Thorny Lea Duo Shannon Johnson & Matt Parziale Go Wire-to-Wire in Mixed Four-Ball Victory At Renaissance
By Steve Derderian sderderian@massgolf.org
HAVERHILL, Massachusetts (June 2, 2025) – Once a two-day match-play, alternate shot tournament, the Mixed Four-Ball Championship for the Stone Cup has evolved into a one-day sprint using four-ball stroke play, much faster and with a drastically larger and more talented field. As Mass Golf’s only co-ed team event, it tests rhythm, precision, and chemistry amongst duos.
Matt Parziale and Shannon Johnson had all three on Monday at Renaissance. Playing in the first group, the Thorny Lea stalwarts and past national mid-amateur championship winners blitzed the course in just 3 hours and 40 minutes, collecting nine birdies and an eagle for a score of 9-under-par 63 for a three-stroke victory and their first title in this event. Combined, they’ve now won eight Mass Golf four-ball championships, and their score is the lowest since the event became a championship in 2020 (previously Doug Clapp & Pam Kuong; 7-under 64 in 2023 at Walpole Country Club).
“It’s always fun to play with Matt, just going out here with the first tee time of the day, setting the pace and seeing what happened,” said Johnson, the 2018 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur champion. “We definitely got out to a much faster start than we have in years past, so that was kind of fun, and we just kept trying to ride the momentum to the finish.”
The champs were among 58 teams (116 players) that competed in the 102nd contest for the Stone Cup. The players competed from tees set at 6,022 yards for men and 5,370 yards for women.
Johnson and Parziale did their part to pick each other up in the beginning, with each making two birdies on the front nine. After Johnson’s 3 on the par-4 9th, Parziale drove it to the punchbowl green and made the eagle putt to get to 6-under, leaning on experience from when he won the Mass Four-Ball here with Herbie Aikens in 2017.
“I remember getting up there and saying, I should hit it farther,” Parziale said. “The tee was up a little bit today; I had downwind, so I was able to get it over the slope and roll down to the green, had a nice chance for eagle there, and was able to make it.”
Johnson, who was playing the layout for the first time, nearly made her own highlight eagle on the par-5 14th. After taking relief from a sprinkler head just shy of the green, she hit a saucy chip that nearly rolled into the cup but knocked home the tap-in birdie to stretch the lead. Parziale then made a downhill 6-footer on the par-3 15th and nearly rolled in another eagle putt on the 18th to cap off the round and give the rest of the field the number to beat, all before the clock struck noon.
Both said playing in the early morning was a nice change-up and had them feeling loose and confident with the putter in hand.
“The greens were really nice. Obviously, it’s nice to go first, where they’re smooth, but they had some nice speed,” Parziale of the course. “I’ve always enjoyed coming here. It’s a good layout, and they do a good job.”
Matt Parziale had five birdies and an eagle on his own ball Monday at Renaissance. (David Colt)
Sue Curtin (Boston Golf Club) and Chris Herrick (Vesper Country Club) did their level best to make it an honest afternoon pursuit, charging up the leaderboard with four birdies in their first five holes. Though a few birdie putts slipped by during the middle stretch, Herrick kept the team steady with a pair of clutch up-and-downs, one from the bunker for birdie on 14 and another for par on 15. Curtin then delivered a final birdie of the day on the par-3 17th, helping the duo secure solo second with a bogey-free round.
Mass Women’s Amateur champion Morgan Smith (Mt. Pleasant Golf Club) teamed up with her dad, Phil Smith (Vesper Country Club), a two-time winner of the event alongside Molly Smith in 2021 and 2022. The duo opened strongly, carding birdies on each of the early par-3s, but a tough lie in the native grass on the par-4 8th led to their first stumble. They rallied with back-to-back birdies on 10 and 11, then again on 14 and 15 to reach 5-under, but couldn’t quite get the putts to fall down the stretch to close the gap.
Dean Godek & Alia Godek (Agawam Municipal Golf Course), however, made birdie on their last three holes to earn their best finish in the event. The pair had a pair of 9th-place finishes in past years, but their late charge put them in a tie with the Smiths.
Sue Curtin (pictured) and Chris Herrick shot the best round of the afternoon players. (David Colt)
Competition Notables
Jay Mann & Laura Jean Mann, also of Thorny Lea Golf Club, won the Net Divison title at 6-under 66, winning a tiebreaker with a Net score of 32 on the back nine to edge out David Driscoll (Dedham Country and Polo Club) & Katie McNamara (Charles River Country Club) [33] and Dylan Evans & Sydney Doolittle (Granite Links Golf Club) [34].
Home club competitors had strong showings overall. Renaissance duo Jeffrey Weishaar & Danielle Lee finished T7 at 3-under 69, with Weishaar shooting 70 on his own ball. Weishaar, who medaled at the 2022 Mass Mid-Amateur qualifier at Renaissance, said despite the rain, the course and greens tried out just in times to present the best conditions he’s seen also season. “This course is best when it’s like this, with just a hint of yellow on he greens, and it’s almost there,” Weishaar said. Maureen Sullivan teamed with Joe Ciolino (Marlborough Country Club) and finished T4 in the Net Division (T22 overall, 74).
A future Hall of Famer was among the ranks Monday as Marion Maney (New England Country Club) competed with Mike Fleming (Plymouth Country Club) for the second consecutive year. A year ago at Granite Links, Maney was just returning to the competitive golf scene. Last month, Mass Golf announced that she will be inducted the Massachusetts Golf Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2025. Maney, the 1992, U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur champion, and Fleming three birdies on the front nine, finishing with a score of 2-over 74.
Brianna Lawless (GreatHorse) made her Mass Golf championship debut four years ago at the Mixed Four-Ball at Twin Hills Country Club, playing alongside her brother-in-law, Ryan Lawless. Now playing to about a 9 handicap, Brianna was back with Ryan again on Monday. The duo also plans to tee it up in the inaugural Mass Golf Family Scramble Tournament on July 21, fittingly, back at Twin Hills. Tournament info >
Watch: The Final Word
About Renaissance
True to its name, Renaissance is a modern revival of golf’s Golden Age, combining classic architectural features with fresh, strategic twists. Designed by acclaimed architect Brian Silva, this 18-hole championship layout debuted in 2003, marking his first original creation.
Silva’s admiration for the greats, C.B. Macdonald and Seth Raynor, is evident in several of the hole templates scattered across the course, such as the Narrows, Cape, and Sahara. But Renaissance is no replica. Silva pushes boundaries, reimagining template holes in ways that surprise even seasoned players. Several holes feature large water hazards and massive bunker complexes that offer plenty risk-reward opportunities.
Some of the standouts include the panoramic 5th climbs to the course’s highest point and plays up to 558 yards with a large waste bunker guarding the right side. While “Long” is typically saved for the longest hole on the scorecard, such as the 14th at St. Andrews, the 15th at Renaissance earns that title as a long par-3 that can stretch to 250 yards. That wasn’t as much the case Monday as all players teed off from 149 yards with a favorable pin in the middle of the green.
Silva once called the par-4 10th Punchbowl his favorite on the course. At just over 300 yards from the back tees, the hole is a bold reinterpretation of the classic Punchbowl template, which invites aggression while punishing imprecision. The defining feature is the green: a sunken, almost square-shaped punchbowl surrounded by sharp slopes and rugged contours that funnel shots toward the center. It’s both a target and a trap. Tee shots that find the right line can tumble down into birdie range, even eagle opportunities. But miss the bowl, especially long or left, and the surrounding mounds leave players with tricky recoveries and awkward angles.
The 10th green is the signature Punchbowl at Renaissance. (David Colt)
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