AUBURNDALE, Massachusetts – Sudbury resident Matt Organisak picked up his first career Mass Golf Championship win Friday at the 52nd annual Ouimet Memorial Tournament, winning by the same one-stroke margin that he had begun the day with. North Easton’s Steven Tasho, a longtime competitor in the Bay State golf scene, captured his first Ouimet Memorial Tournament title by taking the top-spot in the Eddie Lowery Senior Division while Dover’s Sophie DiPetrillo, playing in her first-ever Ouimet Memorial Tournament, was victorious following a sudden-death playoff. Friday’s final round of the Championship Proper was held at Woodland Golf Club after the previous two rounds were held at Boston Golf Club.
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Championship Division Highlights
After a very successful month of July, highlighted by a Round of 16 finish at the Massachusetts Amateur Championship and a T55 finish last week at the Porter Cup, Sudbury’s Matt Organisak finally cashed in on his play, carding a 1-over 72 in his final round of the 52nd Francis Ouimet Memorial Tournament at Woodland Golf Club to hold on for a one-stroke victory. The 21-year old, a rising senior at Emory University, tallied three birdies on his front nine and made key par saves on his back nine to avoid a potential playoff.
After leading by one-stroke after two rounds of play, over both Andover’s Brett Krekorian and Weston’s Nicholas Cummings, Organisak was also able to hold off a scorching Jack Boulger, of Walpole, who matched a day-best 1-under 70 mark to move into a tie for second place on the leaderboard.
“This is awesome. My buddy Jack Lang won this last year and I’ve been playing in this for a few years now, and the whole Ouimet tradition is so special here in the state,” said Organisak following his victory Friday. “Everyone has seen the movie, The Greatest Game Ever Played and it is such an honor to win a tournament named after him. You can travel across the globe and across America and you can say that you played in a tournament called the Ouimet Tournament and everybody will know who you are talking about and what you are talking about. It’s a very important name in this game and to win a tournament with his name on it is such an honor.”
On Friday, he birdied the very first hole to set the pace for the remainder of the round.
“That was good,” said Organisak on his opening birdie that helped extend his overall lead on the board. “That really calmed the nerves. The swing felt a lot better for the rest of the day. That really kept me focused for the rest of the day.”
Organisak birdied the par-4 fifth hole and the par-4 eighth hole to make the turn at 2-under 34, and despite three bogeys on the back nine, was able to make the putts when he needed to on his way to victory.
Eddie Lowery Senior Division Highlights
He started playing in the Francis Ouimet Memorial Tournament in 1975, 44 years ago, and now, North Easton’s Steven Tasho can finally call himself a tournament champion. The 60-year old entered the day in control of the Eddie Lowery Senior Division with a six-stroke lead in the field of 14 who had advanced to Friday’s final round, and after carding a 1-under 70 at Woodland Golf Club, the Thorny Lea Golf Club member Tasho finished atop the leaderboard in the senior division and captured his first Mass Golf title since the 1998 Massachusetts Mid-Amateur Championship. He has won several other Mass Golf tournaments in the time since, including his most recent victory in the 2017 Father & Son Tournament.
The leader in the clubhouse following each of his first two rounds of the tournament earlier this week at Boston Golf Club in Hingham, Tasho birdied two of his first five holes to extend his lead and never looked back en route to his first career Ouimet title.
“I’ve had a couple second places and a bunch of top-10’s and top-5’s, and just to finally get my name on [the trophy] means a lot,” said Tasho, who finished in the top-5 of the Lowery Division in each of the past two years.
“I hit it really good all three days,” said Tasho, who had led from start to finish after shooting 67-72 in 36-holes at Boston Golf Club before carding a 1-under 71 in Friday’s final round. “Today, I just played steady. I had three birdies and two bogeys. The courses played great and the weather was good. It was just one of those weeks.”
With his three birdies on the day, Tasho, a recent qualifier to the U.S. Senior Amateur Championship, extended his lead for the tournament, ultimately finishing by a margin of eight strokes.
Women’s Division Highlights
It wasn’t the finish that either competitor expected, but following the final round of the Francis Ouimet Memorial Tournament Friday at Woodland Golf Club, Dover’s Sophie DiPetrillo (Blue Hill Country Club) was the victor, defeating Groveland’s Krystal Knight (Bradford Country Club) in a one-hole sudden death playoff after the two had shot matching 5-over 220 scores over three rounds.
On the first playoff hole – Woodland’s par-4 17th hole – Knight mistakenly hit the wrong ball on her second shot, accidentally hitting her opponent’s ball instead of her own, and received a two-stroke penalty. DiPetrillo was on the green after two and two-putted herself to victory.
“It’s unfortunate how the playoff happened, but to win it is pretty exciting,” said DiPetrillo, who was playing in her first tournament since tearing her back last October – an injury that sidelined her for her spring season at Richmond and the entirety of the summer season to date. “My goal was to just make the cut and to now win it, I’m very ecstatic how everything turned out. It’s just unfortunate the way it ended.”
Following her first two rounds of the Ouimet Memorial Tournament earlier this week at Boston Golf Club, DiPetrillo was forced to play catch up as Jamaica Plain’s Anne Walsh fired a 1-under 71 and in the first round and a subsequent 2-over 74 in her second round to enter Friday’s finale with a one-stroke lead.
While Walsh and DiPetrillo battled for the top spot, Knight, a recent graduate of Merrimack College and a semifinalist at the 2018 Massachusetts Women’s Amateur championship, quietly snuck up towards the top of the leaderboard. After an opening round 74, she carded back-to-back 73’s in each of the final two rounds to move into second place, and sank a distant birdie putt on the 18th hole Friday to force herself into the playoff.
DiPetrillo tallied three birdies in Friday’s final round en route to her top spot in the Women’s Division, the first time she had competed in the Championship Proper.
Norton’s Megan Buck placed third while Walsh and 2018 Massachusetts Girls’ Junior Amateur champion Rebecca Skoler, of Needham, finished T4.
