By Steve Derderian
sderderian@massgolf.org
BREWSTER, Massachusetts (May 28, 2025) – Mass Golf captain Chelsea Curtis was playing in the Inter-City Matches for the Griscom Cup as a junior golfer, long before she fully grasped its history and meaning.
Unlike Ryder Cup or Solheim Cup captains, who stay behind the ropes and manage from the sidelines, Griscom captains play, and their points count. On Wednesday, Curtis made hers count in a big way. She swept all six points in the opening singles match, setting the tone for Mass Golf’s dramatic comeback win to recapture the Griscom Cup at Cape Cod National.
“I’m going to remember this day for my six points, but it was really tough,” said Curtis, who grew up on the Cape and is now a member of The Country Club. “It was just a really good team. They all liked each other, and they were ready to play. They were competitive, and we just had a blast. I think that’s a big part of why we came back today because everyone was having fun.”
Team Massachusetts has won back the Griscom Cup on home turf⛳️#MassGolf pic.twitter.com/zJ0CTtMvTc
— Mass Golf (@PlayMassGolf) May 28, 2025
The Griscom competition began Tuesday afternoon with traditional Nassau-style match play, with one point up for grabs on the front nine, one for the back nine, and one for the overall match. Halved matches earned half-points. After the foursomes matches (alternate shot) on Tuesday, Mass Golf entered the morning trailing the Women’s Metropolitan Golf Association (NY) by 6 points with a slim 1-point edge over the Women’s Golf Association of Philadelphia.
Battling a much stiffer wind Wednesday, Curtis’s points cut the deficit in half, and her teammates did the rest. After earning just one point with fellow Blue Hill Country Club member Lillian Guleserian, Mekhala Costello tallied 5.5 points. The Amherst College two-sport athlete (soccer & golf) nearly holed out for eagle on the short par-4 7th, making the birdie putt as part of her efforts.
Megan Buck, the reigning Massachusetts Women’s Mid-Amateur champion, added 4.5 points in a competitive matchup with Bowling Green sophomore Sammie Dolce (WMGA) and Riley Quartermain (WGAP), a recent UNC graduate and 2024 WGAP Match Play Champion.
Foursomes teammates MacKenzie Whitney (Siena College) and Molly Smith (University of Central Florida) helped bring it home for Mass Golf, winning 2.5 against WGAP and splitting the points against Rutgers’ Grace Lu (WMGA) and former Penn State golfer Jackie Rogowicz (WGAP). Playing in the final match, Smith swept Quinnipiac’s Samantha Galantini (WMGA), propelling the team past the 40-point mark.
Curtis was quick to praise the collective talent that continues to show up to this event each year.
“I think the relationships that we’ve built with New York and Philly are pretty unique,” Curtis said. “And these are people that I’ve seen since college and into today, which is pretty cool. We’ve got a lot of women who are in college playing really competitively, even try to play professionally, and may become amateurs again into the mid-amateur and senior year. It’s just decades of women who love competitive golf and love just getting together once a year and to continue this tradition.”
The 3rd edition of the Senior Inter-City Matches was once again a close contest, with just one round of singles matches to determine a champion. After being edged out by a point by the Women’s Metropolitan Golf Association, the Women’s Golf Association of Philadelphia eked out a close victory, totaling 33.5 points.
Team Mass Golf, competing in the senior division for the first time, finished with 29 points, led by 6 points from Jayne Pardus (Boston Golf Club) and 5.5 points from Tara Joy-Connelly (The Kittansett Club), a 2021 inductee into the Massachusetts Golf Hall of Fame.
WGAP got six points from Lisa McGill, a Pennsylvania Senior Women’s Amateur winner who has competed in more than three dozen USGA Championships. Diane Cardano-Casacio, a past U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur competitor, added four points, as seven out of eight in the WGAP lineup tallied at least 3 points.
Due to an unfilled lineup position from Mass Golf, the 9 a.m. match in each of the two opposing lineups was recorded as a forfeit, awarding three points each to Liz Haines (WGAP) and Sue Sardi (WMGA).
Zachary Sweet, head golf professional at Cape Cod National, was named the 2024 Cape Cod Chapter Gary Philbrick Golf Professional of the Year by the Cape Cod Chapter of the New England Professional Golf Association. During the player’s dinner on Tuesday, Sweet was presented with the framed Mass Golf flag given to the host clubs of each Mass Golf championship.
| Griscom Players | Senior Inter-City Players |
| Megan Buck (Thorny Lea GC) | Pam Kuong (Charles River CC) |
| Shannon Johnson (Thorny Lea GC) | Tara Joy-Connelly (The Kittansett Club) |
| Molly Smith (Vesper CC) | Jayne Pardus (Boston GC) |
| Mekhala Costello (Blue Hill CC) | Natalie Galligan (Pocasset GC) |
| Lillian Guleserian (Blue Hill CC) | Sue Curtin (Boston GC) |
| Julia Imai (KOHR Golf) | Danielle Lee (Renaissance) |
| Mackenzie Whitney (Oak Hill CC) | Mercedese Large (Taconic GC) |
| Captain: Chelsea Curtis (The Country Club) | Stacey Freda (Andover CC) |
| Griscom Players | Senior Inter-City Players |
| Michelle Cox (Lehigh CC) | Diane Cardano-Casacio (Cedarbrook CC) |
| Isabella DiLisio (Philadelphia Cricket Club) | Angelia Coleman (DuPont CC) |
| Clare Gimpel (Whitemarsh Valley CC) | Liz Haines (Merion GC) |
| Barbora Millichip (Honeybrook GC) | Stephenie Harris (Philadelphia Cricket Club) |
| Ava O’Sullivan (Applecross CC) | Loraine Jones (Merion GC) |
| Kristina Ortiz (Yardley CC) | Lisa McGill (Sunnybrook GC) |
| Riley Quartermain (Llanerch CC) | Karen Siegel (Commonwealth National GC) |
| Jackie Rogowicz (Merion Golf Club) | Suzi Spotleson (RiverCrest GC & Preserve) |
| Katrin Wolfe (Northampton CC) |
| Griscom Players | Senior Inter-City Players |
| Sammie Dolce (Basking Ridge CC) | Amy Bender (Ardsley CC) |
| Samantha Galantini (Montclair GC) | Cheryl Brayman (North Shore CC) |
| Corinna Limbocker (The Country Club at Otterkill) | Judy Cuttone (Somerset Hills CC) |
| Claire Lu (Independent) | Fran Gacos (Copper Hill CC) |
| Grace Lu (Independent) | Allison Kucinski (The Tuxedo Club) |
| Christina Parsells (Somerset Hills CC) | LeeAnn Lewis (Southward Ho CC) |
| Alyssa Roland (Watchung Valley GC) | Connie Marlatt (Westchester CC) |
| Vaidehi Shah (Fiddler’s Elbow CC) | Sue Sardi (Cherry Valley CC) |
| Grace Cuttone (Somerset Hills CC) |
Mass Golf is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that is dedicated to advancing golf in Massachusetts by building an engaged and inclusive community around the sport.
With a community made up of over 130,000 golf enthusiasts and over 360 member clubs, Mass Golf is one of the largest state golf associations in the country. Members enjoy the benefits of handicapping, engaging golf content, course rating and scoring services along with the opportunity to compete in an array of events for golfers of all ages and abilities.
At the forefront of junior development, Mass Golf is proud to offer programming to youth in the state through First Tee Massachusetts and subsidized rounds of golf by way of Youth on Course.
