REHOBOTH, Massachusetts – While the weather was perhaps on the gloomy side, spirits were undampened by intermittent showers at Crestwood Country Club for the 77th playing of the Massachusetts Women’s Senior Amateur Championship.
Three-time champion Pamela Kuong (Charles River Country Club) led the way in Division 1. Playing through the worst of the wet, rainy conditions, Kuong made 16 pars and 2 bogeys to post an exceedingly measured 74.
In the afternoon, Sandra McLaughlin (Fairway Ladies of Franklin Park) took home the Division 2 overall title, and Paula Cortes (Fresh Pond Golf Club) was the Legends Division 2 winner.
The championship is contested over 36 holes of stroke play in Division 1 (Handicap Index® not exceeding 18.0) and over 18 holes (Monday only) in Division 2 (Handicap Index® between 18.1 – 36.0). Legends (age 70+) winners and low-net winners are also recognized in both divisions.
On a stacked leaderboard crowded with familiar names, including five past champions and five players with a place in the 2024 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur secured, one surprising name spent the balance of the day at the top: Stacey Freda (Andover Country Club).
Freda flew under the radar after a T-22 finish at this event in 2023. She came out of the gates on a mission, notching birdies on each of her first two holes. She bogeyed the 3rd, but then reeled off six consecutive pars to go out in 1-under 35, then took a commanding lead with a birdie on the par-4 10th. She accounted for the only birdies recorded by the field on the 1st, 2nd, and 10th holes all day.
Freda stood on the 18th tee with the outright lead, but a double bogey left her in a tie for second. Still, on a day when birdies were difficult to come by, her three birdies were the most in the field, and she trails by just one shot entering round two (not to mention a three shot lead in the net division).
Less surprising is Pam Kuong’s position atop the leaderboard. Kuong is seeking her 4th Massachusetts Women’s Senior Am title, and a 2-over 74 has her on her way. Amid difficult, wet conditions, Kuong noted that the course was playing long and the thick wet rough was very punitive. She leaned on her short game throughout a steady round.
“When I had to get up and down, I was able to get up and down. My putting was pretty solid,” said Kuong. “James Driscoll at Charles River, we’ve been kind of goofing around the last couple weeks. So he’s helped me out. And I really feel that he’s just giving me a little more confidence in my putting. The green speed was changing because sometimes it was really wet in the morning, and then it started to dry up and then they got faster, and then when it started pouring, then they got slower again. So it was hard to make a birdie putt.”
It is a testament to the strength of the field that Kuong was paired with two players that she recently competed with overseas in the 2024 R&A’s Women’s Senior Amateur. The three joked that playing in this morning’s rain resembled the typical U.K. weather they endured in England. There are also five players in the field who will be teeing it up at next month’s U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur
“I think this is the strongest field we’ve had in quite some time. And it’s like everything in Mass Golf, the quality of golfers in Massachusetts, it’s really high. So it’s great for us. It preps us well for national tournaments. This is my last tournament before I leave for the Senior Am, so I need to play well tomorrow,” said Kuong. “It’s fun having great competition and they’re all really nice people.”
Jayne Pardus (Boston Golf Club) is among those players who made it through qualifying for the U.S. Senior Women’s Am. She’s making a bid for her first Mass Golf Championship, following a decorated career with the Women’s South Carolina Golf Association, where the University of Kentucky alum won WSCGA Senior Player of the Year four years in a row. She’s just one back, along with Freda and 2018 champion Natalie Galligan (Pocasset Golf Club).
The Division 2 tee times kicked off later in the day, so while the turf remained wet, most of the players began their rounds late enough to miss the heavy rains that rolled through around noon. Unlike Division 1, the second division title is settled over the course of 18 holes. Today, it was Sandra McLaughlin who came out on top with a round of 92.
McLaughlin took advantage of the par-3s, playing the four of them in just one-over par, highlighted by a birdie on the 3rd hole. While she struggled a bit with 6 double bogeys on her opening nine, McLaughlin earned her victory by bearing down for the final stretch of holes. She played her last six holes in just 4-over, part of a back nine bounce-back 43, a full six shots better than the front.
McLaughlin’s club, Fairway Ladies of Franklin Park, based out William J. Devine Golf Course, the second oldest public course in the country, is rich with culture and history. This video detailing the club is well worth 13 minutes of your time.
Finishing in a tie for second, two shots behind McLaughlin, were Debra Watson (Birdies 4 a Change) and Suzanne Parker (Pine Meadows Golf Club).
Paula Cortes took the Division 2 Legends Division crown by a comfortable eight shot margin. Like McLaughlin, Cortes took advantage of the par-3s, playing them in just one over par. The highlight of her round was a birdie on the 17th.
Located just a few miles from East Providence at the Rhode Island border, Crestwood Country Club was constructed in 1959 under the direction of prolific golf course architect Geoffrey Cornish. The club has played host to several Mass Golf events in recent years, including the 2022 Father Son Modified Scotch and the 2023 Dolly Sullivan Team Best Ball.
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