By: Steve Derderian
sderderian@massgolf.org
CONCORD, Massachusetts (August 12, 2025) – Mia Lombardi wasn’t expected to steal the spotlight Tuesday, but her clutch playoff putt delivered a made-for-TV moment. Once overlooked — she didn’t make varsity her first two years of high school — Lombardi rose to captain at Concord-Carlisle, now competes for Trinity College, and has spent the past four summers working in golf operations at Concord Country Club.
All afternoon during Round 2 of the 122nd Massachusetts Women’s Amateur at Concord Country Club, spectators snapped photos and videos with their phones from the array of navy chairs by the 18th green, capturing final putts, shared moments of wishing one another good luck, and quick poses beneath the banner draped across Concord’s bucolic clubhouse railing.
As spectators lingered in the shade and members throughout the Mass Golf community mingled as they prepared to toast the organization’s 125th year of this tournament and its history at one of its founding clubs, everyone left the course with something memorable. It might have been a well-struck shot, a photograph to be revisited years from now with a “remember when?”, or simply the feeling of being part of a moment bigger than themselves.
But those who stayed to the end saw the moment that stopped everything.
After a solid drive down the middle on the 18th and an accurate approach to the center of the green, Lombardi stood over a 14-foot putt in the midst of a 5-for-1 playoff with the final match play spot on the line, and she buried it. The jumping fist pump came first, then a hug from her caddie, followed by a roar of applause that felt more like a moment on tour.
“I’ll never forget it,” Lombardi said, after wading through home-club members eager to congratulate her. “It means everything to me, and my grandfather’s above watching me. I’m just so lucky to have so many people to support me. The nerves were definitely there. I’m in my home place, so I just tried to think about the ocean, things that bring me comfort. I handled it well.”
View this post on Instagram
Waiting for Lombardi in the opening round of match play is a player who knows exactly what it takes to win this championship and a whole lot more. Shannon Johnson (Thorny Lea Golf Club), the 2018 Massachusetts Women’s Amateur champion and that year’s U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur winner, is playing her sharpest golf of the season.
Johnson, 42, was on her game Tuesday, making birdie on three of the four par 5s, shooting 70 to back up her opening-round 68 and finish 6-under-par total, good for medalist honors.
“Obviously this golf course can be challenging on some holes, but I think, like I said yesterday, if you just hit some good shots, you definitely can get rewarded,” Johnson said. “My putter has been great. I rolled in some longer putts today, which was fun getting to see the ball go in.”
With stroke play complete, Johnson now turns her focus to match play as she tries to make it back to the final match for the first time since 2021.
“You definitely kind of have to reset tonight,” Johnson said. “Obviously, match play is a whole different animal, which is kind of more fun, a little more freeing. You can be a little more aggressive at times. I feel like I’ve got a pretty good sense of the speed for these greens, and I think me and my caddie Tim [Lenane] have been reading the greens pretty well, so that’s obviously a big help out here.”
View this post on Instagram
Florio, who played collegiately at Columbia University and Indiana University, fired the lowest round of the tournament so far, a 5-under 67, making a 13-stroke improvement from her opening round to earn the fifth seed in match play.
“I think today was just trying to improve from some of the errors I made yesterday,” Florio said. “Yesterday I was still learning the course and figuring out how my game suits the course. Once I understood that better, I felt like I could really go after it today.”
After a birdie on the par-3 9th, Florio went bogey-free on the back nine, with birdies on holes 13, 14, and 16.
“A lot of these par 5s are gettable, so I really just wanted to focus on hitting solid shots and trusting that my putting is in a good place,” she said. “Some of these holes are short, and placing your tee shot is really important. Just because I can hit driver doesn’t mean I have to. So I was a bit more strategic today.”
Florio, 25, is heading to Suffolk University Law School in two weeks, making this summer a final chance to soak in competitive golf for a while. “I wanted to spend the summer around a golf course as much as I could, just really enjoying the game and playing when I can,” she said. “Being a part of the Woodland Golf Club family has been really awesome. There’s a bunch of great players I get to play and practice with, so I’m really grateful.”
She also hopes her Rhode Island match play experience will help this week. “I feel like it’s like riding a bicycle, it just comes back naturally,” Florio said. “I’m just having fun and enjoying being able to compete, because it’s not going to be something I’ll have a lot of time for in a couple weeks.”
View this post on Instagram
For the fourth straight year, all three Smith sisters, Morgan, Molly, and Maddie, qualified for match play in the Massachusetts Women’s Amateur. Leading among them is Molly Smith (Vesper Country Club), the University of Central Florida standout, who fired rounds of 70-69–139 for the No. 2 spot in the match play. University of Georgia standout Morgan Smith (Mount Pleasant Golf Club), the defending champion, is the No. 9 seed, while 2025 New England Women’s Amateur winner Maddie Smith (Long Meadow Golf Club) is the No. 12 seed.
“It was nice,” said Molly, who birdied the 18th for the second straight day. “I felt like I was just trying to make as many birdies as I could. I would say I was a little bit sloppy the last two days, so hopefully I can clean that up heading into match play. It depends on the hole, but just not making clear decisions and not staying super focused on every shot. That’s something to learn from and hopefully improve on tomorrow.”
Her match play approach is straightforward: “One of the things I try to focus on in match play is to not get wrapped up in what my opponent’s doing, and just focus on playing my ball and doing the best I can with my ball, and then letting the match unfold from there.”
View this post on Instagram
View this post on Instagram
Here are some other tidbits from Day 2 at the Massachusetts Women’s Amateur Championship:
View this post on Instagram
Visit MassGolf.org and follow @PlayMassGolf on Facebook, X, and Instagram for the latest information regarding the 122nd Massachusetts Women’s Amateur Championship. To join the conversation, use the hashtag #MassGolf and #MassWomensAm
