By Steve Derderian
sderderian@massgolf.org
BERNARDSTON, Massachusetts (August 18, 2025) – The New England Junior Amateur Championship has a new home base, and it’s already living up to the billing. Crumpin-Fox Club in Bernardston kicked off its three-year run as host on Monday, welcoming teams from all six New England states to a course carved through thick forest and steep terrain.
Each state brings seven boys and five girls to compete in a team-and-individual stroke play format, with five boys’ scores and three girls’ scores counting toward the team total each round. Separate team and individual champions will be crowned Tuesday, when the final 18 holes begin at 9 a.m. (shotgun start)
But this championship is more than just about bragging rights. It’s a late-summer tradition where state-colored shirts blend into a competitive blur across two days of play. Crumpin-Fox delivered a proper test from the start, challenging even the sharpest games with its tight corridors and multiple hazards lurking.
However, the course could only do so much to stifle the front-runners, each of whom is in the midst of a stellar campaign in 2025.
Just over a month after winning her second Massachusetts Girls’ Junior Amateur title in three years right here at Crumpin-Fox, Maddy Smith (Vesper CC) is making the most of her return trip. The Memphis commit, also this year’s New England Women’s Amateur champ, opened with back-to-back rounds of 73 to grab a three-shot lead over Rhode Island’s Olivia Williams (Merrimack commit) and Mady Savary (New Hampshire). Starting on 17 and 18, respectively, in the opening rounds, Smith largely carded par on the front half each time, but finished the afternoon strongly with three birdies between holes 10-16, coming up just short of an even-par round.
Smith’s steady play also powered Team Massachusetts to a solid 13-shot lead over defending champion Rhode Island in the girls team standings. Her teammate Ryley Regan (Orchards Golf Club) shot 76 in the morning, helping her get to the top five individually so far. Mass Golf’s girls are seeking their first team win in the event since 2021.
On the boys side, North Cherry did more than just outfox the rest of the field. The 2025 Connecticut Junior Amateur champ and future DePaul Blue Demon torched the back nine en route to a jaw-dropping, bogey-free round of 10-under-par 62 in the afternoon. After a 3-under 69 in the morning, Cherry opened the afternoon with birdies on holes 7-8. He then demolished the back nine, knocking down five consecutive birdies on holes 14-18 and adding two more on 4 & 5 for 10 total in the round, seemingly making every birdie bid in front of him.
At 13-under total, he’s built a nine-shot cushion heading into the final round. Fellow Connecticut standout Robby Rosati (Maryland commit) carded 4-under (68-72) on the day, while Zac Georgantas, last fall’s MIAA Division 2 champ from Foxborough, paced Team Massachusetts with a matching 4-under, achieved in reverse fashion (72–68). Georgantas made eagle on the par-5 14th (525 yards) both times and found himself 5-under at a couple points in the afternoon, ultimately carding a 68 after an even-par 72 in the morning. His teammate Jack Carew (Ipswich Country Club) is 1-under total, opening his afternoon with consecutive birdies on 9 & 10 to shoot 2-under 70, rounding out the top-five individuals.
Mass Golf’s boys, two-time defending champs in this event, sit second in the team race, trailing Connecticut by 19 strokes. Connecticut and Massachusetts have won the team title each year since 2016. The previous year, Rhode Island had captured the title.
Here’s how things stand in the team and individual competitions through Day 1 of the New England Junior Amateur.
Here’s how things stand after Day 1 of the 2025 New England Junior Amateur Championship at Crumpin-Fox Club.
The third and final round begins at 9 Tuesday morning (shotgun start). #MassGolf | #NEGA pic.twitter.com/W7SiPBvXo7
— Mass Golf (@PlayMassGolf) August 18, 2025
In December 2023, the New England Golf Association made a historic announcement by naming Crumpin-Fox Club in Bernardston as the permanent host of the New England Junior Amateur Championship from 2025 to 2027. Crumpin-Fox hosted the 2019 Mass Junior Amateur Championship and the 2025 Mass Girls’ Junior Amateur Championship, plus several qualifying events in recent years.
Crumpin-Fox, which takes its name from the area’s old Crump & Fox Soda Company, features several standout holes that weave through dense forest and lots of elevation change. Roger Rulewich completed the first nine holes working with Robert Trent Jones in 1977 and returned to complete the entire course in 1990. The signature hole (No. 8) featured an elevated tee shot to a fairway flanked entirely on the left by a lake. The golfer then has the option of laying up, leaving a mid- to long-iron shot to the green, or playing the heroic shot of trying to reach the green in two.
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