By Steve Derderian & Tori Schuller
ANDOVER, Massachusetts (September 10, 2025) – The neighborhood setting of Andover Country Club carried an almost deceptive calm Wednesday morning: birds chirping, the occasional car rolling by, and every so often the crisp strike of an iron or the drop of a putt from the final pairing of 34 golfers chasing the 42nd Massachusetts Mid-Amateur title.
A crowded leaderboard on a course with trouble lurking around every corner meant nothing was certain. But with two titans of Mass Golf, Matt Parziale (Thorny Lea Golf Club) and Nick Maccario (GreatHorse), sharing center stage, the finale delivered all the intrigue a championship could hold. Parziale, a three-time winner, surged before the turn with three straight birdies and never drifted far from contention. Still, the unruffled Maccario turned his homecoming to Massachusetts into a winning experience to claim his second Mid-Amateur crown by four shots.
Maccario’s first Mid-Amateur victory came at Brae Burn in 2019, the same year he won the Mass Four-Ball and qualified for his first U.S. Amateur at Andover. Since then, he’s earned entry into some of the country’s elite amateur and mid-amateur events like the Jones Cup, shot 56 at his home course of Bradford Country Club, and earned Mass Golf Player of the Year honors. Life has taken Maccario south to Georgia, where he’s now settled with his wife, but a Mid-Am just miles from his Haverhill roots, and at a club connected to his friend Mike Mottola, was too perfect an opportunity to pass up.
“To come back to the Merrimack Valley, come back to a golf course that I know, and win is super rewarding,” Maccario said after firing a final round of 2-under-par 69 for a four-stroke victory.
View this post on Instagram
Starting the round, Maccario had only a one-shot lead on Parziale, ending his second day at 1-under-par. Just 15 minutes later, Maccario had already lengthened his lead, with a close iron shot and successful downhill breaker on the 1st while Parziale bogeyed. On the 2nd, an enticing drivable par 4, Maccario nor Parziale opted for the driver, a wood and driving iron were their club choices, respectively. With leaves on the short side of the green, both put their second shots just past the hole and grabbed matching birdies on the second.
“I felt like the first nine is the more gettable nine of this golf course, so I figured if I could maybe shoot one or two under on the front nine, and attack pins where you kind of can right, a lot of them were tucked this week,” he said. “I hit a couple close, made a couple of putts, and ultimately, that was the difference.”
View this post on Instagram
After matching each other on holes 3-5, Maccario got major seperation on the long, downhill, par-4 6th (460 yards) that has spelled trouble all week for much of the field (5.07 stroke average). After some trouble in the left hazards, Parziale found himself putting for double bogey, and with a short approach, even Maccario was unable to get up-and-down.
Not one to let a poor hole deter him, the next three appeared to turn the tide for Parziale, as he added three consecutive circles on his scorecard. A mid-iron on the short par-5 7th gave him a comfortable two-putt for birdie. On the 8th, his approach shot kicked off the back slope and nearly spun into the hole, while on the 9th, he hit one of his typically pure iron shots right on top of the flagstick, landing it inside of Maccario’s approach at about 3 feet.
Entering their back nine, Parziale had cut Maccario’s lead back to two strokes, but unfortunately, Maccario’s mistakes were little to none on the scorecard. On the par-3 11th, with a flag tucked way right, Parziale’s tee shot traveled a little too far, and he was not able to get up-and-down to match Maccario’s par. By then, Maccario had given in to curiosity about where he stood.
“On 11 tee I just checked, just to kind of get an idea, because 11 is difficult,” he explained. “I saw Ben Balter (Weston Golf Club) was playing good, so I just figured there wasn’t a ton of birdie opportunities on the back nine, which is kind of crazy to say. So I just said, ‘Let’s make a bunch of pars and see what happens.'”
View this post on Instagram
They indeed remained level through the 16th at Andover, which brings a downhill drivable par 4, one that is lined closely with white stakes on either side, and a large green that can spell trouble if you’re long or find any of the nearby bunkers. Balter, who was two back of Maccario on the 16th, playing largely par golf throughout the last two rounds, fell victim to a three-putt. With a larger lead, Maccario opted for a 4-iron to the fairway, leading to a birdies, a successful up-and-down from him, while Parziale drove the green and two-putted for birdie.
“When you are fighting your driver a little bit and you’re hitting three wood and iron is good, you don’t bite the hand that feeds you,” Maccario said. “There’s a couple holes where the difference is between 120 and 150, and I felt like my 150 game was good, so I just said, let’s just lay back. And, you know, it’s hard to get to these pins, whether it was 100 yards in or 140 yards in.”
After a birdie at the 17th gave him plenty of cushion, Maccario ripped one more drive over the trees into the 10th fairway, then sent a high approach arcing onto the 18th green. A stress-free two-putt, a hat tip, and a handshake with a laugh sealed the win, and six years after his first, he was lifting the Ted Bishop Cup once again.
“I love mid-amateur golf. It’s the favorite thing that I do,” Maccario said. “Year in and year out, it’s people you get to see and the places you get to travel. I’ll be staying in the mid am for awhile.”
Stay Informed
Visit MassGolf.org and follow @PlayMassGolf on Facebook, X, Instagram, and YouTube for the latest updates on the Mass Mid-Amateur Championship. To join the conversation, use the hashtag #MassGolf.
