By Steve Derderian
sderderian@massgolf.org
FITCHBURG, Massachusetts (August 7, 2026) — Nestled into the central hills of northern Worcester County, Oak Hill Country Club offers a striking contrast to the dense, bustling suburban corridors surrounding Greater Boston. Rolling across elevation shifts framed by towering hardwoods, it stands as a classic, formidable venue that demands equal parts power, strategy, and outright patience.
Starting Monday, the state’s most talented players in women’s amateur golf will descend upon Central Mass for the 123rd Massachusetts Women’s Amateur Championship. Over the course of five days, Oak Hill will put the field through a relentless 36-hole stroke play qualifier before trimming the leaderboard to a high-stakes, 32-player match play bracket.
Opened on July 4, 1921, the original 9-hole golf course was designed by renowned architect Wayne Stiles. In 1925, the club hired Donald Ross to design the new nine. Two years later, at a cost of $65,000, the second nine was ready to play. According to the book The Life and Work of Wayne Stiles, Ross remodeled holes 1, 2, 4, 6 and 9 after he added the second nine, so although the original routing was retained, only four holes on the layout escaped his hand.
Geoffrey Cornish and William Robinson rebuilt the greens on the 3rd, 5th, 7th and 8th holes in 1968, and Bruce Hepner performed a bunker renovation and other greens work in 1995.
Set up to play approximately 6,114 yards, this year marks the longest course layout utilized for the Women’s Amateur in nearly a decade. Designed to test every club in the bag, the layout plays as a tale of two nines on each side of Oak Hill Road. The front nine (clubhouse side) winds over sweeping, open terrain where driver is more friendly off the tee, but small, steeply sloping greens await. The back nine shifts into a narrower, tighter corridor of timber where positioning and distance control are equally crucial.
That dual identity lends itself to dramatic shifts in strategy as the week progresses. During stroke play, damage control and disciplined lag putting will dictate who advances. Once match play begins on Wednesday, those same features will entice players to hunt flags and take aggressive lines to counter an opponent’s momentum.
Oak Hill has only hosted this championship twice, but both times produced a memorable finish.
It was on these fairways in 1994 that Bay State icon Anne Marie Tobin captured her fourth consecutive WGAM title, defeating Marion McInerney 3 & 2 to become the first player in event history to pull off the four-peat. Tobin went on to claim a record seven state amateur titles. Five years later in 1999, Oak Hill played backdrop to an extraordinary comeback when Laura Torrisi rallied from 3 down at the turn against Oak Hill’s own Joanne Catlin. Torrisi famously drained a staggering 60-foot birdie putt on the par-4 15th to square the match, ultimately outlasting Catlin on the 25th hole—a 7-hole playoff that remains the longest final match in championship history.
This year’s field features an accomplished roster of past champions and rising stars. Defending champion Isabel Brozena (Indian Ridge Country Club), coming off a brilliant second season at Xavier University, returns to defend her crown after winning an 18th-hole thriller over Shannon Johnson (Thorny Lea Golf Club) at Concord Country Club last summer. Johnson, the 2018 winner, joins 2023 victor Rebecca Skoler (Pine Brook Country Club) and Morgan Smith (Mount Pleasant Golf Club), the 2022 & 2024 champion, among the top headliners.
They’ll be pushed by a deep group of collegiate standouts and top contenders, including University of Central Florida standout Molly Smith (Mount Pleasant Golf Club), who is currently competing in match play in the U.S. Women’s Amateur. She’ll be joined by Penn State’s Lillian Guleserian (Blue Hill Country Club), the New England Women’s Amateur winner; Megan Buck (Thorny Lea Golf Club), two-time Mass Golf Women’s Player of the Year, and Julia Imai (KOHR Golf), the 2024 finalist and a Division III standout at University of Wisconsin Stout.
For Oak Hill members Mackenzie Whitney and Abby Stone, the week offers the rare privilege of competing for the state’s most coveted title on home turf. Stone, who attends the University of Indianapolis, has earned match-play berths in two of the past three years, while Siena graduate Whitney has twice advanced to the Round of 16. She also owns one of the best single shots in club history when she became the first player to ace the par-4 9th in the women’s club championship.
The action kicks off Monday morning with 36 holes of stroke play through Tuesday, with the medalist taking home the Osgood Trophy. The Round of 32 and Round of 16 follow on Wednesday, leading into Thursday’s quarterfinals and semifinals, and culminating in Friday’s 18-hole championship match. Beyond the trophy, the champion will earn an exemption into the 2027 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship.
Spectators are encouraged to attend throughout the week, with free admission and live scoring available online.
Oak Hill presents one of the longest course by total length in recent years during stroke play (yardage approx.):
2026 — Oak Hill Country Club, Fitchburg (6,114)
2025 — Concord Country Club, Concord (6,016 yards)
2024 — Taconic Golf Club, Williamstown (5,895 yards)
2023 — Dedham Country & Polo Club, Dedham (5,797 yards)
2022 — Orchards Golf Club, South Hadley (6,044 yards)
2021 — Plymouth Country Club, Plymouth (5,884 yards)
2020 — Essex Country Club, Manchester-by-the-Sea (5,975 yards)
Mass Golf will be adding articles, videos, and other content before and during the Massachusetts Women’s Amateur on the Mass Golf Championship Central page.
August 10 & 11 – Stroke Play (18-holes/day)
August 12 – Round of 32 (a.m.) and Round of 16 (p.m.)
August 13 – Quarterfinals (a.m.) and Semifinals (p.m.)
August 14 – Final Match (18-holes)
A collection of notable players in the 2026 Massachusetts Women’s Amateur:
EMMA ABRAMSON, 20, a Sandwich native and member of the Ridge Club, is a standout at Williams College who was second low amateur in 36-hole U.S. Women’s Open Qualifying back in May at Marlborough Country Club. She didn’t compete last year but made match play in four straight competitions, including making the semifinals at Orchards Golf Club in 2022.
ISABEL BROZENA, 20, a North Reading native and Indian Ridge Country Club member, is the defending champion of the Mass Women’s Amateur after defeating Shannon Johnson in the final match. Brozena, a rising junior at Xavier University, won two college events this spring and competed in this year’s U.S. Women’s Amateur. In 2024, she won the Ouimet Memorial Tournament and the Massachusetts Girls’ Junior Amateur.
MEGAN BUCK, 38, a North Easton resident and Thorny Lea Golf Club member, has won the last two titles in the Massachusetts Women’s Mid-Amateur for the Townshend Cup. A two-time Mass Golf Anne Marie Tobin Women’s Player of the Year winner, Buck also qualified for the 2026 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur and played in the U.S. Women’s Four-Ball with Shannon Johnson.
KATIE CULLEN, 21, an Uxbridge native and representing the 1929 Club, won the 2026 Worcester County Women’s Amateur at nearby Tatnuck Country Club in Worcester, shooting 75-74—149 to win by three strokes. Cullen, a first team all-conference selection at Belmont Abbey College, made match play last year with consecutive rounds of 78 at Concord Country Club.
KYLIE EATON, 21, a Greenville, Rhode Island, resident and a New England Country Club member, won the Rhode Island Women’s Amateur Championship in 2025 and will aim to become the third person in history to win both state amateur titles: Glenna Collett (1921, both) and Noreen Uihlein (MA – 1973, 1980, 1981; RI – 1978). Her sister, Adriana Eaton, made the semifinals in this year’s Massachusetts Girls’ Junior Amateur.
LILLIAN GULESERIAN, 19, a Westwood resident and Blue Hill Country Club member, won the 2026 New England Women’s Amateur by one stroke at Concord Country Club. A rising sophomore at Penn State, Guleserian also took fifth in the Women’s Southern Golf Association Amateur and was third in the Ouimet Memorial Tournament.
CECILY HENSHON, 18, a Longmeadow native and Longmeadow Country Club member, won the 2026 Massachusetts Girls’ Junior Amateur Championship, defeating two-time champion Maddie Smith in the process. She also finished second in the Ouimet Memorial Tournament. Henshon will attend Deerfield Academy in the fall.
JULIA IMAI, 20, a Brookline resident and KOHR Golf member, reached the final match of the 2024 Massachusetts Women’s Amateur at Taconic Golf Club. At the University of Wisconsin-Stout, Imai won the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference individual title for the second straight year and placed first or second in eight events.
SHANNON JOHNSON, 43, a North Easton resident and Thorny Lea Golf Club member, finished runner-up last year at Concord Country Club and earned enough points to capture the Anne Marie Tobin Women’s Player of the Year Award for the sixth time. Johnson, the 2018 champion, has since made the final match twice (2021 and 2025), won the Massachusetts Women’s Mid-Amateur for the Keyes Cup five times, and won the 2023 Ouimet Memorial Tournament. She also played in the 2026 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball with Megan Buck.
KATHERINE NG, 20, a Wellesley native and Nehoiden Golf Club member, made the quarterfinals in 2024 and the Round of 16 last year. The rising junior at Bowdoin College posted five top-20 finishes, including 4th in the Phinney Classic and 8th at the Northeast Invitational.
ERIKA REDMOND, 19, a Concord resident and member of The Haven Country Club, has qualified for match play each of the past two seasons, including a Round of 16 appearance in 2024. The rising sophomore at Merrimack previously won the 2025 MIAA Girls’ Golf state championship and earned Boston Globe and Boston Herald All-Scholastic honors.
SOPHIE REDMOND, 17, a Concord resident and an MIAA/Student Member, made the semifinals of the Massachusetts Girls’ Junior Amateur in 2025 and has made match play in the Massachusetts Women’s Amateur each of the past two years. Redmond, who placed second in the 2025 MIAA Girls’ Golf state championship, also earned Boston Herald and Boston Globe All-Scholastic honors.
REBECCA SKOLER, 24, a Needham resident and Pine Brook Country Club member, is looking for her second win in the Massachusetts Women’s Amateur, after her win in 2023 at Dedham Country & Polo Club. Skoler, a University of Virginia graduate, competed in last year’s U.S. Women’s Amateur. She was also a finalist in the 2022 Mass Women’s Amateur.
MORGAN SMITH, 22, a Westford native and Mount Pleasant Golf Club member, won the Massachusetts Women’s Amateur in 2022 and 2024 and the Ouimet Memorial Tournament in 2025. The oldest of the three Smith sisters, Morgan has advanced to match play every year since 2019 and won the New England Women’s Amateur in 2022 and 2023.
MOLLY SMITH, 21, a Westford resident and Mount Pleasant Golf Club member, is a rising senior at the University of Central Florida, where she had a pair of top-10 finishes during the spring season. Smith has made several deep runs in this event with four semifinal appearances (2021, 2023-2025), making the final match in 2023 against Rebecca Skoler. She also qualified for the U.S. Women’s Amateur. She is the only player who has competed in both the Massachusetts Women’s Amateur and Massachusetts Amateur (2023, 2024).
ABBY STONE, 21, a Fitchburg native and member of Oak Hill Country Club, is a rising junior at the University of Indianapolis. A member of the Massachusetts Griscom Cup team, Stone has qualified for match play in the Massachusetts Women’s Amateur two of the past three seasons.
AARYA TSARONG, 12, a Newton resident and MIAA/Student member, is the youngest player in the field. She was the 2024 NEPGA JR. Tour Player of the Year and competed in the 2024 Drive, Chip, & Putt National Final at Augusta National. She is also the great-grandniece of the 14th Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism.
MACKENZIE WHITNEY, 22, a Westminster native and member of Oak Hill Country Club, became the youngest club champion at Oak Hill at age 16. She also made the first hole-in-one at Oak Hill’s par-4 9th hole. Whitney, who has twice made the Round of 16 in the Massachusetts Women’s Amateur (2022 & 2024), recorded five top-25 finishes and one top-10 finish during her senior season at Siena University.
For complete coverage of the 123rd Massachusetts Women’s Amateur Championship, visit MassGolf.org or follow Mass Golf on Facebook, X, and Instagram at @PlayMassGolf and use the hashtag #MassWomensAm.
