By Richard Rapp
rrapp@massgolf.org
WINCHESTER, Massachusetts (July 9, 2026) — The balance of Winchester Country Club spills down the steep hillside from Hutchinson Road, with holes switchbacking across the slope. Much of the golf course is visible from the upper rim of holes, and with the field narrowed to just four afternoon matches, you could pinpoint every pocket of action.
Two Winchester members, Aidan Monahan and Owen Egan, had survived their round of 16 matches, and a large gallery turned out to cheer on their own. They moved like a herd in its home territory, gathering on high points that offered the best vantage points, or in any merciful amount of shade cast on this 90° day.
Monahan, coming straight off a long (and successful) club championship week, had already clocked another 69 holes this week when he stepped to the first tee to face 2024 champion Matthew Naumec (Framingham Country Club). Naumec played in the group ahead of Monahan in the morning, and while addressing his ball on the third tee, was plunked on a bounce by a wayward Monahan shot from the second hole.
I’m not here to tell you that it motivated Naumec in the afternoon, but the man is something of a bulldog in the match play format, and I’m not sure I’d want to give him an extra poke so early in the morning. Naumec was an unflappable strategist in the afternoon, waiting for his opponent to make a mistake. He made 15 pars, largely two-putting his way there, infrequently scaring the hole on birdie bids. Just workman like pars (his lone birdie was a two putt). “The whole day I was just trying to stay patient, driving the ball pretty well, hitting greens, two putting and was lucky enough to dial in the speed late in the afternoon there, so it was nice,” said Naumec.
Only one hole, the par-3 14th, was won with offense, when Monahan zipped his approach to about 8 feet. He made the birdie putt, which may have been the longest putt holed the entire match, to get back to all square. But Naumec seemed unbothered and it looked like the mileage of the last two weeks began to take a toll on Monahan, his steps a bit more labored.
Monahan missed the 15th and 16th green and failed to get up-and-down, while Naumec continued to wear out the center of greens. On the 17th, Naumec finally made a mistake, pulling his tee shot and catching a nasty bounce to the base of a tree. Without a clean look at the green, he played safely out to the front right, then deftly pitched across the green to two feet. Monahan’s last-gasp birdie putt lipped out hard, leaving the gallery scattering back across the course to rally behind Egan.
Naumec won his Mass Am at his home course of Framingham and took care to recognize Monahan’s keen supporters. “Aidan’s an amazing player. We had a great match, and all credit to the club for having representation, having the members come out and support their fellow members is amazing. And Framingham was the same way, so I can just kind of tip the cap, and cheers to the club at Winchester.”
The balance of the Egan and Jake Mrva (Worcester Country Club) match tipped back-and-forth all the way through. Mrva staked a two-up lead on the 13th, but Egan promptly erased the deficit, taking the next two holes.
Like Naumec, Mrva appreciated seeing the support the host club gave to his opponent, but he admitted that it made the task at hand a bit more daunting. “To be honest, I saw them following the match ahead and I told myself like, I’m going to have to deal with that in a few holes once that ends. And I knew it was coming, and it came, and I lost two straight. I don’t think I was ready for it. But just kind of had to get re-locked in, and I got my dad and one of my buddies here, and they were as loud as they could be, just trying to keep me in it.“
On the downhill approach to the 16th, both players hit it to within a few feet of each other, some 15 feet from the hole. Mrva was just inside of Egan, and so near the same line that he had to switch to a smaller ball marker. When Egan missed, Mrva knew exactly what the putt would do and executed to regain the lead. Like Naumec before him, Mrva then found the left trees on the 17th, but couldn’t scramble his way to a par, and the match turned back down 18 dead even.
Egan’s tee shot hung out to the right and caught the rough. Mrva, playing from the fairway, hit a towering iron shot that looked good as soon as it left the club face. It hung on its line just left of the pin, and settled on the back tier, hole high, eight feet away. Egan, playing second, knew he’d have to be aggressive, but he perhaps tried too hard to force the issue. His approach caught a tree branch, eliciting a groan from the swelling crowd, and settled well short of the green.
He hit a tremendous pitch to a few feet to force Mrva to seize victory, and that’s exactly what he did, pouring it in to fell the last remaining home course favorite.
“Owen hit the tree and unfortunately—it looked like it was going to be a good shot—and came up a little short,” said Mrva. “Jack, my caddie, looked at each other and we knew like I had to make that putt. It was a no-brainer. We both agreed on our read and rolled it in, and just a big sigh of relief.”
Aidan Emmerich (Kernwood Country Club) drew Max McColgan (Nashawtuc Country Club) in the first tilt of the afternoon and took him down 4 and 3 in a match that he never trailed. McColgan was on a roll after a 7 and 6 victory in the morning, but Emmerich struck first with a 12-foot birdie putt on the 4th hole. McColgan got it right back on the 5th, but Emmerich answered with wins on 6 and 7. He closed it out in style, holing a 15-foot birdie putt on the 15th and emitting an unprintable shout of joy.
Emmerich has been open about his motivation after exiting match play last year, and his intense, grind it out mentality will make for an interesting match-up with Naumec in the semi’s. “I feel like experience is key at this point. I feel like match play used to be tough for me, but I’m a big basketball fan, so I try to take it as 1 vs. 1 to make it more of a fun thing, and then natural flow just kind of comes out.”
Playing in his first Massachusetts Amateur, Zachary Georgantas (Foxborough Country Club) outlasted Nolan Skaggs (Plymouth Country Club). Georgantas trailed two-down early but climbed all the way to a two-up lead before dropping the 15th and 16th. The players matched bogeys on the 17th, and Skaggs’ approach sailed long on the 18th, allowing Georgantas to par his way the win.
“He got up early, kind of battled back from there. He made a couple poor swings, but I was still playing good. On the back, I was 2-up, hit a couple poor shots on 15 and 16. Then I hit a good shot on 18, ball below my feet, so I was just happy to get that on the green and two-putt that,” said Georgantas.
Georgantas will face off with Mrva on Friday morning, behind the Emmerich versus Naumec match.
Scroll down for full match recaps from the Quarterfinals & Round of 16
USGA Boatwright Intern Aidan McLaughlin and Steve Derderian co-wrote these capsules.
8-Aidan Emmerich def. 1-Max McColgan, 4&3
Emmerich (Kernwood Country Club) found his groove down the stretch and knocked down a pair of birdie putts to defeat McColgan (Nashawtuc Country Club), this year’s co-medalist, and reach the semifinals for the second consecutive year. Emmerich, a recent Temple University graduate, took the lead with a birdie on the par-4 4th and never trailed after winning Nos. 6 and 7, with a birdie on the latter. McColgan made a birdie on the par-3 9th but couldn’t equalize. The last medalist to win the Mass Amateur was Nick McLaughlin in 2015 at Oak Hill Country Club.
4-Matthew Naumec def. 5-Aidan Monahan, 3&1
Tied at the turn, Naumec (Framingham Country Club) took the lead on the 10th, but Monahan (Winchester Country Club) equalized with a birdie on the par-3 14th. However, the 2024 champion won the final three holes to move to the semifinals for the third time in four years. On the 16th, Monahan hit his approach over the green and couldn’t save par, while Naumec got a conceded par to bring the match to dormie. However, Naumec hit his next drive left near a tree. He was able to curl a punch out with an 8-iron to the front edge of the green. Monahan was on the green in two, but missed his birdie and par attempts, conceding the match to Naumec.
15-Zac Georgantas def. 23-Nolan Skaggs, 1-up
Tied on the 18th hole, Georgantas (Foxborough Country Club) hit a drive into the left rough, but clubbed down and twirled his club as his shot found the green. Skaggs (Plymouth Country Club), who took an early 2-up lead with birdies on Nos. 2 and 3, hit his second shot over the green from the right rough. Georgantas nearly made a birdie to put the pressure on, but Skaggs missed a 15-foot par attempt that he needed to make to extend the match. Georgantas took a 2-up lead through 13, but two bad swings on Nos. 15 and 16 left the match tied, as Skaggs made birdie on the 15th.
11-Jake Mrva def. 19-Owen Egan, 1-up
In another matchup that featured a member of Winchester, Mrva played villain in the last quarterfinal of the day taking it on the 18th green. On the front nine, Mrva got up and down on the 4th and 6th holes to earn some crucial ties and eventually heading into the backside of the card up-one. Mrva extended his lead to two on 13 but quickly saw that lead disappear when the Winchester gallery would show up and carry Egan to back-to-back wins. Mrva would seal the deal on 18 green after spinning one back to about 10 feet and knocking down the putt convincingly.
1-Max McColgan def. 17-C.J Winchenbaugh, 7&6
After starting his day with a less-than-ideal tee shot and hitting a provisional (that went unused thankfully), McColgan exchanged his luck for skill, hitting a stunning approach shot from the rough to 10 feet, setting the tone for the day. McColgan would go up 3 before Winchenbaugh stole one back on the 5th hole. At the turn, up four, McColgan left no doubt rifling off three straight hole wins to earn the largest match win of the tournament so far.
8-Aidan Emmerich def. 24-Ben Spitz, 4&3
Emmerich, the recent Temple University graduate, slowly built his lead after taking the first hole from Spitz despite him tying it back up after two. Emmerich won Holes No. 4 and 5 and won the 9th with a birdie and added another on No. 13 to help finish the match.
4-Matthew Naumec def. 20-Sean Fitzpatrick, 4&3
Naumec (Framingham Country Club) drove the green on the par-4 7th and was conceded the eagle and never trailed after that to move into the quarterfinals against Fitzpatrick (George Wright Golf Course), the 2025 Massachusetts Amateur Public Links champion.
5-Aidan Monahan def. 12-Emil Nielsen, 4&2
Winchester’s Monahan birdied the first two holes en route to a wire-to-wire victory over Nielsen (Weston Golf Club), the standout from Santa Clara. Monahan also made birdie on the par-3s 6 and 11, and while Nielsen answered with a few birdies of his own, it wasn’t enough to overcome the deficit.
15-Zach Georgantas def. 31-Ricky Stimets, 6&5
Georgantas (Foxborough Country Club) made two birdies on the front nine to take a 4-up lead and only lost Hole No. 1, closing the match out over Stimets (Barnstable Golf), the 2024 finalist, with a birdie on No. 12 and an eagle on No. 13.
23-Nolan Skaggs def. 7-Reese Jensen, 3&2
Skaggs (Plymouth Country Club) took the lead with birdies on hole Nos. 5 and 6 and never looked back to make it to the quarterfinals for the first time. Jensen (Duxbury Yacht Club), a Harvard rising sophomore, halved the next seven holes, before Skaggs won the final three holes, closing it out with a putt inside 15 feet.
19-Owen Egan def. 3-Patrick Kilcoyne, 4&3
Egan took advantage of some early errors by Kilcoyne (Woodland Golf Club) to become the second Winchester member to advance to the quarterfinals. The former Holy Cross captain holed out for eagle on the par-4 7th and won the next two to take a 3-up lead at the turn. Kilcoyne curled a shot around the corner and made an eagle putt on No. 13 in to cut into the deficit, but Egan made par on the next two holes to advance.
11-Jake Mrva def. 27-Maxx Zides, 3&1
Mrva (Worcester Country Club) struggled off the tee early on, as Zides (Franklin Country Club) took a 3-up lead through four holes but got back on track with a birdie on the par-3 6th and getting another back on the par-3 9th. He won the next three holes but gave two more back, before winning hole Nos. 15-17, with Zides unable to extend the match with a birdie on the 17th.
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