By Steve Derderian
sderderian@massgolf.org
BROCKTON, Massachusetts (October 7, 2026) – There’s a certain confidence to Thorny Lea’s championship plaque, with names dating to the middle of the last century and rows of empty spaces below. At a club that keeps producing champions decade after decade, it seems sensible to leave room for more.
Wednesday, the Massachusetts Mid-Amateur arrived for the first time at the home of so many familiar names and members past and present populating the leaderboard. The commencement took a little longer than planned, though, as morning temperatures around 40 degrees required a one-hour frost delay.
Once play got underway, the club of champions supplied the early man to catch. Chris Tarallo, a member for the past 25 years and a multi-time club champion, set the opening-round pace with a 66 (-4), highlighted by a hole-out for eagle on the par-4 7th. By afternoon, Tarallo was working his way around in a light blue polo and tan shorts, with a few fallen leaves and splashes of red and orange in the treetops supplying the October accents.
Tarallo was clearly enjoying his day, especially considering he originally planned to sit this one out. Tarallo, 39, welcomed his son, Christopher Jr., five weeks ago and hadn’t played much, aside from a Member Guest over the weekend. His wife, however encouraged him to reconsider. “My wife’s awesome, and she told me to go out and play,” Tarallo said. “I’ve been here about 25 years, so I know the course really well, and it was a lot of fun out there today.”
Tarallo’s shot on No. 7 was set to be the day’s best until former Duke standout Jake Shuman (Blue Hill Country Club) aced the par-3 9th in his event debut. Shuman, who now has five holes-in-one lifetime, finished the day at even-par 70 alongside U.S. Mid-Amateur competitor Sam Grindle (Haverhill Golf & Country Club). They were only bested by Tarallo and former Boston College standout Christian Emmerich (Kernwood Country Club), who shot 69 with four birdies. Emmerich’s younger brother Aidan won the Mass Amateur earlier this summer.
In the meantime, the largely-reserved Tarallo was happy to reflect on his biggest flourish late in the round. After making birdie on the sixth, he found the middle of the next fairway and holed out from 110 yards, his approach taking one hop before disappearing into the cup.
“It doesn’t happen very often, so it was a bonus,” he said. “That was a good one to get right after the birdie on six.”
A missed six-footer for birdie on No. 8 briefly interrupted the run, but he answered with a 20-footer from the front of No. 9 to reach 5-under. Alongside him was his brother, who took the day off work to caddie and let out a “boom” as his final birdie putt dropped.
“It’s always fun to be with my brother and get to do these things together,” Tarallo said.
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Shuman had already joked about an expensive afternoon after a playing partner hit the flagstick on No. 3. A few hours later, he was the one paying up in the clubhouse. After seeing another shot check up short, Shuman adjusted for the wind and hit his shot a little farther than originally planned. “A good shot with a lot of luck,” he said after making his first ace since 2018, and certainly his first caught on camera.
The rest of the round required considerably more work with the putter. Playing Thorny Lea for the first time in more than 15 years, Shuman used his putter four times on the 16th and had two other three-putts, though he was overall pleased with his ball-striking.
“The greens are glassy. You’re just trying to keep it below the hole and make some pars,” he said. “It’s always nice to get the juices flowing and play competitively.”
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For all his familiarity with Thorny Lea, the course has changed considerably since Shuman’s and Tarallo’s younger days. Tree removal has opened the layout, with bunkers occupying some of the spaces where trees once stood. It has also given the wind more room to work.
Tarallo also credits regular rounds with John Hadges, Steve Tasho, and Matt Parziale for keeping his game sharp. At a club with more than 100 single-digit handicap golfers, even a casual round offers a useful measuring stick. Parziale, a three-time Mass Mid-Amateur winner and the 2017 U.S. Mid-Amateur champion, is sidelined this week with a rib injury. Fellow national champion Shannon Johnson, meanwhile, earned another entry on the clubhouse plaque Wednesday, winning her sixth Massachusetts Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship for the Keyes Cup.
“Playing with those guys, it just keeps your game kind of sharp throughout the year when you get to play with high-caliber players like that,” he said.
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