By Tori Schuller
WATERTOWN, Massachusetts (August 22, 2025) – From the aerial view, Oakley Country Club blends naturally into the landscape, tightly tucked in between suburban streets lined with houses. Once on the grounds of the course, however, the Boston skyline looms ahead, and you are transported to a pristine, historical Massachusetts golf course, where you can trace the roots of women’s golf in this state.
As a continued part of Mass Golf’s 125-year celebration, the 75th playing of the Massachusetts Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship for the Keyes Cup will take place at the historic Watertown layout, where the first championship in Mass Golf’s history took place.
The event is named after Grace B. Keyes, who, 125 years ago, co-founded the Women’s Golf Association of Boston and won the first Massachusetts Women’s Amateur in October 1900 at Oakley.
The Women’s Mid-Amateur is a showcase of some of the best Massachusetts women’s amateur golfers who are at least 25 years old. Oakley’s first and only time hosting the Women’s Mid-Am came in 2011, where Hall of Famer Tara Joy-Connelly brought home the trophy.
While Oakley has only hosted the Women’s Mid-Amateur once, it has seen its fair share of championship golf.
After hosting Team Matches throughout the year, the WGAB held its first association championship at Oakley in October 1900, using both stroke and match play, similar to what is used today in the Massachusetts Women’s Amateur. The victory helped Keyes in her continued efforts to the expand organized women’s golf in Massachusetts.
Keyes, a member at Concord Country Club, frequently convinced women from other clubs around Boston to embark on golf, such as Essex County Club, Brae Burn Country Club, The Country Club, and Oakley. The Women’s Golf Association of Massachusetts even predated the men’s association in Massachusetts, with Oakley, Concord Country Club, The Country Club, and Brae Burn Country Club joining together in 1900, three years before the Massachusetts Golf Association was founded.
Originally designed by Willie Campbell in 1898, Oakley Country Club, in Watertown, holds the title of having the first ever 18-hole golf layout in Massachusetts. With Oakley expanding to 18 holes, it joined the likes of a few more member clubs in Massachusetts that expanded to 18 holes in the late 18902, such as Myopia Hunt Club and The Country Club.
With a quick trip to Scotland in 1898, an Oakley Club Grounds Committee member named Robert W. Wilson recruited a young Donald Ross to return to the East Coast, Oakley Country Club more specifically. Arriving to Oakley, Ross’s duties were working as a golf instructor and clubmaker, but soon added a greenskeeper position.
Later that year, with a previous lease up and the addition of new land, Ross expanded his careers at Oakley, adding “course designer” to the list. By the next fall season, the re-design of Oakley Country Club was finished, and Ross’s illustrious golf course career began.
Ross’s mark still shines on golf course all over the United States, including Pinehurst No. 2, Seminole Golf Club, Oak Hill Country Club, and Pine Needles.
“The membership has an above average respect for the history,” said Dan Mee, Oakley’s club historian, during the 125th anniversary of Oakley in 2023. “People are cognizant that many clubs didn’t make it this far, and there were tremendous challenges along the way. Our predecessors made smart decisions, and we’re thriving because of it.”
As the 42nd Women’s Mid-Amateur returns to Oakley for only the second time, there is another important homecoming returning the last week of August as well. The Massachusetts Golf Association celebrated its 125th anniversary, just weeks ago at Concord Country Club during the 122nd Massachusetts Women’s Amateur.
Concord, along with Oakley, is one of the founding member clubs with the men’s and women’s sides of Massachusetts golf. Isabel Brozena brought home the trophy at Concord, winning on the 122nd anniversary of the Women’s Amateur, and the 125th of Mass Golf’s complete history.
List of Past Championships hosted by Oakley Country Club
1900 – Women’s Amateur – Grace B. Keyes
1903 – Women’s Amateur – Fanny Osgood
1909 – Women’s Amateur – Mary Adams
1909 – Amateur – Percival Gilbert
1911 – Women’s Amateur – Fanny Osgood
1912 – Massachusetts Open – Alex Ross
1913 – Women’s Amateur – Fanny Osgood
1914 – Junior Amateur – Ray Ouimet
1970 – Junior Amateur – Robert Reni
1980 – Junior Amateur – Terry O’Hara
1987 – Senior Amateur – John Gargalianos
1998 – Junior Amateur – Michael Carbone
2000 – Women’s Amateur – Anne Marie Tobin
2011 – Women’s Mid-Amateur – Tara Joy-Connelly
2017 – Senior Amateur – Keith Smith
For complete coverage of the 122nd Massachusetts Women’s Amateur Championship, visit MassGolf.org or follow Mass Golf on Facebook, X, and Instagram at @PlayMassGolf and use the hashtag #MassWomensAm.
