TPC Boston, Essex & Dedham Highlight Mass Golf’s 2023 Championships, Women’s Championships Schedules

For Immediate Release: February 24, 2023

NORTON, Massachusetts – Mass Golf today has announced its 2023 schedule of 18 championship events, including its three historic signature championships. With nearly 5,000 total registrations in 2022, Mass Golf’s championships continue to expand in popularity as they provide an opportunity for Bay State golfers to showcase their abilities at some of the finest courses in Massachusetts.

For two decades, TPC Boston in Norton has hosted some of the world’s best players as part of the PGA Tour playoffs. And now for the first time, it will have a Mass Golf championship as it hosts the 113th Mass Open. The 115th Mass Amateur features a return to Essex County Club in Manchester-by-the-Sea, marking the 8th time and first since 2005 that the club is hosting the championship. Only The Country Club and Brae Burn have hosted more times (11 each). The Mass Women’s Amateur, which is celebrating its 120th playing this year, returns to Dedham Country & Polo Club for the first time since 2001.

In addition to the signature championships, there are several standout courses being reintroduced to the schedule this year, including Hyannisport Club, Cape Cod National Golf Club, and Ferncroft Country Club. Certain venues like Walpole Country Club have also committed to hosting a handful of events over the rest of this decade.

“Year after year we receive a tremendous amount of support from our Mass Golf Member Clubs, and we appreciate them opening their doors to us and letting our members experience different clubs across the state,” said Kevin Eldridge, Mass Golf’s Senior Director of Rules & Competitions. “It’s also exciting to have several clubs committed to hosting a series of our events over the next few years.”

The first wave of online registrations for 2023 Mass Golf events will begin at 10 a.m. Thursday, March 2. Those events include the Four-Ball, Mixed Four-Ball for the Stone Cup, Senior Four-Ball, and Women’s Four-Ball Championship for the Townshend Cup. Remaining events entires will be staggered throughout the year. For a full walkthrough of the registration process, CLICK HERE.

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SIGNATURE CHAMPIONSHIPS

Some of the best players in the modern era of golf have won at TPC Boston, including Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas and Rickie Fowler. Over the years, TPC Boston has hosted a handful of tournaments and charity events, but this will be the first open championship with professional golfers taking place on these grounds since The Northern Trust in August 2020. The course was originally designed by legendary player/designer Arnold Palmer, and its award-winning layout was re-designed in 2007 by Gil Hanse, with PGA TOUR player Brad Faxon serving as a consultant. This earned TPC Boston the “Best Private Remodel of 2007” honor by Golf Digest.

“To have TPC Boston on the championship rotation now is fantastic,” Eldridge said. “There’s so much excitement to be able to get out there and compete where the pros competed, and it will be a good way to showcase the golf course and have a nice draw to this championship.”

Check out some of the memorable shots from the 18th at TPC Boston over the years: 

The 115th Mass Amateur will take place at Essex County Club, one of the most storied golf clubs in Massachusetts, from July 10-14.  The famed Donald Ross layout has one of the best collection of holes in New England, with distinguishing features that include chocolate drops, a bathtub green (3rd) and several blind shots, both uphill and downhill. With its prestige, Essex ranked No. 62 in GOLF’S 2022-23 Top 100 Course in the U.S. Essex last hosted the Mass Amateur in 2005 won by Mass Golf Hall of Famer Frank Vana, Jr. Fred Wright, another Mass Golf Hall of Famer, won the Mass Am at Essex in 1928 and 1938. The course has also hosted several national events, including the 2010 Curtis Cup.

“Essex is one of those historic sites we’re lucky enough to have here in Massachusetts,” Eldridge said. “It’s a place people want to go to play and compete, and they know it’s going to be a good challenge and an exciting event.”

The 120th Massachusetts Women’s Amateur, Mass Golf’s longest-running event, is also heading to a unique spot. Dedham Country & Polo Club, which will host the championship proper from August 14-18, is renowned for being the lone golf course in Massachusetts designed by Seth Raynor, the most prolific associate of C.B. Macdonald. Macdonald and Raynor are famous for using “template” holes as part of their designs. Some of these holes, like Redan, Biarritz, Alps, and Eden, can all be found at Dedham. The 1975 U.S. Girls’ Junior Amateur took place at Dedham, and the club most recently hosted the Mass Women’s Amateur in 2001, won by Laura Torrisi.

“The unique features of this golf course really make it stand out, so to have our marquee Women’s Championship there is going to be fantastic,” Eldridge said. “Those five days in August will be a nice challenge for the players and will introduce them to some new golf course architecture that they don’t often see in many other places around here.”

• The season begins with the Mass Four-Ball from April 25-26 at Hyannisport Club, which is hosting the event for the first time since 1991 (co-host Bayberry Hills Golf Course.) Hyannisport was a go-to spot for former president John F. Kennedy, as it’s located by the ocean near the Kennedy Compound. The event will take place days after the conclusion of the Seagulls Four-Ball, the annual Hyannisport event that is often one of the first regional competitive events of the year.
• The 100th playing of the Mixed Four-Ball Championship for the Stone Cup takes place this year. The Stone Cup originated in 1924 as the first mixed paired event featuring members from the Women’s Golf Association of Massachusetts and the Massachusetts Golf Association. Walpole last hosted the event in 1996 when Donna Glazer & Dan Hyde repeated as champions. In November, it was announced that Walpole will host four championships over the next seven years.
• The first two rounds of the Ouimet Memorial Tournament will take place at Oakley Country Club, the first-ever Donald Ross designed course. The historic Watertown venue is celebrating its 125th anniversary this year and is located just 6 miles from Woodland Golf Club, which always hosts the final day of the championship.
• Cape Cod National is back on the championship slate for the first time since 2012. The club will host the Women’s Mid-Amateur for the Keyes Cup for the first time, marking the first state championship event being held there since the Mass Senior Amateur. Since opening, the club has held several qualifying events, and most recently hosted the 2021 Tri-State Matches with teams from Mass, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. The winner of the Keyes Cup has gone on to win Mass Golf’s Anne Marie Tobin Women’s Player of the Year Award four of the last five years.
• Another early-season event, the Senior Four-Ball, will take place at the two courses at Captains Golf Course, a public, 36-hole club in Brewster. Captains previously hosted the 2018 Mass Four-Ball.
• Ferncroft Country Club, which hosted the LPGA’s Boston Five Classic from 1980-1990, is back on the Women’s Championship schedule for the first time in nearly a decade, as it’ll host the Women’s Four-Ball for the Townshend Cup on July 6.
• The ever-popular Amateur Public Links Championship comes to Olde Scotland Links in Bridgewater for the first time in its history. Winding around wetlands and other environmentally-sensative areas, Olde Scotland has many sweeping panoramic views that leave an impression on those who play.
• This year’s Mid-Amateur heads to Willowbend, which hosted the Senior Amateur in 2020 and is set to host the Mass Open in 2024. The event will take place right before the annual cranberry harvest begins, as Willowbend’s closing hole sits alongside a large bog that illuminates the area in red each fall.
• The Girls’ Junior Amateur returns to Braintree for the first time since 2012. That year’s winner: Megan Khang, who took home the title at age 14, and a decade later is one of the young American stars on the LPGA Tour.
• This year’s Women’s Senior Amateur and Senior Amateur championships are taking place at two stellar private venues. The Women’s Senior returns to Hatherly Country Club in coastal Scituate for the first time since 1993. For the first time, the Senior Amateur will take place at Hopkinton Country Club, a well-maintained links style course that was renovated when it changed from Saddle Hill to Hopkinton CC two decades prior.

MASS GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS SCHEDULE

DATES	EVENT	HOST SITE
April 25-26	Four-Ball	Hyannisport Club & Bayberry Hills GC
May 1	Mixed Four-Ball Championship for the Stone Cup	Walpole Country Club
May 22-May 23	Senior Four-Ball	Captains Golf Course (Starboard & Port)
June 12-14	Mass Open	TPC Boston
July 6	Young Golfers' Amateur	Needham Golf Club
July 10-14	Mass Amateur	Essex County Club
July 26-28	Ouimet Memorial Tournament	Oakley Country Club & Woodland Golf Club
July 31-August 3	Junior Amateur	GreatHorse
August 7-8	Amateur Public Links	Olde Scotland Links
September 5-6	Senior Amateur	Hopkinton Country Club
September 18-20	Mid-Amateur	Willowbend
September 27-28	Super Senior Amateur	LeBaron Hills Country Club

MASS GOLF WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIPS SCHEDULE

DATES	EVENT	HOST SITE
May 1	Mixed Four-Ball Championship for the Stone Cup	Walpole Country Club
TBA	Women's Stroke Play Championship for the Baker Trophy	TBA
June 12-14	New England Women's Amateur	Manchester Country Club (CT)
July 6	Women's Four-Ball Championship for the Townshend Cup	Ferncroft Country Club
July 6	Young Golfers' Amateur	Needham Golf Club
July 26-28	Ouimet Memorial Tournament	Oakley Country Club & Woodland Golf Club
July 31-August 1	Girls' Junior Amateur	Braintree Municipal Golf Course
August 14-18	Mass Women's Amateur	Dedham Country & Polo Club
August 29-30	Women's Senior Amateur	Hatherly Country Club
September 18-19	Women's Mid-Amateur Championship for the Keyes Cup	Cape Cod National Golf Club
October 10-12	Endicott Cup & Tri-State Matches	Wanumetonomy G & CC (RI)

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