By Steve Derderian
sderderian@massgolf.org
WINCHESTER, Massachusetts (July 8, 2026) — There is no theater quite like amateur golf, because so much of the drama happens beneath the surface.
The scorecard tells one story, but the better one is often found in the walk between shots. It is there in a player climbing another incline at Winchester Country Club in the tenth hour of a long championship day, legs heavy, shirt drenched and eyes forward, with a match play opponent never far away, and every decision more nerve-wracking than the next.
By Wednesday afternoon at the 118th Massachusetts Amateur Championship, all of that tension began to unpack itself. A day earlier, heavy rain had left the championship suspended and unsettled. When the first clear skies of the week finally arrived, more than 100 players still had to complete or play their entire second round of stroke play, with the 32-player match play bracket waiting beyond the cut line.
Even that was not enough to settle it.
Seven players finished tied for the final four spots, sending the tournament into a lengthy playoff that stretched across four holes and gathered a growing crowd along the finishing stretch. Winchester member Jake Peer, 2024 runner-up Ricky Stimets and Framingham Country Club’s Kyle Tibbetts were the first three through, each advancing with consecutive pars. Dylan Greenwald, a club champion at The Haven Country Club making his maiden voyage in the Mass Amateur, claimed the final spot with a par after he and 2025 medalist Matt Johnson (Charter Oak Country Club) both made bogey on their first attempt on the 18th in the playoff.
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Then the championship turned almost immediately into the version of amateur golf that gives events like the U.S. Amateur their charge, only on a smaller and more local stage. Some players had a half-hour or less before the Round of 32 began, just enough time to change a shirt, pull on dry socks, replace a glove and head back into the hills.
Once the numbers were wiped clean, Winchester became mano a mano, just one player trying to extend his week against the one player who could end it.
Providence College commit Zach Georgantas (Foxborough Country Club) spent much of the match living on the edge, but rarely falling off it. His short game kept rescuing him, turning missed greens into halved holes and keeping 16-year-old Joey Monahan from ever fully seizing control in front of a crowd that wanted badly to see the Winchester teenager move on.
Then came the final hole of regulation, No. 9, with Georgantas 1-up and close enough to the Round of 16 to feel it. He nearly ended the match himself, hitting a chip that tracked toward the hole and finished close enough to put all the pressure back on Monahan.
From long range, with severe left-to-right break to read and his championship life hanging on it, Monahan sent the ball bending toward the cup, as the crowd watching from above held their collective breath. But Georgantas was already there with a knuckle bump before it even dropped into the hole, later calling it “probably the best putt I’ve ever seen, given the circumstance.”
From there, the match refused to end. Monahan made another must-make putt on the 20th hole, and Georgantas kept trusting the same short game that had held him together all afternoon. Finally, on the third extra hole, Georgantas found one more touch shot. His chip hit the back of the cup, popped up and fell in front of a stunned crowd.
“I was speechless for like five seconds,” Georgantas said. “I think the crowd adds a bit of motivation, especially when most of them are not rooting for me, so it kind of makes me feel like the villain or the underdog.”
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Even after Monahan’s match ended, Winchester still had two of its own advancing. His older cousin, Aidan Monahan, the 20-year-old club champion, settled his opening match in just 13 holes and was able to join the crowd for the end of Joey’s run. Another former Winchester club champion, Owen Egan, also advanced, holding off his former Holy Cross teammate Christian Emmerich (Kernwood Country Club) in a match that went the distance.
C.J. Winchenbaugh (Oyster Harbors) has also looked like a different player this week, shaking off the disappointment of missing the Mass Open at his home course and dialing in his irons and putter to earn his first Mass Amateur match play win since 2023.
“I’ve had a lot of time to practice and prepare for it,” he said. “I played here a bunch in high school, so it definitely feels good to finally get comfortable again under pressure, and get through the Round of 16.”
Elsewhere, Stimets delivered one of the bracket’s biggest jolts, knocking off No. 2 seed and co-medalist Joey Lenane (George Wright Golf Course) in 19 holes after already surviving the playoff earlier in the day. Matthew Naumec, the 2024 champion, held off fellow Framingham member Kyle Tibbetts in the day’s longest match, spinning a wedge back near the cup on the 22nd hole to set up a short birdie putt. Ben Spitz (George Wright Golf Course), the 2006 champion, added another veteran presence to the sweet sixteen by outlasting 2022 champion Conner Willett, 1-up, in a match with four lead changes.
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Scroll down for full match recaps from the Round of 32.
USGA Boatwright Intern Aidan McLaughlin co-wrote these capsules.
**Matches that began on Hole 1**
1-Max McColgan vs. 32-Dylan Greenwald, 2&1
After being the last man into match play, Greenwald (The Haven Country Club) had a short turnaround before being the first match out in the afternoon. McColgan (Nashawtuc Country Club), the St. John’s University standout, took advantage of being the No. 1 seed quickly jumping out to a four-hole lead in six holes. Despite this, Greenwald took two holes back before they made the turn. McColgan, the medalist in the 2025 Mass Junior Amateur defended his lead on the back nine taking this match 2 & 1.
17-C.J. Winchenbaugh def. 16-Zach Pelzar, 6&4
Winchenbaugh (Oyster Harbors Club), the 2024 New England Amateur winner and Georgetown standout, won four of the first six holes with birdies on Nos. 3 and 5, to edge out Pelzar (Weston Golf Club), an Emory University standout who made the Round of 16 last year. The two played together in stroke play, but Winchenbaugh held the edge and earned his first match play win since making the quarterfinals in 2023 at Essex County Club.
8-Aidan Emmerich def. 25-Brian Li, 1-up
Emmerich (Kernwood Country Club) tied the match with a birdie on the par-4 16th and won it with a par on the 18th to edge out the 17-year-old Li (Brae Burn Country Club), who attends Noble & Greenough School. Emmerich, a Temple graduate, made the semifinals last year and won the Hornblower Memorial Tournament back in May.
24-Ben Spitz def. 9-Conner Willett, 1-up
In a matchup of past champions, the veteran 2006 champ Spitz (George Wright Golf Course) won his match over 2022 champion Conner Willett taking all 18 holes. With four different lead changes, Spitz tied it on the 14th and took the lead for good on the 15th.
4-Matthew Naumec def. 29-Kyle Tibbetts 22 holes
In the longest match of the afternoon between two Framingham Country Club standouts, Naumec came out on top. After they both three-putted bogey on the 18th they traded shots on playoff holes until the 4th hole (22nd) when Naumec had a wedge shot in that he lofted into the elevated green. After landing it a little past the hole, the ball ripped back rolling just by the cup’s edge, leaving him a short birdie putt which he would make.
20-Sean Fitzpatrick def. 13-Brandon Parker, 1-up
Fitzpatrick (George Wright Golf Course), the reigning Amateur Public Links champion, battled Parker (Worcester Country Club) and halved the entire front nine. After Parker took a 2-up lead with a birdie on the 12th, Fitzpatrick evened the score with pars on Nos. 15 and 17 and won the match when Parker made bogey on the 18th.
5-Aidan Monahan def. 28-Conor McCormack, 6&5
Monahan, the reigning Winchester club champion, made quick work of McCormack, making a 5-foot birdie putt on the 7th hole, followed by a 35-footer on the 9th to go 5-up in the match at the turn. The Trinity College golfer won the 10th and closed it out with three straight pars to top McCormack (Woodland Golf Club), the 2026 Mass Mixed Four-Ball winner.
12-Emil Nielsen def. 21-Alan Rose, 1-up
Nielsen (Weston Golf Club), a rising junior at Santa Clara, took down Georgetown University’s Rose (Oyster Harbors Club), the 2026 Mass Open low amateur, in a match with few halved holes. Nielsen jumped out to a two-hole lead in four holes, and while Rose got within 1 four times, Nielsen held strong to advance to the Round of 16.
**Matches that began on Hole 10**
31-Ricky Stimets def. 2-Joseph Lenane, 19 holes
After playing 18 holes, plus three additional in the playoff, Stimets (Barnstable Golf) proceeded to knock off co-medalist and former New England Amateur winner and NC State standout Lenane (George Wright Golf Course) in extra holes. Stimets took a 2-up lead on the first nine then birdied No. 1 to go 3-up. Lenane, however rallied to win the last two holes of regulation. After both bombing their drives on the playoff hole and having very similar approach shots, Stimets used the knowledge of Lenane hitting first to hit his a little bit further back on the green, avoiding the false front and two-putting to win the hole.
15-Zachary Georgantas def. 18-Joey Monahan, 21 holes
In perhaps the most thrilling match of the afternoon, Georgantas (Foxborough Country Club) chipped in from the rough for birdie on the 12th to edge out Monahan, the 16-year-old Winchester standout and 2023 Mass Young Golfers’ Amateur champion. Georgantas took a 1-up lead on the 8th, and after chipping in close on the par-3 9th, Monahan sank a hard-breaking birdie putt moving left to right from the back of the green to force extra holes. On the 12th, Georgantas found the right rough, while Monahan was in the left bunker. Monahan hit it wide right then got on the green for a long birdie bid that barely missed. Georgantas, the Providence College commit, hit his drive into the right rough then played his second over the back. His eagle chip then ran across the green, but his birdie bid went right at the cup, bounced up, and dropped in to end the match.
7-Reese Jensen def, 26-Henry Hall, 1-up
Jensen (Duxbury Yacht Club), the incoming sophomore at Harvard, made the Round of 16 for the second consecutive year, knocking off Hall, a former Weston High School golfer and member of Weston Golf Club. Trailing by 1 early on, Jensen made birdie on Nos. 15 and 17 and took the lead for good with a birdie on the par-3 6th.
23-Nolan Skaggs def. 10-Carson Erick, 3&2
In a South Shore showdown, Skaggs (Plymouth Country Club), a St. Thomas Aquinas grad, rallied to beat Erick (Boston Golf Club), the Georgetown standout. Skaggs, a former U.S. Junior Amateur qualifier, trailed by 2 through 11 holes but tied it with consecutive birdies on Nos. 3 and 4 and made another birdie on the par-3 6th before closing it out on No. 7.
3-Patrick Kilcoyne def. 30-Jake Peer, 1-up
For the second straight year, Kilcoyne (Woodland Golf Club) bested a home club member in his opening match, this time Winchester’s Peer. After each player won three holes on the first nine, the 2025 finalist made birdie on No. 3 and won No. 4, only for Peer to answer with a birdie to win No. 5. However, Kilcoyne pulled ahead with a par on No. 8 and held off Peer on the par-3 9th.
19-Owen Egan def. 14-Christian Emmerich, 1-up
In a battle of former Holy Cross teammates, Emmerich (Kernwood Country Club) won the first two holes but Egan took the lead with a par on the 18th. Egan, a former Winchester club champion, then took the lead again with a par on the 3rd and matched Emmerich the rest of the way to advance.
27-Maxx Zides def. 6-Sam Grindle, 1-up
Zides (Franklin Country Club), who qualified for the 2026 U.S. Junior Amateur this year, overcame a 3-down deficit over the first five holes but battled back to tie it at the turn. Grindle (Haverhill Golf & Country Club), a former Rollins College golfer making his first Mass Amateur match play appearance, won the 6th with a birdie, but Zides tied it on the next and birdied the 8th to advance.
11-Jake Mrva def. 22-Tyler Dearborn, 2&1
Mrva (Worcester Country Club), a former Fordham University golfer, advanced to the Round of 16 for the third consecutive year by defeating Dearborn, the 16-year-old Framingham Country Club standout. Mrva took the lead for good with a birdie on the par-4 5th and won the next with a par, winning the 8th to finish the match.
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