Notebook: Inside The Ropes At The 37th U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur Championship - MASSGOLF

Notes From The Weekend Of The U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship At Brae Burn CC

By: Steve Derderian
sderderian@massgolf.org

WEST NEWTON, Massachusetts – The tagline for the 37th edition of the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship is “Playing Into History.”

Upon walking the lush fairways of Brae Burn Country Club during this national championship, I could almost feel the presence of the club’s storied past. From Massachusetts sisters Margaret and Harriot Curtis to the trophy’s namesake Mildred Gardinor Prunaret, to all-time legends Bobby Jones, Walter Hagen, and Francis Ouimet, Brae Burn has been a legacy-defining place for all levels of golf. That’s to say nothing of the original Stimpmeter and several USGA Championship trophies on display on the first floor of the clubhouse. 

Brae Burn already has a stacked resume that includes more than two dozen Massachusetts women’s state championships. This week, it will host the first of two USGA events this decade. Four years from now, the club will host the U.S. Women’s Amateur for the fourth time (also 1906, 1975, 1997).

For now, the stage that this Donald Ross classic layout provides is reserved for the nation’s best female amateur talent aged 25 and older, located just outside of Boston. It’s a division for those who’ve left behind the rigors of junior and college competitions but still possess the competitive fire. At its core, mid-amateur golf is a game of strategy, patience, and refined precision that only years of practice can bring.

Online: U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Home | Mass Golf Home

The U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur trophy is a sterling silver rose bowl of Paul Revere design that was presented in 1987 by Mildred Gardinor Prunaret, a Brae Burn member who served as chairman of the USGA Women’s Committee from 1959 to 1963.

On a personal note, visiting Brae Burn always stirs up some emotions. It’s where I spent most of Day 1 working for Mass Golf—wide-eyed and fresh-faced—covering the 2019 Mass Mid-Amateur Championship already in full swing.

Almost five years have passed since then, but it marked the beginning of my involvement in building a well-respected platform that provides the very best coverage and content and celebrates all this game represents to people across this golf-obsessed state.

In other words, Brae Burn isn’t just a course for me—it’s where the story began.

With that in mind, come along for the ride on my latest entry, covering yet another championship inside the ropes at Brae Burn.

Joy-Connelly & Buck Get It Started

The alarm went off much earlier than I’m used to on a Saturday morning as I packed up the car and cruised up a sunlit I-95 (traffic-free for a change) to catch the opening tee shots from Massachusetts natives Megan Buck (Thorny Lea Golf Club) & Tara Joy-Connelly (The Bay Club at Mattapoisett). The USGA typically reserves the first shot of the day to a home-state player on each tee, but usually, both begin play at the same time, making it impossible to capture both. However, this time there was no Sophie’s choice — their tee times were staggered: Buck at 7:30 and Joy-Connelly 15 minutes later.

Upon arriving, Brae Burn’s ornate clubhouse was flush with event banners & signs, stringed lines, and flags dancing in the steady breeze. On my walk out to the 9th tee, the maintenance teams were working diligently to complete their final tasks before play commenced. A flock of turkeys navigated the hillside, while off in the distance, a pack of coyotes greeted the comfortable morning hair with their high-pitched howls.

At the 9th tee, with Brae Burn’s iconic wooden bridge connecting the 8th hole in the foreground, Buck shared notes with her father and caddie Brad Buck, who traveled all the way from the family’s home in Arizona to loop for her. As Buck readied for her tee shot, a familiar screech from a passing green line subway car sounded in the background, but with her usual poise struck, Buck sent her first tee shot into the morning air right on target toward the sloped fairway.

Because the turn is far removed from the clubhouse, I had to hoof it back with camera in hand to reach the first tee. The rolling hills of Brae Burn surprised many newcomers from out of state. Personally, they just made me break a sweat, especially walking straight uphill to the first tee, the air mixed with an aroma of fresh grass and smoky bacon emanating from the clubhouse. I made it in plenty of time to watch the now-19-time U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur competitor receive a hardy applause and launch her first shot down the hill.

Locals & A Harvard Homecoming

Most of the Massachusetts players in this year’s field had an afternoon tee time on Saturday and early tee times on Sunday. This, of course, included 2018 champion Shannon Johnson (Thorny Lea Golf Club), who was playing in a group with past champions Julia Potter-Bobb (2013, 2016) and Lauren Greenlief (2015). Interestingly, Potter-Bobb is the first left-handed female to win a USGA championship (a massive milestone for lefties like yours truly), while Greenlief is the event’s youngest-ever winner (25 years, 25 days).

Johnson, proudly sporting the Mass Golf navy champions cap with the gold shield, showed the resolve of a champion Saturday. Despite shooting 6-over 41 on the front, she found a rhythm with birdies on holes 10, 12, and 13, adding two more birdies for a 4-under 33 on the back nine to finish the day T7.

You also had Tracy Martin (Vesper Country Club) and Mary Mulcahy (Hatherly Country Club) two previous competitors in this event.

Shannon Johnson tees off on the 18th hole Saturday at Brae Burn Country Club. (Kathryn Riley/USGA)

And then there’s Milton’s Claire Richardson (formerly Claire Sheldon) of The Country Club, who’s in the process of writing her own comeback story in golf.

Richardson, who won the 2012 Mass Women’s Amateur here at Brae Burn and led Harvard University’s women’s golf team to win 21 tournaments in four years, embodies the all-too-familiar dance of balancing family life with golf. Between raising two daughters and working as a college consultant, Richardson has gone weeks, if not months, without touching the clubs. That includes a recent trip to Paris for the Summer Olympics.

After coaching at Harvard for a few years, she and her husband moved to Sydney, Australia, for his job, where they spent 5.5 years before returning to Massachusetts this March. Aside from playing in the women’s club championship at TCC and qualifying for this event, golf outings have been sparse. “I like to have something to work toward,” she said.

That said, upon meeting her for the first time at the driving range off to the side by the 18th fairway, her swing looked smooth and effortless. (Truthfully, it seems that way for many in this field). Richardson carded a pair of birdies on Saturday but finished with an 85, currently strokes away from T62, which would put her in the mix for match play.

But if there’s anybody who appreciates the stage and the history, it’s Richardson. “It’s awesome to be back; the course looks beautiful,” Richardson said. “I came out here my first time watching tournament golf to see Tara [Joy-Connelly] play in the 1997 U.S. Women’s Amateur. I knew nothing about golf, but my mom was like, “She’s from Massachusetts; let’s go watch her.”

It’s no secret Massachusetts cheers for its own — Megan Khang can testify to that last week at TPC Boston. But with several young locals scattered about Saturday, there’s a very good chance many watched Richardson, yet another girl from Massachusetts, competing in a national event.

Out Of State Notables

Between uploading content to our social media sites, I interacted with volunteers from Texas, North Carolina, and, of course, familiar faces who volunteer their time at Mass Golf events. As for players, I got a chance to watch defending champion Kimberly Dinh hit her opening tee shot. Like Potter-Bobb, Dinh is on a limited list of left-handed female players to win a USGA Championship. She has an 18-5 match play record in this event, and earlier this year, she won the Amateur Golf Alliance Women’s Amateur Championship at The Bay Club at Mattapoisett.

I also got a chance to watch a little of four-time champion Meghan Stasi, who captained the U.S. Curtis Cup squad last week. Though she couldn’t manage a birdie Saturday, she finished with a 79 for T47, putting her right in the mix for match play.

While many are beyond their college days, there was still a sufficient amount of college attire or themed bags on the course.

If you really want to get an idea of how much golf they actually play, we have some answers for you.

 

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Shag Bag

A few other notes:

  • If you visit Brae Burn, there are concessions located between the 2nd and 7th tees. There’s everything from snacks to sandwiches to beverages (alcoholic and non-alcoholic).
  • Props to Brooke Henderson (Richland, Washington) for being a good sport when asked for probably that millionth time how often she gets mixed up with the Canadian LPGA Pro with the same name.
  • Mass Golf’s Rules Officials often travel far and wide for national events, but this week, it’s a home game. On Saturday, I ran into Mimi Henderson, Carolyn O’Donnell, and Phil O’Sullivan. Henderson and O’Donnell are both scheduled to referee match play contests this week.
  • I also caught up with several locals who were caddying. Tim Lenane typically carries for his son Joey, who won the Mass Amateur Publinx and currently plays for N.C. State, but he teamed up with Shannon Johnson; Mass Women’s amateur competitor Liz Gallinaro was in the group with Greenlief, while Cooper Griffin, from neighboring Woodland Golf Club, was helping out for Katrin Wolfe.
  • This week, the USGA is tracking statistics on the field, including fairways and greens in regulation, sand saves, one-putts, and total putts. To view that leaderboard, CLICK HERE

 

Stay Informed

Follow along at MassGolf.org and at @PlayMassGolf on Facebook, X, and Instagram for the latest on this year’s U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship at Brae Burn Country Club.

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