By Steve Derderian
sderderian@massgolf.org
HAMPDEN, Massachusetts (August 19, 2024) – The New England Junior Amateur Championship is an event unlike others seen on a young golfers’ slate throughout the year. The invitational, featuring boys and girls aged 18 and under from the hexad of New England states, is like a brief stay at summer camp. Sporting matching shirts corresponding with the state they represent, the event presents one the opportunity to share memories and bond over laughter with their fellow statewide competitors. That was especially the case Monday afternoon when impromptu indoor putting contests replaced the previously scheduled second 18-hole round, which was canceled due to inclement weather.
While this week is part showcase, much of it presented an opportunity to soak up the last moments of summer and share some laughter along the way before the players all go their separate ways for the new school year — several to their long-awaited college destinations.
In the meantime, their talents were on display at a course, unlike many others, GreatHorse, which often draws the same reaction as watching the collective talent in the field, “Woah.” That was indeed the case in the first of two 18-hole rounds Monday, as New England Amateur champion CJ Winchenbaugh raced out to a lead at 7-under-par 65, sinking a 20-foot eagle putt on his second hole of the day (par-5 8th) and adding six birdies to lift Team Massachusetts, the defending team champion on the boys side.
On the girls’ side, New Hampshire women’s amateur champion Carys Fennessy also opened a commanding lead. The College of Charleston verbal commit was the only player under par in the morning (1-under 73). Her score puts Team New Hampshire in the lead as the Granite State tries to capture its first girls team title.
The final round begins with another shotgun start at 8:30 Tuesday morning.
Format: Seven boy golfers and three girl golfers from each of the New England state golf associations are selected to compete in a team and individual stroke play competition. Boys and girls will compete for separate team and individual titles. Team scores are calculated by taking the best five out of seven scores each day for the Boys’ Division and the best two out of three scores for the Girls’ Division. The low team score will be named the team champion, while the low individual will be named the individual champion.
Here’s how things stand in the team and individual competitions through Round 1 of the New England Junior Amateur. (Round 2 canceled due to weather).
The final round begins at 8:30 Tuesday morning. #MassGolf #NEGA pic.twitter.com/JSFz9Jiw04
— Mass Golf (@PlayMassGolf) August 19, 2024
Winchenbaugh is plenty familiar with the GreatHorse track, having made it to the final match in the Mass Junior Amateur just over a year ago when he faced his fellow teammate this week, Carson Erick. It showed. Winchenbaugh was firing at pins throughout the round, hitting 17 greens, including two approach shots within 6 feet on the 18th and 1st holes, and making both birdie putts. He then buried a 20-footer for his sixth and final birdie, placing him at 7-under.
“I love this golf course,” said Winchenbaugh, who will depart for Georgetown on Thursday. “I played so many rounds here in the past 1-2 years that I know where to leave myself, so I gave myself a bunch of good looks and made some putts.”
As for finishing out his junior golf tenure here, “Even though I’m one of the older guys, it doesn’t feel like I’m like a leader, but I’ve known everyone on this team for so long, and it kind of just feels like you’re playing with your friends.
The New England Amateur champ’s game is on point so far. CJ Winchenbaugh made six birdies and an eagle in the morning to post 7-under 65 in the New England Junior Amateur Championship.
Round 2 is now underway. #MassGolf #NEGA
Leaderboard: https://t.co/wIZRqckP1a pic.twitter.com/JYIKXMS5XZ
— Mass Golf (@PlayMassGolf) August 19, 2024
Stennett, his calling card being mismatched blue and white FootJoy Classics, has also played GreatHorse several times over the years. The Connecticut Junior Amateur winner finished two strokes off the lead, making eagle on the par-5 2nd to shoot a bogey-free, 5-under 31 on the front nine.
Eli Spaulding, who won the Maine Amateur and competed in the U.S. Amateur last week, nearly had a bogey-free round, only giving one back on the par-4 18th, but playing the remaining 16 holes at 5-under. He’ll play alongside Winchenbaugh on Tuesday.
On the girls’ side, Carys Fennessy continued her solid summer campaign as she was the lone player on the girls’ side to finish in the red figures. Despite not getting a chance to play much of the starting stretch thanks to a curtailed practice round the day prior, Fennessy made a birdie on the seventh and ninth to finish 2-under on the front nine, adding another birdie on the getable par-5 14th to take a six-stroke lead into Tuesday.
“It’s a great course, and the greens are quick so you definitely have to be focused the entire time that you’re playing,” said Fennessy, who added she was most captivated by the par-5 8th which opens up to reveal the water hazard on the right, bunkers on the left and OB, plus bunkers scattered all over the fairway and over the green. “It’s rewarding if you hit good shots.”
What’s also rewarding is an opportunity to connect with teammates she’s seen throughout her junior golf upbringing.
“I travel a lot during the summer, so this is probably one of the only events where I get to see the kids that I grew up playing in events with,” she said. “It’s always a fun time, and I look forward to this event every year.”
Lillian Guleserian and Mya Murphy, who made deep runs in the Mass Girls’ Junior Amateur two weeks prior, finished tied with a 78. Each made birdie on the opening hole, with Guleserian starting strongly with a birdie on two of the first three. Guleserian, a Penn State Verbal commit, and Murphy, who will attend Merrimack College this fall, will play in the final girls’ group.
Their teammate Maddie Smith is in a three-way tie for fourth at 79 (+6) with Lily Dessel and Olivia Williams of Rhode Island, the defending girls team champions. Dessel won the Rhode Island girls’ junior amateur two weeks prior.
GreatHorse, whose current design is credited to New England-based architect Brian Silva, provides a par-72, 7,600-yard layout from the championship tees with a staggering 207 bunkers and over 200 feet of elevation change. The course has been previously selected as the 2019 New England Golf Course Owner’s Association Course of the Year and listed as one of GolfWeek’s Top 200 Modern Courses.
The club is no stranger to the competitive golf circuit in New England. With this week’s event, GreatHorse has now hosted a Mass Golf/NEGA/USGA event for seven straight years. In addition to qualifying, the club hosted the first two rounds of the 2022 Ouimet Memorial Tournament and the 2023 Massachusetts Junior Amateur Championship, both of which featured several competitors in this week’s field.
The New England Golf Association will continue to provide content and updates from the New England Amateur Championship on Instagram.
Visit MassGolf.org and follow @PlayMassGolf on Facebook, X, Instagram and YouTube for the latest information on Mass Golf championships and events. To join the conversation, use the hashtag #MassGolf.
