By Steve Derderian
sderderian@massgolf.org
CANTON, Massachusetts (September 15, 2026) – As recently as this February, Anna Morales (Sankaty Head Golf Club) had wondered whether she would ever play golf again. Following a 21-month absence from the game and a painstaking return that began this spring with only a few putts at a time, the former Duke standout was all smiles Tuesday at Blue Hill Country Club, even after her long, breaking birdie putt burned the edge, denying her a nearly cinematic finish on the 18th.
Morales was plenty satisfied posting 3-over-par 75 in the opening round of the 79th Massachusetts Women’s Senior Amateur Championship, putting herself well in command entering Wednesday’s second and final round. Morales made three birdies on the front nine to establish an early lead, but her round was built just as much on the shots that kept bogeys off the card. At more than 5,800 yards, Blue Hill placed a premium on par, and three early one-putt saves gave Morales confidence she could contend throughout the round.
“That was a bigger confidence booster,” Morales said of those par saves. “Confidence lets you play well.”
That confidence was hard-earned. Morales did not touch a club for nearly two years while dealing with scapular dyskinesis, a condition that led to tendon damage and hindered motion of the shoulder blade. After intense physical therapy sessions, Morales gradually resumed playing this spring, beginning with putting, progressing to chipping a week later and eventually rebuilding her full swing.
Her short game shone through on Tuesday, including a key up-and-down par save after she sailed the 15th green. That kept her in front of Kim Zenisky (TPC Boston), who currently sits in second place at 8-over.
“I have never been so happy to be on a golf course as I was this summer,” she said. “I finally understand what the Bob Rotellas of the world say about just being grateful to be here.”
Morales’ return nearly encountered another snafu before Tuesday’s round when her 3-wood snapped during the ferry ride from Nantucket. Blue Hill staff members helped arrange a replacement shaft through PING representative and multi-time Mass Golf champion Shannon Johnson, allowing her to begin the championship with a replacement fairway wood that proved especially valuable on the slightly uphill, 450-yard 18th.
For Tracy Welch (Winchester Country Club), Tuesday’s opening round also offered a trip back nearly three decades. In 1997, she parlayed her Mass Women’s Open victory into a sponsor’s exemption for the Welch’s Championship, which she said was also partially given based on her last name. In Blue Hill’s final year hosting the LPGA Tour, Welch made the cut on the number with rounds of 73 and 74. Her father, Wade, caddied for her then and was back to spectate on Tuesday, traversing the hilly parkland course on foot. (They plan to share a cart on Wednesday).
One particular memory resurfaced when Welch reached the 10th green. During the 1997 tournament, she began a round on No. 10 and pulled her drive behind a tree. When she asked her father for a 5-iron, they discovered the club had mistakenly been left behind in the trunk. “He looked at me and said, ‘Yeah, no 5-iron,'” Welch recalled. She improvised with a 6-iron, reached the green and made par. When Wade joined her near the same hole Tuesday, they shared a laugh about there still being “no 5-irons on this hole,” but it was available this time around.
Although several trees have since been removed, especially along the first and second and the 11th and 12th holes, much of Blue Hill’s back nine remained familiar to Welch. She also remembered the demanding dogleg-left 17th and found the course every bit as long and challenging as before, finishing the round with a pair of bogeys.
Welch is currently six shots off the lead, tied with another past Mass Women’s Amateur champion Loren le Gassick (The Kittansett Club) as well as Julie Trask (Charter Oak Country Club). However, her lone birdie came from eight feet on No. 15, and certainly has the game to battle back, especially after powering through to the Round of 16 last month in the Mass Women’s Amateur at Oak Hill.
Sally DeGan, a Mass Golf volunteer and longtime leader within the LPGA Amateurs Boston, knocked down three birdies, including back-to-back circles on the 12th and 13th, to finish with a 7-over 78 and a three-stroke lead in the Tournament Division. Her total also gives her a lead in the Net Division at 5-under. She leads Frances Rush (Presidents Golf Course), a multi-time Women’s Tournament winner by three strokes. Rush recorded birdies on Nos. 11 and 13.
In total, 36 players are competing in the Tournament Division, playing a par-71 layout of 5,269 yards.
Danielle Lee (Renaissance) is the leader in the Legends category (ages 65+) at 11-over 83 on the Championship Division side, while Rush is leading of the Legends in the Tournament Division.
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Blue Hill Country Club stands out in Massachusetts golf history as the only club in the state to host a PGA Championship (1956) and one of just two to host a men’s major in the past 90 years. Boasting a classic 18-hole course by Skip Wogan, a nine-hole companion by his son Phil, and recent renovations by Ron Prichard, Blue Hill remains one of the state’s top private golf clubs. Over the winter, the club completed a major project with thousands of trees removed, opening up the corridors, perhaps most notably along the opening hole.
Blue Hill’s opener is a seemingly straightforward par-4, but stretching to 434 yards, it features a sloping fairway and a tight, well-bunkered green that can quickly turn an easy par into a bogey. The 2nd ups the difficulty with an elevated green that punishes anything short, often sending approach shots tumbling back 20 to 30 yards. On the front side, the standout risk-reward hole is the 6th, a short par 4 that tempts long hitters to go for the green but demands touch around its turtleback putting surface.
On the back, the 10th is a long par 4 with out-of-bounds left and sharp green contours that make par a genuine feat. The 13th (220-yard par 3) often plays into the wind with a spine across the green that demands absolute precision. The 14th follows with a scenic elevated tee and views of Blue Hill, plus a small green tightly bunkered. The 16th is a downhill par 3 to a tiny, slopping green that makes front pin placements treacherous, like the one tucked to the left Tuesday, a tremendous challenge.
Blue Hill also features the nine-hole Challenge Course, built in 1961 and easily identified by its red, white and blue pin flags, which contrasted with Mass Golf’s signature red flags on the main course.
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