By Aidan McLaughlin
GREAT BARRINGTON, Massachusetts (August 4, 2026) – As the dog days of summer roll on, Wyantenuck Golf Club plays host to the 108th edition of the Massachusetts Junior Amateur, powered by KOHR Golf. Day 1 did not disappoint, with 13 players posting rounds in the 60s and 31 out of 120 finishing even par of better.
Leading among them are Riley Donovan (Student Member/MIAA) and defending champion Thomas Constantine (Franklin Country Club) both carding 5-unde-ar 66. Donovan, who is also eligible for the Pre-Junior division, leads that field by two shots. Zachary Georgantas (Foxborough Country Club), last week’s Ouimet Memorial Tournament winner is two back at 3-under.
After Wednesday’s 18-hole round, the low 16 will advance to match play. A victor in the Pre-Junior Division will also be crowned.
Teeing off at 8:30 Monday morning, Donovan took a little while to get going. The rising sophomore at Milton Academy didn’t get the chance to hit the range but seemed to figure things out, posting consecutive birdies on holes 5-7.
“I was one over through a couple holes and putts weren’t dropping,” Donovan said. “I’ve been hitting fades the past few months, but today, no warm up, they were just drawing all of a sudden, so I committed to that.”
As Donovan made his way to the back, he kept the card clean making no bogeys. His round was capped off with a birdie on the par-4 17th.
“I just think as long as I commit to a draw being my ball flight like I did today, I think I can keep the momentum rolling and shoot another red number,” Donovan added.
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Constantine had a similar start to Donovan, also bogeying the par-4 fifth hole and then going 3-under on holes 5-7. The difference was Constantine eagled the short par-4 7th hole, playing to about 225. Before his front nines close he’d finish off with a birdie, making the turn at 3-under 33.
Constantine remained steady on the back nine, keeping his card clean until he birdied the par-4 15th hole. He then closed out his round making birdie on the 18th.
In the Pre-Junior division, Chatham’s Ian Kennedy (Student Member/MIAA) shook off an opening double bogey en route to shooting 68 for sole possession of second place.
“I started on 11, yanked the 9 iron way left and then made a few birdies after that to get my energy going again,” Kennedy said. “I had a chip in on my back nine, and it was just hitting the shots and making the putts out there.”
Kennedy took a unique route to this year’s Massachusetts Junior Amateur. With a mother from Mexico and a father from Brockton, he has lived in Boston, Mexico and Arizona. He now spends the school year in Arizona before returning to Massachusetts each summer.
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