By Richard Rapp
rrapp@massgolf.org
HAMPDEN, Massachusetts (September 2, 2026) — U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Qualifying is typically a one day frenzy, with two-player teams pushing to pile up as many birdies as possible before those precious 18 holes run out. But Tuesday’s original slate at GreatHorse was plagued by inclement weather. Overnight-into-morning rain pushed back tee times, then a lightning storm swept across the hills of Western Massachusetts, further complicating matters a few hours after play began.
Just about half of the sides completed their rounds on Tuesday, with the rest of the field, or whichever competitors were able to call out of work for a second consecutive day, returned on Wednesday morning to vie for one of three spots at Erin Hills and Blue Mound CC next May. Grips were wiped dry, shoes stuffed with newspaper (or whatever people use in the digital age), and muddy towels crusted over in trunks.
Jake Bauer (Franklin, MA) and Matthew Johnson (Boston, MA) earned co-medalist honors with a sizzling back-nine 31, riding 4 consecutive Johnston birdies to a round of 6-under 66. Alex Leonard (Williston, VT) and Evan Forrest (Merrimack, NH) was the last group into scoring, where they also tallied up 66.
There’s home club advantage, then there’s president of that home club advantage. Guy Antonacci (Somers, CT), following an impressive run at last year’s Massachusetts Amateur on his turf, put together an admirable round with partner Drake Hull (Boston, MA). The pair combined for five birdies on the inward nine, which earned them a spot in a playoff for the final ticket. They prevailed on the first playoff hole over John Nelson (West Hartford, CT) and Sam Powell (Farmington, CT).
Online: Results | U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship Home | Mass Golf Home
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Put it in the record that qualifying for the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball ranks as the second best thing Drake Hull has accomplished at GreatHorse this year. He got married here this June, which was also when Guy Antonacci asked Hull to team up with him for the Four-Ball. And you can’t deny a request from the club’s president on your wedding day, I think that was covered in The Godfather. “Can’t say no to the guy, at that point,” Hull confirmed.
Things weren’t looking great through 4 holes on Tuesday, after two early bogeys. One bogey in this format can doom you, two are virtually impossible to come back from. But as daylight dwindled on their 5th hole, they started a long journey up the leaderboard. “He made an incredible putt like, a 20, 25 footer on five in the dark,” Hull said of Antonacci. “That kind of gave us a little spark going into today. You know, coming back at two over, you feel like you’re out of it, but one over, you know, you’re one swing away from back to even.”
Flipping over to Wednesday, the pair played their final 13 holes in 6-under. On the 18th, Antonacci had a birdie look that would have all but locked up their qualifying spot. “I know the putt very well and if you play just a little, not enough break, and you get it below the hole, you’re gonna have 4 feet coming back, and I definitely didn’t want that. So I played probably 4 feet of break from 18 feet and it just burned it,” said Antonacci.
With a few groups still finishing up in regulation, Antonacci and Hull awaited their fate. But Hull stayed positive,”The wait wasn’t bad, I thought we were pretty grateful to even be in that position, based on the start we were in. I mean we dug ourselves a hole early, so to even just have a chance to be in a playoff felt like a bonus at that point.”
Ultimately, they drew John Nelson and Sam Powell in a two for one playoff. Nelson and Powell found the hard-sloping rough along the left side of the 1st fairway, while Antonacci and Hull striped their tee shots down the middle. Nelson and Powell, playing first, both came up well short of the green. The Big E mega-slide of a fairway was no easy bargain, with the successive plateaus still soaked from yesterday’s rain. Hull’s wedge came out with a juicy splat and landed right of the green. Antonacci, playing from one plateau closer to the sunken green, proceeded to hit a dart, 5 feet beyond the hole.
Nelson and Powell made a bit of a mess around the green, and Antonacci’s par sealed their spot at Erin Hills.
Jake Bauer and Matthew Johnson have played a good amount of four-ball together, and they’ve come to lean on a comfortable formula. Bauer is steady and straight from tee to green, leaving room for Johnson to flash his power and get aggressive on birdie putts. As Bauer described it, “We always said, I’m usually more of the precision, and he obviously hits a lot longer than me, so I sort of give him the green light to just to take a free swing. “I think our games definitely complement each other.”
They shot 31 on the back nine, but the round was really broken up into 7 holes in tough conditions on Tuesday, followed by 11 pin-your-ears-back-and-make-birdie holes today. One under entering Wednesday’s play, the pair made two pars before getting hot on the closing nine.
“I made a nice, probably 10 footer on 10, that got us to -2, and I think that sort of gave us the confidence, and then Matt’s swing really dialed in pretty much once we hit 13. I was hitting it pretty close and it sort of freed him up on some putts. We weren’t really stressing for pars too much from 13 in,” said Bauer.
With some urgency knowing that Wednesday’s soft condition would probably yield some low scores, Johnson reeled off four consecutive birdies on 13 through 16. But it wasn’t just Johnson carrying the team, Bauer was able to scoop two birdie putts because Johnson had already cashed in from outside of his range. “Hit one to a foot on 13, then hit two good shots to get right in front of the green on 14. 15, hit one in to about 12 feet and Jake had one in there about 10 feet, so it was kind of a free run, then same thing on 16, we were both about 20 feet and Jake was right inside me. So it was kind of another free run that I could just hit firm,” said Johnson.
Bauer added, “I feel like he was just constantly giving me looks, but then he would just make the first putt, and it’d be like great, on to the next.”
On to the next is correct, they’ll be heading to Wisconsin in the spring. “It’s awesome,” said Johnson. “I’ve had the goal of just qualifying for a USGA Championship for a long time. That’s been like at the top of the the list, and Jake’s got a couple U.S. Ams the last few years, and now this again in the same year. So it’s pretty cool.”
And though Bauer has USGA Championship experience, he’s looking forward to his first endeavor in this format. “I’ve done two Ams and it’s obviously singular. Having a partner, I think at that level and sort of seeing what it takes to to compete out there, it’ll be good to have someone to lean on.”
“It’s nice watching him hit it down the middle every time,” Johnson quickly added.
COMPLETE LIST OF QUALIFIERS AND ALTERNATES FROM GREATHORSE
QUALIFIERS
Jake Bauer (Franklin, MA) + Matthew Johnson (Boston, MA); (-6) 66
Alex Leonard (Williston, VT) + Evan Forrest (Merrimack, NH); (-6) 66
Guy Antonacci (Somers, CT) + Drake Hull (Boston, MA); (-5) 67*
*Advanced in a 2 for 1 playoff
ALTERNATES (In Order)
John Nelson (West Hartford, CT) + Sam Powell (Farmington, CT); (-5) 67
Michael Alberico (Walpole, MA) + Sean Kavanaugh (Springfield, MA); (-4) 68*
*Earned alternate spot in a 6 for 1 playoff
With its bold Brian Silva redesign and elevated clubhouse views of the Pioneer Valley, GreatHorse has quickly become one of the region’s most complete championship tests. The layout features 207 bunkers and over 200 feet of elevation change and is listed as one of GolfWeek’s Top 200 Modern Courses.
The club, which hosted the the 2025 Massachusetts Amateur, is set to host the 2027 Massachusetts Open.
In season two of Golf in Massachusetts, we took on Ryan Downes, the 71st ranked amateur in the world, at his home course (with the benefit of a generous stroke allotment).
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