By Aidan McLaughlin
AUBURNDALE, Massachusetts (July 31, 2026) – Every Ouimet Memorial finishes the same way, beneath the towering trees at Francis Ouimet’s home club, with Friday traffic crawling toward I-95, the Green Line rumbling past and three coveted trophies up for grabs.
The tournament’s 59th annual finale at Woodland Golf Club brought a welcome change of scenery as well. After two days of rain and cooler temperatures, sunshine broke through over the club’s lush fairways as some of the state’s best men’s and women’s amateur golfers tried to stamp their names in tournament lore.
By day’s end, three first-time champions had done just that. Zachary Georgantas (Foxborough Country Club) captured the Championship Division, 20 days after finishing runner-up in the 118th Massachusetts Amateur. Chris Congdon (The Links at Mass Golf), a recent U.S. Senior Amateur qualifier, defeated Hall of Famer Frank Vana Jr. (Marlborough Country Club) in a playoff to win the Lowery Division (Seniors), while mid-amateur standout Alexis Florio (Woodland Golf Club) charged late to claim the Women’s Division.
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Starting the final round one shot off the lead, Georgantas fired a 5-under 66 Friday to beat the competition by three strokes.
“It was awesome,” said Georgantas, who became the first player since Ryan Downes in 2022 to win the Ouimet after finishing runner-up in the Mass Amateur. “I knew my game was in a good spot after Mass Am. I didn’t play great at New England Am, but then I took a little break and then got back to work and just played really well this week.”
Georgantas, an incoming first-year at Providence College, began by driving the green on No. 1 and two-putting for birdie. His lone bogey came on the par-4 6th, but he answered immediately with a birdie on No. 7.
About half a dozen players held or shared the lead at some point Friday, but Georgantas separated himself with a back-nine 31. After crossing beneath the Green Line tracks for the final four holes, he birdied each of the last three to pull away from the field, including overnight leader Trevor Drew (Long Meadow Golf Club), who shot 70 and finished solo second.
No. 15, however, was just as clutch for the champion.
“I kind of hit a bad chip, and it landed on the down slope of the bunker, and it kind of just scooted all the way up the hill to 4-5 feet, and then I made it for par; that was huge momentum, and then on 16 I hit a good wedge shot to about 12 feet and made the putt,” Georgantas recounted. “On 17 I hit my second shot, and it spun off the front. It was a 40-footer from the fringe, but it was just dead straight. I just knew if I got it up the hill then it had a chance, and it dropped. So that was nice.” He then hit a low-spinner with a 60-degree wedge to a tough back-left pin location and made the putt to put an exclamation point on the round.
While Georgantas has used an old Scotty Cameron putter since coming up short at Winchester, one thing that hasn’t changed is the person carrying his bag. His best friend, Ryan McGuire, the son of the Ouimet Fund’s Executive Director, Colin McGuire, who was sporting a Francis and Eddie polo while carrying the bag, has helped Georgantas to a Mass Amateur final and now a Ouimet title.
“He’s my best friend,” Georgantas said of his caddy. “We keep it light up there. He just gives me second opinions on reads. Good club selection. Really good guy.”
Woodland member Patrick Kilcoyne and Mass Amateur winner Aidan Emmerich (Kernwood Country Club) each tied for third place at 2-under along with John Broderick (Dedham Country & Polo Club), Ben Balter (Weston Golf Club), and Collin McMahon-Shea (Nashawtuc Country Club).
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In the Women’s Division, Florio traded the lead throughout Friday’s tightly contested finale with Mass Girls’ Junior Amateur champion Cecily Henshon (Longmeadow Country Club) and New England Women’s Amateur champion Lillian Guleserian (Blue Hill Country Club).
Despite a slow start and a frustrating three-putt on No. 11, Florio remained composed before catching fire over the closing holes. She moved ahead with a clutch birdie putt from inside 6 feet on No. 17, taking a two-stroke lead to the 18th.
“There are some holes here that you really have to respect, and then others where you can kind of attack the pins,” said Florio, who finished 74-75—149 for a one-stroke victory over Henshon. “I just knew I had to keep my foot on the gas and really try to get as many birdies as I could coming in, and also just staying patient and knowing when I could go for pins and when I had to be more conservative.”
As sweet as this victory is for Florio, it isn’t all about winning. Now a mid-amateur balancing competitive golf with her studies as a J.D. candidate at Suffolk Law School, she views the game as an outlet rather than simply a pursuit of victories.
“I think first and foremost, like remembering that I’m doing it because I love the game and I love competing, and I’m choosing to show up and practice after work and on weekends, so I think that helps center me when I’m maybe not playing well, or things aren’t going my way, which was the case kind of early in the round,” said Florio, who will run the Falmouth Road Race for the Ouimet Fund Team in August.
“I compete because I love the environment and pressure that it creates. I kind of just leaned into that the last few holes, and pretty soon I’m going to be back in a library studying. I figured, you know what, if this is the hard work I have in front of me for the next couple hours, then I’m happy to do it.”
Henshon applied pressure from the outset, making birdie on the downhill par-4 opener. From there, a couple of pars and another birdie on the par-5 11th would keep her close. While Henshon applied pressure with matching birdies on Nos. 17 and 18, she found trouble from the bunker on No. 15 and made a triple bogey, which ultimately was too much to overcome.
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Chris Congdon entered the final round with a one-stroke lead and left Woodland Golf Club with his first Ouimet Memorial Tournament title, defeating Frank Vana Jr., a Hall of Famer and perennial contender in this championship.
Congdon had the benefit of a day off after playing his opening round Wednesday at Foxborough Country Club, but Vana quickly erased the deficit Friday. Seeking his ninth overall Ouimet title, Vana shot 2-under-par 34 on Woodland’s front nine and moved one stroke ahead.
Congdon, however, never allowed Vana to lead by more than two. He poured in a pivotal birdie putt on the par-3 13th, then remained steady as Vana bogeyed each of the final two holes, including a three-putt on No. 18. That left the two tied and sent them back to the 18th tee for a sudden-death playoff.
Both made par on their first extra trip down the hole, though neither found the fairway. Congdon drove into the mounds on the left before recovering to reach the green in regulation and two-putting for par. Vana, meanwhile, had to take relief right near the club’s entrance road, but he also managed to salvage par.
Congdon found firmer footing the second time around, driving beyond the road and hitting his approach safely into the middle of the green. Vana sent his approach over the green and was unable to get up and down to extend the playoff.
“It’s great. I’ve never won this,” Congdon said afterward. “Frank’s a great competitor and a great champion. It feels good to take this one down.”
Congdon, who has spent much of the past year playing in Florida, said a return to regular tournament golf helped him remain composed during the tense finish. “I felt nervous, but I didn’t feel overwhelmed at all,” he said. “That was nice.”
His efforts were also enough to hold off a final-round charge from Kevin Daly (Salem Country Club), who shot the low round of the division with a 3-under 68 that included five birdies and a 33 on the back nine to take third overall.
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