By Richard Rapp
rrapp@massgolf.org
WINCHESTER, Massachusetts (July 7, 2026) – There was an air of inconclusivity on Tuesday at the Massachusetts Amateur. At 8:35 a.m., just one hour and five minutes after the first tee shots were struck, the stoppage horn sounded due to angular, intensifying rain. Play resumed at 11:33 a.m., but it wasn’t as though the skies had cleared.
Typically, day two has a sharply defined edge to it: the cut line. The second round of stroke play determines which 32 players will slot into the match play bracket. But that target number was shrouded in uncertainty. Rain jackets were removed, then hastily wrestled back on. Bands of travelling umbrellas dotted the radical hillsides of Winchester Country Club as play pressed onward. On Monday, we had a Titleist ball count and on Tuesday we probably should have been tallying black FootJoy rain gloves.
Only a handful of groups managed to complete their rounds before the horn sounded again at 3:18 p.m., marking the end of an abbreviated day. Conner Willett (Charles River Country Club) posted an impressive 1-under round of 70, which put him at even par overall. Not only was it the best of the 14 scores posted, it was the only under-par round of the day, including the rest of the morning wave that has yet to finish.
Of the 33 players currently within the top 32 and ties number, 24 haven’t begun their second round, so it’s impossible to guess what the cut will wind up being. Willett will likely be safe, as will Aidan Emmerich (Kernwood Country Club), who also finished at even par after a second round 72. 2024 Champion Matthew Naumec (Framingham Country Club) and 2025 Runner-Up Patrick Kilcoyne (Woodland Golf Club) are virtual locks to advance, sharing the clubhouse lead at 2-under.
I fell in with the convivial grouping of Emmerich, Kilcoyne, and Raymond Dennehy (Oak Hill Country Club) as they made the turn. They had been the first group off one in the morning. Emmerich managed two early birdies before the first horn. He and Kilcoyne paced the top of the leaderboard on steady footing all day, while Dennehy made the turn at +10, doggedly trying to claw his way back down towards a cutline that was surely rising.
The players urged each other on through the dreary conditions. When Kilcoyne sent a piercing long iron towards the green on the long par-3 11th, Dennehy emitted a joyous, “Crunch!” On a day of splats and thunks, Kilcoyne’s ball-striking managed to hold its percussive timbre.
Dennehy nearly holed a world class pitch from a slope of fescue beyond the 11th green, then left an eagle chip a few inches shy of the cup on the 12th. “I’m running out of holes,” he quipped, “Please, I don’t want go back to the office tomorrow.” He then clapped as Kilcoyne finished off a nifty up-and-down for birdie from 30 yards short of the green, up and over a menacing bunker.
Dennehy two-putted his way to a second birdie on the next to get to +8, eliciting an encouraging clap from Emmerich. Dennehy pointed at him, “Need it, don’t want it.” But up there on the highest, most exposed part of the property, the wind began to blow in earnest. Down on Mystic Lake, you could see sailboats zipping at a pace usually reserved for motors. One of the spokes on my umbrella caved. Pars were becoming tough to come by, let alone the birdies that Dennehy desperately needed.
He turned to Kilcoyne as they made their way down the 15th, “I need magic, Patrick.” But he couldn’t quite conjure it, finishing the day at 10-over.
There was grit, if not magic, in the play of Willett, Naumec, Emmerich and Kilcoyne. Golf, as we know, is an unfair game, and these players dug deep on the soggy side of the draw. “You just gotta embrace the grind. It’s scrappy golf, that’s sort of my game,” said Emmerich. “I’m not bad in the rain sometimes, but it’s definitely not fun.”
Ducking under an umbrella in fresh, dry clothes, Willett exuded the type of even-keeled demeanor required in trying conditions. “It definitely took some acceptance that we got the tougher draw, but these things happen.”
Willett has conjured magic at the Mass Am before, and with a long-anticipated return to the match play draw more than likely, he might just be poised for another run. “I’d say for the first time in my life I haven’t really been playing golf swing, just trying to play golf and it’s been fun.”
What was to be today’s afternoon wave will start their rounds in bright sunshine tomorrow morning. A new day.
The second round of stroke play will continue Wednesday morning. If there’s a tie for the final match play spot(s), there will be a sudden-death playoff right after stroke play concludes. Visit @playmassgolf on Instagram for a live stream of the playoff and the 36-hole final match Friday.
Here are some other tidbits from Day 2 at the Massachusetts Amateur Championship.
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