By Tori Schuller
HAVERHILL, Massachusetts (June 24, 2025) – The New England Women’s Amateur Championship began on a blistering day, with the opening round limited to only nine holes for the 96 players in the field.
Day 1 delivered what most expected: a crowded leaderboard and not a ton of separation. Maddie Smith (Vesper Country Club) and 2024 runner-up Amelie Phung (eClub of Connecticut, CT) set the early pace at even-par 36. But with a brutal heat and just nine holes to work with, big mistakes loomed, and many players were simply trying to hold steady. In the end, eight players finished within a shot of the lead, leaving the door wide open heading into a full 18-hole round on Day 2.
Online: Round 1 Scores | Round 2 Starting Times | Past Champions | Event Home
This week, Smith will look to win the title that her older sister, Morgan Smith, won in 2022 and 2023. The University of Memphis commit started her campaign with a birdie on the par-4 5th and managed the course well throughout. Her only slip was a three-putt on the uphill 9th green playing back toward the clubhouse.
Phung is back in the field after making it into a playoff with eventual champion Carys Fennessey in the 2024 New England Women’s Amateur. Since then, Phung has graduated high school, committed to play on the inaugural Rice University women’s golf team, and has competed in several elite junior events across the country. In 2021, she competed in the Drive, Chip & Putt National finals with her sister Alexandra. On Tuesday, she took advantage of the short par-5, 6th (440 yards) to get back to even par.
As for the rest of the field, six players finished tied at 1-over 37, including Holy Cross rising junior Julianna Megan, who is spending her summer at the Orchards Golf Club as a Product Engineering Intern at Callaway Golf.
In her New England Women’s Amateur debut, Megan made birdie on the opening hole and added another on the par-3 4th to help keep her in contention.
“The yardage was playing well for me,” said Megan, a native of Hooksett, New Hampshire. “I’m usually on the shorter side of hitting, so it was nice that I didn’t have to worry about that for this tournament. I had some key drives that set me up, so just looking to hopefully take this momentum into tomorrow.”
Megan was also paired with two fellow Division I golfers, Merrimack’s Charlotte Cute (Ocean Edge GC) and Stonehill’s Jaelyn Deboise (Springfield Country Club), who was celebrating her 21st birthday. “There’s a lot of great players here, so it’s cool to play with them and see all my friends,” Megan said.
Blue Hill members Lillian Guleserian and Mekhala Costello, who led Massachusetts to a Griscom Cup week a few weeks ago, also carded 37 along with Sophia Lewis (Newton Commonwealth GC) and Cindy Cao (eClub of Connecticut), the 2025 Massachusetts Women’s Stroke Play champion.
Even par set the pace in the Senior Division as well, with Jayne Pardus (Boston Golf Club) and Pamela Kuong (Charles River Country Club) tied at the top after nine. The two are no strangers to a tight race, as they have competed in several USGA Championships in recent years and battled it out for last year’s Massachusetts Women’s Senior Amateur title.
Kuong stayed steady on the scorecard throughout her round, carding a bogey on the third hole but earning a birdie on the ninth with a 5-foot-putt. On her best approach of the day, Kuong thought her shot was short and was pleasantly surprised to find a tap-in birdie available to her.
“I know I can’t go long on that [green], and obviously I must have hit it well enough that I was so sure that was Deb’s ball,” said Kuong, who congratulated her playing partner Debbie Johnson (Blackhawk CC) upon walking up to the green.“I mean, you get lucky breaks here and there.”
The top of the leaderboard has been a familiar place for Kuong, who won the 2024 Massachusetts Senior Women’s Amateur, as well as this event in 2011.
While the birdie pushed Kuong to the top of the leaderboard, her short game was the steadiest part of her day.
“My short game saves on one and two were my best because that could have set my round off so poorly,” Kuong said. “I think the start, getting up and down on those holes, helped me a lot.”
Fellow Mass Golf members Irene Haley (Ferncroft Country Club) and Susan Curtin (Boston Golf Club) finished the day three shots off the lead. Another notable performance on the course was from Kim Grady, a Haverhill member. Grady has a recent string of wins on the home course, with the Women’s Club Championship in 2023 and 2024 and the Tournament of Champions in 2024. Currently, Grady sits at solo fifth in the senior women’s division, firing off a 40 with five straight pars in the middle of the round.
The 2025 New England Women’s Amateur Championship is a 45-hole stroke-play tournament divided into two divisions. The Championship Division is played from a course length of roughly 6,000 yards and is open to players with a Handicap Index of 10.0 or below. The Senior Championship is played from approximately 5,500 yards in length, open to players 50 years and above, and requires a Handicap Index not exceeding 18.0.
View this post on Instagram
Since opening in 1925 on the old Brickett Farm, Haverhill Country Club has remained a hidden gem on the Massachusetts–New Hampshire border. Designed by renowned architect Wayne Stiles, the course was praised early on as “ideal in every way,” with broad fairways threading through native woods and natural elevation. The blind downhill tee shot on the first hole and the towering flagsticks on the 9th and 18th greens paint that picture clearly.
This year marks the first time Haverhill is hosting this championship. The inaugural winner, Joanne Goodwin, a 2014 inductee into the Massachusetts Golf Hall of Fame, claimed the title in 1957 and again in 1958. Her father, Hal Goodwin, was the longtime head professional at the club.
Now celebrating its 100th anniversary, the club continues to stand out for its championship-caliber golf course and deeply engaged membership. Despite the heat, several members graciously volunteered their time as spotters and live scorers.
“I feel like this place is one of a kind in this area and stands the test of time against most golf courses in the state,” said Director of Golf Todd Cook. “Having the players here at this ability level and a championship run by the New England Golf Association and Mass Golf is special. It’s nice to have it here in the 100th year and see what they think of the golf course.”
“The course is in absolutely mint condition,” Pam Kuong said after her round. “There were no ball marks, the greens were very fast and tricky, but they prepped this course well.”
Recent enhancements, including work to holes 8 and 16 and a master plan by architect Robert McNeil, have elevated the experience. The formerly tree-lined right side of eight had become a drainage nightmare. With McNeil’s guidance, the area was reshaped by tree removal and is now far more playable and visually striking.
At its core, the layout remains faithful to the Stiles blueprint. The 100-year-old greens are among its defining features. “[Superintendent] Max Sheridan takes so much pride in this place,” Cook said. “We don’t need to do anything crazy; the course is already in fantastic shape.”
View this post on Instagram
