putt just clipped the edge, keeping the edge with Johnson heading to the final hole. Johnson put a hybrid close on her approach on the 18th, closing it out with a conceded par.
5-Alexis Florio def. 4-Rebecca Skoler, 4&3
Florio poured in a 35-foot putt on the par-3 15th to advance to the semifinals in her Mass Women’s Amateur debut. After winning the first two holes, Florio stretched her lead to 4-up by almost spinning her approach shot in for eagle on the par-4 7th. Skoler won the 8th and made birdie on the 9th to cut the deficit in half. Skoler made another clutch putt on the 13th to cut into the lead again, but a Skoler three-putt followed by Florio’s bomb on 15 ended the match.
2-Molly Smith def. 7-Phoebe Brinker, 4&3
Molly Smith earned the lead in her morning match on the first hole and never looked back to advance to the semifinals for the fourth time in the past five years. The University of Central Florida standout won the first two holes, including a birdie on the opener. Brinker, a former Duke University All-American, cut the deficit to 1 with a birdie on the par-4 10th, but Smith pulled away with birdies of her own on the 11th and 13th. Brinker was unable to scramble for par on the par-3 15th, allowing Smith to close it out with a conceded par.
3-Isabel Brozena vs. 6-Kaitlyn Doe, 2&1
Isabel Brozena consistently outdrove Kaitlyn Doe by about 40 yards off the tee, helping her take a 3-up lead early. Doe, after switching caddies to her younger sister Emily after the turn, started to find her rhythm. She won the 12th hole, reducing Brozena’s lead to two. Brozena answered on the 13th, driving into the fairway to set up an easy wedge shot and a successful birdie putt. Doe extended the match by making a clutch two-putt from the back of the green on the 15th and kept the comeback hopes alive with a 2-putt birdie on the par-5 16th. On the 17th, Doe holed a must-make 20-foot birdie putt from behind the pin, but Brozena calmly matched with a 6-foot putt, clinching her first trip to the semifinals.
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